The penny press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1859-1860, 1860-02-01
The Great Buried Alive.

An English pepper tells the following
story, which is certainly most wonderful
il true: .ss rs
There ia man, q very strange man,
among the Sikhs of India, o Fakir or
Faqueer, too, one who gsins his livelihood
by putting on the appearance OF death,
aud suffering himself to be buried for
three, six or twelve months, according to
the agreement and compact he enters
into with his employers The man, far
from being Inisdoubted in thos.S parts, or
being treated as Q mountebank, is held in
extraordinary respect by the Sikh people.
The stories that are told of this man are
truly wonderful, and try to sift the matter
as you will, the marvel only increases.
Both natives and Europeans are alike
perplexed every one in the East has
heard Of his extraordinary powers; every
means has been tried to detect the i'm
posture which has been suspected; but
still his credit remains mistaken to the
last. w ilt ile "a 4,
One Of those who witnessed this pro-
digious feat is Captain W., the political
agent Of Loodianah who stood by when
he was disinterred after q burial Of ten
consecutive months, and his body seemed
then, as it had seemed at first, to be in a
state Of suspended animation. In this
country it was thought a most wonderful
thing, and very justly, when dozen
| years ago, young Irishman allowed HIM
self to be locked up in chamber for
three weeks, and seals to be placed on the
door and window, and agreed to stay there
| in that confinement without meat or drink.
This feat, as far as could be seen, he did
perform according 20 the attestationl OF
several medical gentleman, writer's for
newspapers and others J e2s lm
But look at the difference In the case
of this Indian, instead Of the confinement
in spacious room, the body is put into
a bag; the bag is tied up and sealed with
several seals by men Of credit and dis.
tinction. Then 1t is put into box, and
the seals are again applied to that box.
This, one would suppose, were test enough
in all conscience. Not at all; the box is
put into stone grave or vault, and grain
is sown in the very sod which covers the
living body Of this bold and marvellous
experimentalist os Z,
| Reader, do you marvel2 What think
| you Of this2 If this be really cunning
man, who fences with the sharp eyes
| and looks, and thoughts of five millions
of people, and does this for fifteen OF
i twenty years without being caught trip
ping, it cannot be denied he does his feat
| in O very workmanlike manner. Buried
for twelve months, under ground, with
corn growing over his body! How is he
to enter into collusion with his con
federates in the trick, if trick there bel
! Men Of the highest rank, doubtful of his
powers-and among these the celebrated
Runjeet Singh have seen him buried al
the commencement and have afterwards
been present when the body was taken
up, after a suspended animation oftwelve
months continuance. As far as all
human observation could so, that extra
ordinary man had lived without food
without drink, without air, for the space
of one entire year, and there he was, al
the end of this experiment, alive again
and hearty. 1ss e 3 ss.,
This wonderful man is now about forty
| Eve years old, and enjoys all the ruddy
health that vigorous body and a sounc
| constitution can bestow. He is always
ready to repeat his surprising perform
| ances--in fact, he lives by them. HI
i gains his bread by living under ground
| in close grave. t..4 -.I. ~
| He says, that during the time he lies
thus, In state Of suspended animation
he has the most beatiic dreams that car
be conceived. These dreams are not like
those of ordinary men, but they are long
durable, continuous full Of incident ant
rami6ed intrigue, like well writer
romance of many goodly volumes. Blu
these beautiful dreams are never com
| pleted, and brought to a close, because ht
is in the very midst Of them when thu
term of his probation comes, and tht
earth is opened to restore him to thu
world. He does not regret the time ht
| loses by these interments, for the fctionl
Of his teeming brain which pass through
his fancy have to him far greater charm
than real life. One day when the grea
Runjeet Singh with his favorite minister
and the several grandees Of the Mahara
jah's court were conversing with hin
upon the subject Of these extraordinar,
dreams, and trying to form some idea Of
thing so marvellous, he described very
happily, by comparing it to one Of thos'
fits Of musing which every one has a
| times, whit the mind in full vigor in
dulges in the Aow Of its inventions, ant
which are so agreeable to the patient
that the most amiable and kindest of mel
are ready to denounce the oficious friend
who arouse them from 30 agreeable |
state of halfsuspended consciousness.
II When the Fakir is taken up after bur.
ial, no pulsation can be felt at once tn,
heart, the wrist, and the temples are still
there is no breathing; tho body is no
cold as corpse would be, but it is coole
than that Of other living men, excep
over the seat of the brain, which is fever
ishly hot and burning. All the secretionl
are fully stopped, the nails have ceaset
to grow, so have the hair and beard. Fl,
Il