The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-08-20
Anoersp>1 Jntelllgsnter* )
Buried Alive

Buried Alive
MANY people have fear of being buried
alive Although such thing as premature
burial is tho rarest occurrence IN the world, IT.
has indubitably happened and apprehension OF
similar trouble makes many person mofDl0-
lv sensitive The will of the late Robert Gil
more, of Baltimore, contained tho following
clause:
IsHaving always had q horror of premature
interment from conviction that, OWING W eilo
precipitancy with which the bodies OF tne oo
ceased persons are III this country hu!rleG W.
the grave, many have been unquesGlo1iI'iH
buried under the appearance only ol uea.it' ~
is nv will and pleasure that mlne may hoV pe
interred until my physician pronounccs my
dissolution actually to have taken place from
recognized signs of corruption, Wnlch are Inc
onIV certain evidences of death, and that IN the
meantime my coffin is to be left open, 10 give
nature chance OF resuscltatlon siio''l'' lilo w
only suspended. ,, l.,
made apparent without the unwholesome ac-
conlpanyment of offensive odors 1t Woulo pc
highly prudent to allow the corpse to remain
above ground for considerable Pefiou: PC hin% 6uS
but pleasant when associated with plltrlfactlon;;
Tho writer of this has never willingly lookcd
upon the remains Of any person "nohl he
loved in life consequently, those VINO nave
gone before are, in some respects, living Icoo1
Iections and beautiful forever. vi course, all
nersons cannot be so constituted, and 1t IS 1or-
inmate for some of the dead that majority OF
people are far less sensitive.
The most extraordinary cases OF premature
burial we have recently noticed are related as
having occurred at Salt Lake, on the go Oh
last month, and, two years since, at Maisoiiles, @
France In the first instance, the VlcCllI was
W. B. Lackhunt. 1t is said that ne was sup
posed to have died of heart disease, ana az a.
though 1.-The BODY 4wo daqs onlv
between the supposed death and the lnterllleht; m
After the burial the anxiety of tho TRENDS leu
to the body being exhumed, and terrlp!e CYL
dences were presented, III a chaeSe III nae I.ae
nosition of the body, the rending OF large pieces
of flesh from the face, the pulling OUT OF .0 sne
hair, tearing of the grave clothes ana coiilh
lining. and the finger nails worn to the quick
in frantic efforts to escape, that tne lnah h'u
been buried alive. o.,a
P,cav,t,ae tells the following story bearing upon
this topic: ,..,,,u,,or
ried their daughter who had just turned sixteen,
to a Young man in Salon, town not lar from
heir residence. After the wedding 1estlVltles
The bridal pair set out for Salon, whlcn t they
made their home. in the usual course Oh tllile
q child made it's appearance. Inc nlo.iei
seemed in fair way of recovery when a
violent hemorrhage supervened. physician
could not be Immediately procured. Inc loss
of blood had produced a swoon.
'sWhen the doctor did at last come ne coulo
only declare that the patient had passed away
beyond professional skill Inc "e,itGi ti, oo6 M'1
latitude. The medical man advised the family
to have the body inferred as speedily as possible.
Six hours after her death the young mother was
laid in her grave Recently the WldoWer ac-
quainted his mother-in'law and her family
that he proposed to marry again she INSISTED
that her daughters body should be delivered
to her. to be buried at Marseilles. The mother
in-law came over to Salon to supernteno per,
sonallv the eXhumation. When the door OF
the family vault at Salon was opened heart
rending Spectacle was seen. Her daughters
CORPSE lay in the middle of the vault Inc
cofin's top had been wrenchod OH, ana top an ana
coffin lay on one side of the vault 11oor. Inc
floor of the vault was strewn with the mar Oh
the CORPSE the grave clothes were torn TO shrettS,
and the hands half eaten. The unhappy young
mother had been buried alive, had recovered
consciousness in the vault, had burst the coIill-
lid. and made superhuman efforts to escape
from her fearful prison, or to attract atlehIlolI
to her. All of them had failed, and shc nad
died of terror, of exhaustion, of deSpalr-a Nv
ing death, whose seconds seemed centuries.
Tie mother has been a raving maniac ever
SINCE"
wears ago, the French Government instituted
an inquiry into hasty burial. \ venerable arch
bishop addressed the French Assembly car
nestly in favor of 4 longer interval beng en-
forced between death and lntcrment than was
then customary. He said that some MY
wears before priest was saying mass In the
cathedral when he fell dead, apparently, at the
altar. At his funeral, as the lid of the coffin
was being closed, the eyes hesupposed dead
man opened, and a deep sigh escaped his lips:
He was brought forth from the colln' ana lor
half a century afterwards lived and rose to
high honors in his sacred calling. ~ that
speak unto you am he,'' said the old Archbishop
to the French Assembly; "the young priest
who died for few days and was SO nearly
oo1I I IN No
While such examples as those above given
are extremely rare, undoubtcd signs of dlsso-
luton should be manifested. 1t would be a
happy conjunction of results if science could
reveal some method of settling TINS moot point,
and allow mourners to think Of the dead with
out horror and ot1ense.-Augtst@ Consttt"tion-
aIiSt