Chad Lewis, Hidden
Headlines of Wisconsin (Eau Claire, WI: Unexplained Research Publishing
Company, 2007), pp. 92-3.
Woman Vomits Up Live Lizard
LA CROSSE - What is believed to be a lizard was
vomited up yesterday by Mrs. Mary Marshall, age 96, who makes her home with Mr.
and Mrs. Lee Sieger at the Hotel Gross, 201 Vine Street. Mrs. Marshall is
remembered by many old residents here as “Apple Mary” as she was once a common
sight at the Cameron House depot selling apples.
Mrs. Marshall has
been bothered for some time by a severe pain in her stomach and yesterday she
complained more than ever, so her daughter prepared a drink for her, made
mostly of Jamaica ginger and gin. This beverage must have loosened the lizard, which
was evidently attached to the lining of Mary’s stomach, and yesterday afternoon
she vomited up the object.
She claims it was
alive when it came out of her mouth but that she accidentally smothered it when
she gathered it up in a handkerchief. The lizard, if it is such, is light brown
in appearance and is somewhat translucent. It is the opinion of Mrs. Sieger that
her mother accidentally swallowed the lizard in some water when it was very
small, and that it had grown in her stomach to its present length of six
inches. The animal has been placed in alcohol and will be preserved. – La Crosse Republican Leader, July 7,
1902