BOY'S 'ASTHMA' TURNS OUT TO BE A QUARTER LODGED IN ESOPHAGUS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 29, 1925, The Sunday Star reports that two and a half year old Robert G. Thomas of 807 R Street here in the Nation's Capital had a quarter removed from his esophagus.
It seems the young boy has had trouble breathing for the past month and doctors suspected "asthma." Dr. Daniel Moffett of M Street ordered an x-ray which revealed an obstruction in the lower esophagus*.
The Star reports that the boy was "breathing easily" for the first time in a month last evening after the successful operation.
By the way, the quarter was dated 1847.
*esophagus is a hollow muscular tube which connects the pharynx (throat) to the stomach.
SOURCE
"Quarter Removed from Boy's Throat, 'Asthma Relieved," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., March 29, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
