“I never can hear of a man’s gitting his head broke,” said the President, “but I call to mind the wonderful accident that occured at Austin, Texas, twenty years ago.
“A man was thrown from his horse, while riding at full speed into town, and striking against the sharp edge of a potash kettle, which lay beside the road, his head was split down to his collar-bone, each half hanging over his shoulders like a pair ov epaulettes.
“This man was taken up for dead, but recovered, by skillful treatment, and was elected county judge afterward on the strength of this accident.”
“A very good story, and undoubtedly true,” said the Vice-President “Owl,” “but I don’t think it quite so miraculous as the different escapes that Joe French, a friend of mine, a clerk on one of the Mississippi steamboats, has passed safely through.
“His last adventure was on the high-pressure steamer Hurricane.
“As she was passing Natches, on a down trip, she blew up, and filled the air with every kind of fragments.
“Joe was sent up about two hundred and fifty feet, and 466 there being a strong wind at the time, he was carried over onto the center of the city, and fell through the roof of a jewelry store.
“After passing down through three stories of the building, he struck on his feet, by the side of the proprietor of the concern, who demanded five hundred dollars for the damages done to his building.
“‘I can’t pay so much money,’ said Joe, ‘but i will give you two hundred and fifty, and I have often settled for this price before.’”