Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-08-23

q aa 4
4 This is startling question bot Il
one tnat every living person should ser
{ ously contemplate. What 8 Thought
4 nust be, to have the mind narrowed B
7 the idea that . beloved parent, sister {
. brother, whom we have lately consiaae
70 tRe grave might possibly have bae
. alive at the moment OF fnterment! /
the enjoyment Of health, or ia the pul
suit OF active business, the though
seldom occurs to us that possibly we ma
ne buried alive. Yet such has been th
iste OF many q one = more than th
world knows of-and each individus
runs the FISK In his own person of thi
! AWFUL reality. IL is q wonder that th
suoIeet has not attracted more publ
attention than 10 has; for we read Yer,
iittis about It IA the public prints. Thf
silence may be accounted for partly from
the fact that comparatively few case
have happened Of which we have an
knowiedg9. But why is this so? lei
became the closed coffin shuts out for
ever the terrible revelations Of inteus,
sufferiEg from suff0cation which tn
comparatively dead have TO undergo
Inc living can never know Of the morts
throes-tbe agony Of the grave. That
person may be dead 70 sll appearance
and yet life not extinct, has been offer
demonstrated, and it is from this fae
that we should be kseply alive to an 40.
prehension or its occurrence among our
own friends.
We learn from q report made to tbs
| authorities OF Berlin, that in the course
of thirty months, ten people who had
been supposed dead were found to be
alive, and were saved from zeal death.
In the large towns in Germany mortuarv
| chambers are established, ia which the
| dead are placed some days before burial.
/ Dr. Manni, q professor in the I University
OF Rome, offered some years ago, a prize
] OF l5,oOO francs, TO be paid by the French
Academy OF Sciences, for an essay on
the signs OF death and the means TO be
taken to prevent premature inteFmens.
! The essay was written, but nSthing sat
isfactOry was elected. But, public opin-
ion having been awakened to the sub
ject, laws were Afterwards passed,
founded upon actual observation, by
which mortGary houses were directed to
De established. Cases Of suspended ami
nation, though not very numerous, for
the reason before given, have happened
sufheiently often to put Us on our guard,
sHd 1t viii serve my purpose to Rarrate a
few which have occurred.
1t is related that the Rev. Edward
Wolfe, the writer Of the memorable and
popular lines on the death Of Sir John
Moore, who fell at Corunns, Spain, was
posthun1ous child OF his mOther-that
is, he was born after the supposed death
OF his mother and her burial. The story
runs that, after she had laid some time
in the vault chosen for the burial place,
some sacrilegious Wretehes, knowing
that her jeWelry had not been removed
f:om her person, attempted to rob her in
her grave. They did SO so violently
that, in tearing the rings from her
fingers, they caused the blood to flow,
which revived her, and sue was subse-
quently rescued from the grave, and
after wards bore the author of the afOrs-
said lines.
A remarkable instance Of resuscitation
was related 10 the French Senate ia
1850, by Cardinal DOnnett, as having
happened to himself. It being short,
herewith trsnseribe it.:
In 1926 q young priest was suddenly
struck down, unconscious, in the pulpit
Of crowded cathedral where he was
preaching. The funeral knell was soon
after tolied, and q physician declared I
him to be certainly dead, aud obtained I
leave for his burial next day. The bish- I
Op Of the cathedral where this event had /
had Fecited the De Profundis
By the side of the bier. The coffin was
being already prepared. Night was ap-
snG the young priest, who
heard all these preparations, suffered
sgonies. He was only twenty eight
7esrs old, anu ia perfect health. AT last
le distinguished the voice of friend OF
lie childhood. This caused him to make
superhuman effort and produced the
wonderful effset of causing him to speak.
The next day he was able to preach
gain"
This astonishing narrative, related by
be very person VINO had been the sub
eet of restoration to life, produced its
fleet; and, with some other instances
Thich were mentioned by other Sena-
1r5 as having fallen under their notice,
Aused more attention TO be paid to the
lbject Of burials. TBs Senate forward
] the matter to the Minister Of the In
'rior, and, by 50 doing, implied that the
Kisting laws on the subject we're insult !
cient. !
Another case on record is related by a [
reign journal OF q female, supposed to I
; dead, who was saved just al the right
nd sickened and died, as her friends
fought; she was laid out as usual, and l
manned, to all appearance, 3 corpse for '
Fee days, when the time arrived which
as appointed for her burial. When the
,dertaker came 30 screw down the Id
the coffin, a slight perspiration was .
'tieed upon her skin, which being i'm =
regarded, and an examination q
rs made. Life was soon found to be in u
e body, and she was restored to 2
'alth. y
The most interesting part Of the cir I
instance is the account that the girl .
We Of her own experience during the >
animate state. She said she appeared P
dream she was dead, bat was sensible o
every thing thSt was passing around y
r. and distinctly heard her friends be- ol
Nil her death. She felt them envelop 10
r iu the shroud and place her in the %
ndp. The sensation gave her extreme u ul
ony, and she endesyored to speak, bat ~
r soul was unable to act On her body. =
le ATTEMPTED in vain 20 move her arms, "
open her eyes, TO speak. The agony
- at its hight when she heard the fu-
raj hymn, and found they were about
nail down the coffin. Tue horror Of n,
ing buried alive gave new impulse to
+ mind, which resumed its power over
corporal organization, and produced "
g effects which excited the no. - -
e of those who were about to convey "
r to a premature grave. =
Another case of recent occurrence is ~ ~
ated Of young girl in tie State of -
lio, who vss pronounced dead by the ~ ~
ysieisus in attendance Her disease V' "
"a typhoid fever. The decision was y
uuieseed in by the girls friends, with "a NJ
3 exception Of her mother, who no. =,
ed that the body still retained its - -
,rmth, Efforts at resuseitation had uS
en- made in vain, and it was deter y
med to consign her to her grave bat ~ ~
. day before the time affixed for the -
1eral-as the account states" while n.
9 OF the neighbors and the mother - y,
re standing by the side of the sup ~
sed corpse, the door, which had been -
t open, blew shut with loud nOise, 10
lieh had the effect Of so acting upon
Q girl as to bring her to and set her
s-blood ID motion. She sprsng up in
4, and, throwing her arms around her ga
1ther's neck, wept for joy over her es- 81
De from the horrid death Of being
ried alive" SO
Phe lady, describing her sensations, th
ys that when she felt herself sinking IT
e had no fear OF death, but turned up to
her side, and, as she did so, all pain 81
and she sank to sleep as 81
scefullY as q child. She lay, she "
inks, unconscious for an hour or more. 10
" h an sha came to herself sha fonnd n