Fashion to die for. 1923.

I have done a post before about fashion that kills, a hobble skirt that well and truly hobbled the wearer, and these two cases from 1923 detail other unlikely ends thanks to vengeful attire.

The Brisbane Courier 24 Apr 1923 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20616349

In the first case an Italian girl fainted at a ball. When attended to by a doctor it was discovered that one of the bone stays in her corset had snapped, penetrating her skin.

This minor injury should have not been too much of a problem, except for the fact that the bone had been soaked in prussic acid. She died of blood poisoning.

The second victim, Mademoiselle Lapille, was another victim of fashion choices. At a dance (again!) a friend used a fox stole to playfully nip the Mademoiselle’s nose with the sharp teeth. Very soon after the offended nose reacted and swelling spread over the attached face. Although an operation was performed (what sort of operation do you think?), the unfortunate Mademoiselle Lapille died soon after.

Both of these cases involved using bits of dead animal to create fashion. I wonder if the women’s deaths were some sort of karmic revenge?

A new house with a terrible surprise. 1894.

The last thing most people want on their honeymoon is uninvited guests in the middle of the night.

The newly married Mr. and Mrs. Schrader of Shoal Creek got the worst kinds of guests imaginable on their honeymoon in 1894, a room full of annoyed snakes. Perhaps the only thing less welcome would be a knife-wielding maniac.

I wonder who decided that cosy little spot by the bluff would be a good place for their marital home? Clearly it was a nice place to live, the only problem was that others had already earmarked it as home.

I have heard of large amounts of snakes hibernating together, I even heard of a person who bought a country property only to find the walls of the house were packed with sleepy reptiles… eeek! Not sure if different species of snakes usually choose to hibernate together as suggested in this story though.

Either way, the reptiles tolerance of other species obviously didn’t spread to creatures with legs, with the dog and the newly-wed humans in this story all succumbing to the venom of their unwanted visitors.

The rest of the humans showed just as little tolerance. The day after the funeral they blew the side off the bluff to reveal the den, then killed all the snakes inside.

The Mercury 10 Feb 1894 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13269199

Deadly Icicles. 1901.

Down here in Australia there is very little danger of being hurt by icicles at any time of the year, and at christmas we are more in danger from sunburn than frost.  This summer though, we are in danger of being washed away by heavy rainfall more than anything else!

The people in this article from 1901 were all harmed or killed by something that is generally known for being beautiful, not deadly.

The first and last victims in this article are just a case of being victim in the wrong place at the wrong time, the first ending up with an icicle dropping pointy-end down onto his head and the last standing under a shattering glass roof, compliments of another wayward icicle.

The two boys fighting with icicles, stabbing one fatally when slipping, would make any parent of young boys cringe. I could absolutely see my boys reenacting scenes from starwars with large lightsabre icicles. Actually, I probably would be there with them.

The unfortunate gardener sucking a poisonous icicle and then suffering an agonizing death is something that would have to be a one-off, I suspect.

The burglar being hit by an icicle, then falling off his ladder while retreating guiltily was as much a victim of Karma as anything else, you do bad things, bad things happen to you.

West Gippsland Gazette 26 Feb 1901 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68702616

Don’t fish with explosives. 1943.

Morning Bulletin 18 Jun 1943 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56282260

Recently I have posted about people and fish, in both cases the person should have left the fish well alone and they would have been ok. Here is another in the same vein.

When I started writing this post it was with the title ‘don’t swim with your mouth open’. That was deleted when I read the article about the coroners inquest. The title is now ‘don’t fish with explosives’.

It turns out that Attard positioned a friend further down the river, climbed a tree, and threw some explosives into a swimming hole before jumping in the water to retrieve the fish. Apparently his usual practice was to put one in his mouth once his hands were full. Attard had no top teeth so it was quite easy for the slippery little critter to slide into his throat.

It sounds as though bystanders tried a few things to keep Attard breathing, but I am not sure how effective a riverbank tracheotomy would be unless it is performed by an actual doctor…

There are a lot of reasons why fishing with explosives is a bad idea, this is just another to add to the list.