The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-02-16
The Dead Come to Life.

1913 Mary street. The neighbors who
knew the story of long and painful
illness said: " Poor Mr.. Schrack has
gone at last" Word was sent to the
doctor that he need attend his patient
no longer. The undertaken was visited
In Old Swedes' Church Mr.. Schrack's
death was announced and the Sunday
school scholars commented upon the
death of the teacher they had learned
to love.
At eleven o'clock, four hours later
the Grape was torn down from beside
the dwelling in Mary street. The order
for the undertaken was countermanded
The doctor was told to hurry to his pa.
tent. The Sunday-school scholars in
Old Swedes' Church were about passing
a resolution of coincidence with their
teachers orphaned boy when the pastor
was handed a piece of paper bearing
the single word, hastily written: Re
vived.n The neighborhood was soon
thick with rumors, all having for their
purport the coming of the dead to life.
Among those who had an inklino, Of
the facts it was generally agreed that
something not far short of a miracle
had happened. The story is remark
able one.
j. Harry Schrack, once a walt,
merchant, lost nearly all his forSSsSa =
indorsing the notes of others who tsJass !
either ingrates or were Themselves m
fortunate With his only sor, his vile
and two children having ded, he has
for some time past residel in nea
little house on Mary sired. For the
last four months he has ben seriously
ill with nervous spasms # the heart
During the latter part of asst week he
himself gave up all hopes living, and
the attending physician, ID. j. H. Can
trell, expected his patterns death mo-
mentarily.
Apparently Mr.. SchracEdied at twen-
ty minutes of seven o'clCk on Sunday
morning. His limbs became cold and
rigid, his lips colored purple, and
around his mouth was tie blue mark
generally supposed to btoken death.
A hand-mirror was phced over his
mouth, but its shining surface was not
dimmed. His friends md neighbors
who stood around pronounced him
dead and grieved for him. A few
hours afterward the body was com
pletely stripped that itmigAt be pre-
pared for the undertakes hands. Be
fore washing the corpse it was neces-
sary to remove it from the bed. A
neighbor lifted the body, when, to his
alarm, he distinctly heard a feeble
groan. A hurried examination devel-
oped the fact that the man was not
dead. The body was wrapped in blank
cts and bottles of hot water placed be-
tween them. Mr.. Shankland hurried
for the doctor, and, returning quickly,
acted under the instructions he had re-
ceived until the doctor arrived In a
short time Mr.. Schrack had regained
consciousness, and was sitting up in
bed, but more than that, the man who
before was lying at deaths door, and
who was terribly afflicted with disease,
was almost as sound and well asbver
he was in his life. Mr.. Schrack dreaded
the idea of his peculiar case being hadc
public, but, if the particulars Verde be
related, he said, he would p1TSferlln.
ment might be correct. a Times rep
resentative yesterday found him sitting
up in bed, with a bright color in his
cheeks and looking like anything but a
corpse. He spoke in a hoarse whisper,
not the result of his illness, but caused
by his catching slight cold in conse-
quence of the perspiration he was
thrown into by the remedies employed
to revive him. He spoke earnestly of
his experience, but was vivaciOus and
smiling, and at times joked about the
expressions of the doctor when he
found him alive. He tells his story as
follows:
"Last September | had terrible at
tack of hemorrhage of the lungs, and
since then | have not been able to do
anything, except for one period of three
weeks. My health at times was fair,
but three weeks ago | felt that | was
going fast My flesh left my body. My
entire appearance changed. My appe-
tite was gone. Everything swallowed
was at once thrown off my stomach.
Last Thursday a week | felt that l
would have to give up. Ifelt as though
the power of action in my limbs was
leaving me, | was fearful of going to
bed, and so | sat in chair for three
days and three nights. | then made up
my mind that would have to die, and
| asked to be put to bed. Wednesday
night | was taken with something like
a chill and spasms at the heart. After
coming through that seemed to revive
until last Saturday. Every hour dur.
ing that day | experienced q change.
While the right hand would be purple
the left would be white. When the
left hand became dark the right became
white again. The entire left side o
my body was numb and almost useless
About nine o'clock on Saturday nigh
my eyesight began failing me- | los
my hearing and my speech became
thick, my tongue being greatly swollen
| had fully made up my mind that
had to die. At about four O. clock OF
Sunday morning the tips of my finger
became like lead. My sight was nov
entirely gone. My stomach was terri
bly, swollen and was greatly infiamed
Each succeeding cramp was more Sc
we're and reached higher up into thu
stomach. All the passages of m,
throat seemed to be closed. Shortly
before seven o'clock / asked to bc
moved to the foot of the bed. Nv heat
had scarcely touched the pillow when
exclaimed: Throw me overr' an,
them found myself in another land