Restaurant & Bar 156 North Winooski Ave. Burlington’s Old North End
Tuesday-Thursday 5pm-10pm Friday-Saturday 5pm-11pm
Miracle Man Children throughout Vermont learn the story of Phineas Gage in grade school. In 1848, the construction worker was demolishing boulders with gunpowder to make way for a railway near Cavendish. But something went wrong. One fuse lit too early, blasting a 3.5-foot tamping rod through Gage’s skull. Amazingly, he lived. Gage drew renown as a medical marvel — a miracle, really — and once famously displayed himself at Barnum’s American Museum in New York City. He died of an epileptic fit 12 years after the accident, at age 35. There’s a memorial to Gage in a park on Main Street in Cavendish. It includes a large boulder with two holes bored in the side, like the ones Gage was drilling for explosives. A plaque tells his life’s story and includes a map of relevant locations, as well as a picture of his skull. BTW, Gage’s real skull resides at a museum in Boston, along with the tamping rod from the accident, which he had engraved and was said to carry with him constantly.
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TAPAS VEGAN FRIENDLY OUTDOOR SEATING CATERING www.DriftersVT.com M P DriftersBTV 8/30/19 12:36 PM