Brooks - Lon - 1892
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal Wednesday, 27 January 1892
This morning shortly after 4 o’clock Lon Brooks died at the home of his mother, north of the Monon fill, in Fiskville. He was a splendidly built young man about 21 years of age. He was a circus tumbler and rope walker, but spent the winter season in this city. His health was of a robust character and his death is in the nature of a shock to all his friends and acquaintances.
For the last two days he had an earache which occasioned him but little discomfiture until last evening about six o’clock when it became extremely painful. A doctor was summoned but he was too busily engaged in other cases to go out and the young man was let alone. His pain became worse instead of better as was expected as at midnight he was suffering fearfully. At an early hour in the morning another doctor was summoned but on being told that it was a case of earache merely and not understanding its serious nature, he sent word that he would come out at seven o’clock. At about three o’clock the young man began to have convulsions and his agony was fearful to behold. His hands clinched and symptoms as fearful as those manifested in traumatic tetanus or lock jaw. The fact of the matter was that pus forming in the inner ear had no outlet and congestion of the brain ensued. A half an hour before death, the drum broke but the young man was then in convulsions and death in a most terrible form resulted. The neighbors were obliged to hold him to prevent his tearing himself and the scene was a dreadful one in every way. At death the face and limbs were badly distorted and it required no little labor to compose them. There have been several similar classes of earache here this winter caused by the pus forming in the inner ear, but fortunately relief has been given before fatal results ensued. - kz
Source: Indianapolis (Marion County, Indiana) Journal Thursday 28 January 1892 p 3
Crawfordsville Jan 27 – A sudden death occurred in this city this morning from a peculiar cause. Lon Brooks, a circus tumbler, who lives with his parents in this city during the winter last evening was taken with a supposed case of earache. Applications to relieve him were unavailable. So severe did his sufferings become that he died before a physician arrived. Brooks suffered greatly before he died and had many convulsions, requiring several to hold him in bed. About 4 o’clock death relieved his sufferings. A post mortem examination revealed a formation of pus in the inner ear. This pus having no escape finally caused the drum of the ear to break, which speedily brought on congestion of the brain. Brook had complained of earache since Sunday. -kz