August 15 1884

Yesterday afternoon Mrs.George Kudlyn, wife of George Rudlyn, and her niece, Miss Annie Wilcox, were in an orchard attached to the family residence engaged in picking cherries, when they were derailed by the loud report of a gun close at hand.

Mrs. Kudlyn w as nearly knocked from the stepladder by a sharp blow on her left side. Before she had recovered from her surprise her niece exclaimed : “I am shot!” and the blood gushed from a wound on her left elbow, where it was afterwards seen the shot had entered from a gun fired by George Ellery, who was standing in bis own garden.

He fancied Mrs. Kudlyn’s dress was a pigeon, and blasted away at it over the fence. The ladies hastened into the house, where Mrs. kudlyn found that her life had been spared by her corsets, nearly the whole charge having lodged among the steel ribs. The charge came with such force as to shatter the skin and leave the impressions of the steel ribss. Doctors were summoned by telegram and arived to the house. They did not succeed in extracting the shot from Miss Wilcox’s elbow, but it is hoped that it will be removed eventually; otherwise a stiff arm will result.

Among the anecdotal examples of the corset as undergarment of death and destruction:

A 21 year old prostitute who died of syphilis, consumption, and corsets while sitting in a police station.
A chambermaid who was found dead after suffering from extreme stomach pains. Upon her death, her stomach was found to be nearly severed in half “leaving a canal only as narrow as a raven’s feather.”
Part of the reason was that 19^th century medicine held that women’s internal organs needed support. It was said that a woman’s midriff was weak and not up to the job of supporting her womb. Ironically, this was a self-fulfilling prophecy because the constant use of corsets weakened the abdominal muscles.

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in Hometown News and now in The Townships Sun