Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Woman Vomits up Live Lizard (1902)



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