Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1843-11-02
The Death Watch.
BY Y. HOOD.


as with us, in the house of mourning, but are
promptly removed TO public cemenlery, InI
order 10 guard, however, against premature in
lermeF>, he remains are always retained above
ground until the certain signs Of decomposition
are apparent; and besides this precaulion, in
cases OF suspended animation, the fingers OF
the corpse are fastened to bell-rope commu-
nlcatng with an alarum, so that on the slight
est movement the body rings for The help which
it requires for It's resuscitallon-a watcher and
medical attendant being constantly at hand.
Now the duty of answering the Ilie-bell had
devolved on one Peter KIopp--no very onerous
service considering that for thirty years he had
been the official Death Watch the metallic
tongue of the alarum had never sounded sin
gle note. The deluncl FrankforlerS committed
to his charge had remained one and all, man,
woman, and child, as silent as SO many stocks
and stones. No; that IN every case the Vial
principle was necessarily extinct; IN some be-
dies out OF so many thousands 1t doubtless lin
gered like spark among the ashes-b but dis
inclined, by national phiem, TO any active as
serrion of lis existence.
For German, indeed, there is charm IN
certain vaporous dreamy state, between life and
death, between sleeping and waking, which a
rranscendensl spirit would not willingly dis
solve But be that as it might, the deceased
| Frank(orers all lay in their turn In The Corpse
| Chamber, as passive as statutes IN marble. Not
limb slir!ed-nOt a muscle twItched-not
! finger contracted and consequently not note
sounded 10 slarile the ear or 10 Try the nerves
of Peter kIopp.
| In fine, he became confirmed ekeP'!c as to
such resus citations. The bell had never rung,
and he felt certain thai il never woull ring, un-
/ less FROM the vibrations of an earthquake. No,
no-deaih and the doctors did their wuik too
surely for their patients 10 relapse INTO lie in
any such manner And truly II is curious To
observe that, in proportion TO the multiplication
of physicians, and the progress of medical SCI
ence. the number of rsvivais has decreased.
The inanima,e no longer rally as they used TO
do some centuries since--wheG Allows Schnei-
der was restored by the ioIing Of his coffin,
and Margaret Schonng, leaving her deatL-bed,
walked down TO supper III her laol linen
So reasoned Peter klopp, who, long past he
frsI remorse and lances Of his nDrIclale, had
come, by dinI of custom. 10 look II the bodies
i'll his care bni as 80 many logs or bales oi
goods committed To the temporary care 0t d
Puonian warehousen.an or Lethean wTanser.
Bur he uas doomed 10 he signally undeceIved.
In the month of September, just after he ae-
,umnal Frankfort Fair, Martin Grab, a middle
aged man of ple,horic hahil, after dining hear,i.
" on soup, sourkroul, veal outlets, with builace
sauce, carp in wine Jelly, blood >ausages, wild
boar brawn herring salad, sweet pudding, Lelp-
sic larks sour cream with cinnamon, and d
bowlfuIl of plums by way Of desert, suddenly
dropped down iusensible. As he was pronoGn-
ced to be dea0 Try The doctor, The body was CON
reved. as usual, within twelve hours, TO The
public cemetery, where, being deposited IN The
corpse chamber The rest was leit 10 The care
and vigilance Of the death watch, Peter hiopp
Accordingly having taken last look at his
old acquaintance, he carefully twisted the rope
of The ile-belI around The dead mans fingers
and then retired into his own sanC1orum, light
ed his pipe, and was SOON in lha iogsy para
disc which true German would nol exchange
for all the odor Of Araby The Blessed, and tie
society of the Hours
i, was past midnight and in the corpse-chan
Der, hung with dismal black, the li!eleso body
of Marun Grab was lying in lis shroud as sI!
as a marble statue. Al It's head The snII'ary iu
neral lamp burned without ficker-lhere wa:
no breath Of air to disturb he fame or TO curv,
the long spider-llne iha, hung perpenGlcuar!y
from the ceiling. The silence was menaee-
You nigh, have heard the ghost Of whisper
or the whisper OF d shes', il there he'd been on;
present 10 utter il but The very air seemed
dead and slaenant--no! elastic enough for a sisi
e even from splrli
d In The ad dining room reposed the death
| watch, Peter kIopp. lie had thrown hmseI
: in his clothes on his little bed, with his pip,
still between his lips Here TOO, all was siieil
and su. Not cricke, cArped, nor mouse
e stirred nor draughr Of air. The light smok'
of the pipe mounted directly upward and mln
gled with lis cloudlike shadows or The ceiling
e The eye would have detected the fitting OF
moth, the ear would have caught The rns'lln!
t, of straw hul all was quiet as the grare-sul
as The sieadfasi iombs when Suddenly The shrll
S hurried tone Of The alarm -bel--ihe very sam
! sound that, for fifteen long years he had night
It Iy listened tor--he very same sound thai, 70
many long years, lie had utterly ceased 10 ex
pec,-abrab'y saSlled the slumOoring sense