Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-03-28
Perils Of Premature Burials.
by Alexander, Wilder, NJ. D., in the eEslectic.r y


"Buried Alive" The person had fal.
leo into cataleptic condition, be
coming cold and rigid while yet con.
scions, and was duly coffincd and
buried. He was exhumed by "res.
urrectionists," carried to a medical
college, aad placed on the table OF
the demonstrators of anatomy a few
shocks of the galvanic battery par
italy aroused him, and on the wound.
ing OF his breast by the knife, he
gave signs of life, and by proper
treatment he was fully resuscitated
Ten or II years afterward a relative,
where we were visiting, told us of
having been present when the body
OF her son-in.law was made ready
for the coffin, and perceivlng. as she
imagined, a warm spot on the left
breast, daughter who was sitting
by as this was told, cried out with
horror, "Do not talk any more of It /;
The idea is too dreadful to think OF"
But we did think over and over again
of the horror of interring q living
person. 1t was hardly probable, in
the case in question, that such a
thing did occur, for the body remain
ed unburied long enough to allow u
return TO consciousness. But in this
country the peril of interment before
death has actually taken place, is Of
ten very great. For years past it
has been very common for persons in
supposed health to fall down sudden
ly, with every appearance OF having
died We do not regard sudden
death with horror, as it is often pain
less, and exempts the person from
the anxiety and other unpleasant ex-
periences which so often accompany
q lingering dissolution. But there is
fearful liability of being Frustrated
by catalepsy-
THE COUNTERFEIT OF DEATH
under such circumstances that the
persons having the body in charge
will not hesitate about a prompt bur-
ial. We could Wish that the old
Oriental practice of cremation was
10 fashion among us. There would
be at least the comfortable reflection
of no suffocation in q coffin besides,
the application of fire would general
~ arouse the cataleptic person to a
manifestation of life. Some two
years ago story was copied into
the Rochester Democrat, purporting
to be the experience of man in a
low state Of health, who was compel
led to seek shelter in deserted house
in Illinois, where be fell asleep. He
was found there in a cataleptic trance,
and supposed TO have died. In this
condition he was removed and pre-
pared for burial, conscious all the
time of what was going on, but una
bic to utter sound or make a sign
of life. His condition was fortunate
ly discovered before it was too late.
The story may be fiction, but it did
not read like one. We have several
times repeated the story, although it
is too serious for jest, except when
regarded entirely on the ludicrous
side, of a woman who, while borne to
the place of interment, was arous-
ed to consciousness by the jost-
ling of her coffin against the walls of
house, as the bearers clumsily turn.
ed the corner. She was speedily re
leased from her cerements and con-
veyed home, where she lived several
years longer. She fell in q decline
and died the funeral again took
place and tho procession set out for
the grave. AS it drew near to the
house at the corner, the husband
wiped his eyes hastily, and cried out
to the bearers
"BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU TURN THE
CORNER"
1t is, however, no topic for q jest
when we consider the matter from
the proper point. Persons are bur
led alive, and have terrible period
of agony in the coffin before deaf b
comes to their relief. We execrate
the old Roman law which authorized
the magistrates to bury alive their
incontinent vestal virgins The
Thracians, after the practice of In
dia, burned widows. Amestris or
Esther queen Of Xerxes Of Persia,
caused foureen living children to be
inferred, and, till lately, Hindoo
widows were buried or burned alive
at Suttees. But we, in our reckless
carelessness, do as badly as they. A
writer in the Nineteenth Century
informs us that at the public m0ntdu.
RE of Paris about one in every three
hundred persons supposed to he dead
actually comes again to life. Al
that rate one hundred persons mus
be buried alive annually belonging
to the city Of New York and here
too, not 1.-THE OF the precautions
are taken that are required in France
and England.
A well-authenticated case is oil
record of strong man dropping
away suddenly, whose grave or toni
was opened four days after, and tn,
body found twisted around in tn
coffin, and hip dislocated, the hal
turned white and torn out, and tn
features distorted in horrible man
ner. Fearful was the struggle of tn
man in his chastity conflict for lif
with every odds against him.
young woman, also, beautiful in per
son and intellect, was buried in tn
usual hurry, some ten years ago.
The body was afterward taken u
for removal to distant cemetery
She, too, had been engaged and wor
sted in her coffin in a terrible strug
gle for life. Her face was gashed
her hands aud arms frightfully torn
her feet drawn up in wild endeav
or to extricate herself from the hor
rible prison, her face furrowed an
lacerated by the finger-nails, 50 de:
perate had been the struggle.
young man, in another city. wa
: thus buried, and his grave opene
six days afterward. The body ha
! turned upon the face, and the arr
was bitten to the bone, and ther
were other