Jan. 2, 1908 (Thursday)

SCIENTIST SAYS HUMAN ORGANS MIGHT SOON BE TRANSPLANTED: Simon Flexner (above) of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research presented a paper yesterday in Chicago that says progress is being made whereby doctors will be able to replace diseased organs with fresh ones in the human body. Here's how the outlook is presented in an article in today's New York Times:
Prof. Flexner does not promise that it will be possible right away to give a man a new heart or stomach or kidneys in place of the ones that may be ready to fail him, but he holds out hope that some day medical science will be able to do that very thing.

NEWSPAPER TALLIES UNNATURAL DEATHS: Today's New York Times passes on some end-of-the-year statistics compiled by the Chicago Tribune. Here are some interesting numbers:
NATIONWIDE DEATHS FROM VARIOUS DISASTERS: Fires, 1,412; Drownings, 1,839; Explosions, 611; Falling buildings, 463; Mines, 1,210; Cyclones and storms, 260; Lightning, 154; Electricity, 200; Asphyxiation, 314.
These numbers don't cover railroad wrecks, automobile accidents, hunting casualties, war deaths, marine disasters, murders or holiday deaths.
Railroad-related deaths (on both electric and steam tracks) seem quite high. In all, 3,706 killed and about 7,900 injured. That doesn't include employees of the train companies. The 1907 number isn't available, but about 3,800 of them were KILLED. That means, trains accounted for about 7,500 deaths in the U.S. in 1907. That's about 20 PER DAY.
The Chicago Tribune's list includes the number of LYNCHINGS. The Tribune counted 63 in 1907. That's a drop from 69 and is evidently the lowest number in the past 22 years, at least. In the 197 lynchings, 60 of the victims were black; 3 were white. Mississippi recorded the highest number, with 13. There was one lynching in Iowa and one in Nebraska.
In sports, 21 were killed in professional and amateur football.