A Cannon Ball Sensation.

Manawatu Standard, Issue 42, 20 January 1885, Page 2

A Cannon Ball Sensation.

Mi Boutjbouae, tha French savant, served jn Napoleoii's ariny^ «md waspre> 1 sent at many ehgagerueiits,, .. 'J^t. the btittle of Wagralm in 1 1809, he was m; the heat of the fray. The ranks arotind him had been terribly thinned by shot, and at sunset he was nearly isolated. While - ; reloading ijismasl^et he was! shot do^n. 'by a cannon ball. His impression was that the ball had passed through 'his ■ legs r belttW: s his kndes, cbmpletely sbveiing them, v for; hßiisuddealy- ; sank dowa',-' shortened, as he believed, to the extent r.of about: a . foot in' measurement. The trunk of . the body fell ward on ;the ground 1 , and the man's senses 'paralyised / 1 by the shook : . ::; Thus he lay iuotimVlpss, *■ ainon^ the. nirQqaAfi4 'ViAAmltj a-U might, clari^« to moye, when consciousness • partially returned, lest' the ibis of blpojl should be fatally iiicceased. That jhe^ felt no "pain' he attributed to the stun-" ■ ningreffect of the -shock. } pfa: the nervous system, aiid he was still mentally Itoo. numbed to * be 'able to' reason why he had not bled to death. At early dawn" 1 he waa advised, ■by. one of tile medical staff whb y cairie rcSiiifft 'fq h.^p thfe" -^gui^ed., -.•'.What's matter yo% n^ good 'Mow ?" s,atd the sqrgeqili li Ah, touchme. tenderly, dqctpi I ,';' replied M. Bovitibouse, " a cannon ball nas carried oflf my legs !" The surgeon examined the limbs referred to, and then, giving them a. good shake, said, with a laugh : " Get up with you. There's nothing the matterwith youiviegs !" M. Bo^tibquse s,prangup m utter- astonishment, and stood on his legs which, he had thought lost for eyer. / " jfejt HWre than^fql.," s*ai4 he, '"' tfyan 1 had, evgu. felt hi - tl>e Avhole course of my life before. 1 h,ad not a wound about me. I- had indeed bden shot down by.an immense cannon ball but instead ,qf -pacing through my legs, as I firmly believed it had, the ball h; ad passed. Mncjey my feef a,«d I^4' tithed a'holo m tl^e earth, beneath at least a foot m depth, into which my feet suddenly sank, giving me the idea thai I had been thus shortened by the loss, of ' myleg-s.v ". . . ; - ; ._ .;