The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-07-21

That loved the sweet perfume.
Large dYaughts of nectar sat to sip,
On a rosebud Just below
breatiied her breath, and kissed her hp'
And she was as ehasfe as snow;
All, me- what heavenly task
5TiII the eve ~ grew grew
While She in the suns bright CLEAN did bask.
Again was where the pale moon did line
The forest with silver light;
And thought my love was wild woodbme,
Welcome 2 said /, where the byamble weayes
And sweetly tangled myself in her leaves,
And blew on her red.streaked horns
To the music Of which we led
Till old Night came out
To rock US to sleep in her dusky bed
Dealings.with the Dead.
There is doubtless, something not altogether
agreeable in the thought Of being buried alive.
Jestamentary injunctons, are not common for the
prevention of such a calamity. As far as my long
experience goes the percentage is edingly small
About twenty-five years ago, some old woman was
certain that person lately buried was not exactly
dead. She gave utterance TO this certainty
was no eedence and ample room therefore for faith
The defunct had Little property = it was clear
case of coursehis relatives had buried him alive,
to get possession Amob gathered in Kings Chapel
yard; and to appease their righteous indignation,
the grave was opened the body exposed, doctors ex
amned and the mob was respectfully assured, that
the man was dead--dead as door nail. A propo-
sition to bury the old woman, in revenge, was re-
W.
point--they never do She admitted that the party
was dead, but persisted that his death was caused
by being buried alive. 3
Some are. doubtless, still living, who remember
the affair in the Granary' yard Groans had been
heard there, at night Some person had been bu-
ried alive, beyond all doubt. A committee was APP
pointedto visit the spot. Upon drawing near, sub
dued laughter and the sounds Of vulgar merriment
arose from one Of the tombs-a Light was seen gim-
mering from below-the, strong odor not of corrup-
ton but of mutton chops, filled the air. Some
vagabonds had cleared the tomb, and taken pos
session. and with broken collins for fuel, had found
an appetite, among the dead The occupation Of
tombs, by the outcasts Of society," was common long
before the Christian era
That the living have been buried, lmintentially,
now and then, is undoubtedly true. Such has pro-
badly been the case, sometimes IN eatalepsy or
trance, the common duration of which is from few
hours to two or three DAYS; but of which Bonet,
Medic Septentr1on Lib. l. sec. 16, chap. 6, gives
an example, which lasted twenty days. Bodies
have been found. says Millinger, in his Curosties
of Medical Experience, page 90, where the mlsera-
Bile victims have devoured the flesh of their arms
and he cites John Scott and the emperor Zeno, as
examples. Plato recites the case of warrior, who
was left ten days. as dead upon the field of battle,
and came to life on his way to the sepuichre. In
Chalmers's Memoir of the Able Provost the author
of Manon Lescaut, it is related that he was found
by peasant, having fallen in an apoplectic fit.
The body was cold, and carried to a surgeon, who
proceeded to open il. During the process, the Able
revived, only however, to die of the wound inflct-
ed by the operator.
The danger of burying alive has been noticed by
Pineau, SIR le danger deS ilhuRdt0RS preclelt6eS,
Paris, 1776 DIR. John Mason Good, vol. A, page
63 remarks, that catalepsy has been mistaken for
real death: and in countries where burial takes
place speedily it is muchto be feared that in few
instances, the patient has been buried alive, A
case Of asphyxy, Of a singular kind, is stated by
| Mr. Pew, and rected by DR.. Good, of female,
whose interment was postponed for post mortem
examnation-lnost fortunately-for the first touch
Of the scalpel brought her to life. Demerbroeck,
Tractat de Peste Lib H. Hist 8, relates the case OF
| a rustic, who was laid out for interment. Three
days passed before the funeral. He was supposed
TO have died of the plague. When in the act of be-
ing buried, he Showed signs of life, recovered, and
lived many years DR.. Good observes, that criti-
cal examination Of the region of the heart, and q
clear mirror, applied TO the mouth and nostrlls Will
| commonly settle the question of life or death bul
! that even these signs will sometimes fail. What
! then shalbe done! Matthews Hidanus and others,
/ who give many stories of this kind, say-Wait for
| the intallbe signs Of putrefaction. It may be abb
surd TO wait too long; it is indecorous to immune
| too soon. -
The case recited by Mr. Pew reminds me OF
Plmy's account Of persons who came to life on the
| funeral pile ''Aejold az r0go reUirit 81 qtoniam
SubUeniri nan p0tuerat prRUdfe1ite fdllnad, UlUuS
creHldS est iSiBl5l1s in h. Lama, proBt0r'o
| GIRO trdditur." Lib 7, Sec. 53. Old Cheeseman's
! stories, in this connection, were curious enough.
| He gave remarkable account Of a good old dea-
| con, who had scolding wife. She fell sick and
died, as was supposed, and was put in her coffin
| and screwed down, and lifted Every thing, as
/ Grossman said, went on very pleasantly, till thee
I began to descend into the tomb, when the sexton
at the foot slipped, and the coffin went by the run
| and struck violently against the wall of the tomb
/ nf ax81tul
shrll shrek from the CORPSE Let me OUTLET me
| out ~ The poor old deacon wrl1ng his hands, and
! looked, Grossnan expressed 1t, real melan-
! choly. The lid was unscrewed as soon as possl-
ble and the LADY, less in sorrow than IN anger, IN
! sisted on immediate emancipation. All attempts to
persuade her to be still, and 60 home as she came
! for the decency Of the thing, were unavailing
/ The top of the coffin was removed The deacon
/ offered to help her out She refused his proffered
hand and, doubling her fist in his face, told hin
/ he was a monster, and should pay for ii, and in
\ sisted on walking back in her death Clothes Abou
| poor deacon" said GrossmaB, called us into
private room, and reminding US of the sad turn
things took, last lime, beggedus TO be CAREFUL anC
told us, if all things went right, he would treat N
at his store the next day" He retailed Spirits as
all the deacons did, being the very persons pointed
at by the finger Of the law as men Of sober lives
and conversations.
/ Grosslnan told another story, We could scarcely
credit it. Heofered TO swear to it but we begged
/ he wouldn't Ii was Of a woman who was elder
/ sot Her husband had tried all SORTS Of preventive
experiments, in vain. Ills patience WIS ex iI
He tapped barrel, and let her drink her M; on
and the barrel gave out together, She was buried.
The GOODNESS of the tomb brought her TO NE. She
felt around the narrow donidl IN wpicii she ray,
4 Her conciousness that She was n her coiiIn and
that she had been buried was a gs9 d enough oal
/ occnrred ~ ber thsf she had been buried alive.
she ineaoins 6ersslf in another world, and knock
4 jne brJ ID pdssfbe against the lid and sides Of
her edfI;n sl1e exclaimed Good people Of the up
ner world 4 ye have got any good cider, do let Us
nave mug of it. Luckily, the mouth Of the
Il fon1l mad not been closed, and when the sexton
ean5s III close it, he was scandalized of course to