The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-10-16
III lSGHA T. q MGOWS Q
COFFINED ALIVE.

That persons, during the raging Of Il
pestilenco and the hurry of burals, have
sometimes been carthcd alive, there is very
little doubt. We have not, however, heard
of any well attestcd case of this kind, since
the commencement Of the present epidemic
in our city, and the story We arc abou. to
relate, avouchcs for no more than the con-
tining man, who, as will appear in tho
sequel, could not be persuaded that he was
a proper subject for burial.
In the course of the disease, it has some
times occurred that man, being found
dead drunk in the street, has been mistaken
for cholera patient, lifted upoL a litter and
carried to the hospitals. 1t has been Gus
tomary in these cases, for the medical at
tcndants, on ascertaining the mistake, TO
order the drunken man to be placed in the
room used for that purpose, until he shall
have slept off the fumes Of liquor, and then
dismiss him to take care Of himself:
Two or three weeks since, Il patient of
this description was one evening brought
to the - Hospital, supposed to be nearly
i'll the last stage OF cholera asphyxia. Ger
tain it is, that he was rrodgiou>ly bluc.-
The doctor examined him; shool, his head,
and ordered him to the drunkard's room.
Besides this apartment for those that
were merely dead drunk, there WAS another
wherein it was customary to lay such as
had actually died during the night, from
whence they were to be Carried away and
buried the next morning. 1t SO happened
that the above mentioned patient, was by
mistake, conveyed To the Iea.!-room, instead
Of the drunkarl's.
There i,c lay, unconscious OF his situation
either personal or local, until the morning,
when the burial cart came, and Two I[ibcv-
mans proceeded to the Iead-room to take
away the corpscs. They found no other
but the drunken man, W being still lock-
cd fast in the arms .leep, they forth
with proceeded to coffin and nail up. They
had him in his narrow house, and began
&c drive the nails, when the noise ;,wokc
him. lie started up, thrust OF the lii, and
asked them what they were about.
"We're going to bury ye, sure" said one
Of the lIibernians, cuIcavoring to make
Lhe lnau lie down a;"iii and to daccm!!y'
uailed up.
"To bury me-" exclaimed the astonishcd
drunkard.
cay, surc," returned the Irislnan, coolly:
it's we that burics all that die with the
cholera"
"But l am not dc;.I," said the pa
tient.
"Not dead" exclaimed the Irishman
" aint that pretty cXtravagant assertion
for corpse to make? Not dead And
sure you cannot be i'll your right mind to
say SO. Come, lie down, if you please, and
we'll nail ye up and bury yc daccntly.'
"DuccnHyo"
"Ah, sure, as daccntly us the times will
admit Of 1t isn't livery man now, that can
yet coffin like yourself, To be buried up
an"
"But tell you, Tn not dead !" pcrsis-
The drunken man, struggling to get out OF
the coffin.
"Not dead again" exclaimed the IIiLcr-
a'ian, endeavoring to keep him in, "that
assertion wont do here We fetched you
out Of the dcadroom, where they put all
the corpses; and if SO be, you amt dead,
there's no confidence at all to bc placed in
the doctors stuff"
"11ave been under the hands Of tho
doctor, then"
Saint that pretty question for dead
man to AKA"
&C tell you Pm not dead"
"Who knows better than tho doctor 3
Come Jenny, Undressing his brother
lrishman,) you hold him down willie nail
him up. We can't be bothcrns here all
day, no how"
AS the confined man saw there was no
such thing as rcsoning tho honest officials
out Of their duty, and that lie must resort
to main force to save himself, he made one
desperate effort, shook of the dead -cart.men,
sprang from the coffin and took to llls heels
IN. y. Constellation.
---@s~s1--
ModeI Certifcatc.-Thc following GER
tificate speaks for itself. 1t is going the
rounds, and we should like to have it "lo.
cated," in order to advise the owner to take
out "patent':
Dear Doctor Il will be one hundred
and seyenty-fve years old next October
For ninety-four years have been an inval.
ID, unable to move, except when stirred with