The Boy Who Swallowed a Peanut: A Two-Month Ordeal

SEATTLE, May 29.—A boy named Major I. [Last Name Illegible] of this city, who swallowed a peanut that fell into his lung two months ago and was lying ill in the hospital suffering with coughing spells and severe pains, is undergoing an operation by the hospital physicians.

The boy's lung was cut open and in the cavity the peanut, which almost cost the boy his life, was found. The physicians attending the patient believe the boy to be suffering from pneumonia.

The incident occurred on March 17. He was on an errand and bought a package of peanuts from a street vendor. He had eaten most of them when he put the remaining ones into his mouth. As he was about to swallow them, a gust of wind struck him in the face and made him cough. He drew a breath of air and at the same time a peanut was drawn in which lodged in his larynx.

A moment of dizziness came over him and in a fit of epilepsy he fell on the sidewalk. The young boy regained his feet after a few minutes and drank some water. Up that night the nut lodged in his pipe leading to his stomach, and by eating he could force it down. He secured an orange and ate it at a time, but no relief came from it. His breathing became labored and he hurried home to get aid from his mother. Everything possible was done for the boy, but nothing could be found to stop his coughing. The next day the boy was taken to the hospital. The boy's condition daily became worse instead of better. He told the physicians he thought he had swallowed a peanut but they thought he had a well-developed case of pneumonia and went to work giving him medicine to cure him.

Finally the physicians decided the best they could do is perform an operation and find the real cause of the trouble, and prepared for the operation yesterday.