Axed appendage: Upcoming to the corridor is the worn college the place tales abound that within the early 1900s, a boy was once flogged for being overdue nearest falling from a horse. However that pales into insignificance when in comparison to the ordeal of destitute Tom Daniel who unintentionally chopped off his obese toe with an awl. The Queanbeyan Generation of April 18, 1878 splashed the tale over its entrance web page with the entire gory feature: “…the implement struck an over-hanging branch which broke the force of the blow intended for a particular limb, and diverted the blade, so that it fell with full force upon the unfortunate young man’s left foot, cutting through the boot and completely severing the great toe. He bore the accident with fortitude and, failing to obtain a buggy, rode the whole distance (over 20 miles) into Queanbeyan the same evening, faint with loss of blood and much exhausted. Dr Richardson dressed the wound, and we are glad to say the young man is now doing well”. A 2015 version of the native publication, The Hoskinstown Ewes, asserts: “These days someone would pick up the toe, put it on ice and run him into emergency in a 4WD. A clever surgeon might even reconnect it. They made ’em tough in 1872.” They surely did.
