The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-03-31
ALMOST BURIED ALIVE.
JOSEPHINE RYMAN's HORRIBLE EEXPERIENCE
WHILE LYING IN \ TRANCE.

ir this place. Her parents died some years .
ago, and Josephine went to work in St I
James, a little village near here. One Sat /
urday evening last winter she went to sing |
ing school. She had not been in her seat I.
long when she felt a strange sensation about /
the head, accompanied by pains in the back /
She arose to her feet, az if to start ont Of the
church, when she fell in a dead faint. and
was carried home. Her friends at first
Thought that the attack was mere fainting
spell. and the usual restoratives were applied. /
hut the girl continued to lie as if dead. Tie
body became colder and colder, the eyes were
open and staring the lips were apart, there
was no perceptible pulse and every indica-
tion pointed to death. Physicians pro
nOunred life extinct The priest was sent
for to administerthe last rites, and the weep
ing sisters and friends Of the family prepared
to bid Josephine the last farewell. The cot.
fin was ordered, busy fingers began to pre-
pare the white clothes in which to bury the
corpse, and. in fact, every preparation was
made for the final scene.
Thus passed Monday. On the evening of
that dav there was a slight change i'm the ap-
pearance Of the body. which gave the startled
watchers a faint hone that the girl Law in a
trance and that this was but deaths conn
terfeit The body lay on its back. with arms
folded lust as the attendants had placed it.
There was not the least perceptiblp breath
ing, the eyes still had that stony. unmeaaing
gaze the face was as paHid as white 4; but
the fcfness of real death was wanting. The
feet and limbs were not warm, but they did
not have that chilly touch that is a sure ac-
compartment of actual dissolution. There
was sufficient doubt in the minds Of those in
attendance to warrant caution. and 50 auoth-
pr dav and night passed. On Wednesday. OF
, the fourth day after the girl was stricken
/ down, the priest was sent for. After criti-
/ callv examining the case and consulting with
the physician. he said: cts n trance She
may come 20 herself but it will be but mo-
mentary. When she relapses all will he over.
She can't live" Accordingly the funeral
was set for the next DAY. IMAGINE the feel
ings Of horror whicl, possessed this girl wheh
. II is known that she was cognizant Of every
word that was spoken in that room. and
could see the forms of her friends and watch
ers about her couch. Her terrible situation
is best told by herself. She said TO me yes
terday:
"Oh, sir, it was horrible As I Law there
on my hack stretched ont on the boards. with
my arms crossed and feet tied together with
the lighted candles about my head. and could
see my sisters and neighhors come and peer
into my face, it was awful Nv body and
limbs were as cold as ice I thought of the
agony of beiEg buried alive. of being nailed
in a coffin and lowered into the ground. I
7 IL 1 -.
little, 70 let them know that was alive hut
it was impossible. saw my sisters come in
one by one and look into nv face. Poor
( Josie she's gone Their tears dropped on
nv hair, and their kisses were warm on my
lips. As they turned to leave me it seemed
/ as if I must make an effort to attract their
attention. if only by moving my eyeli1s.
But I couldn't do it. I felt like screaming.
I tried to hut couldn't move a muscle The
priest came in and felt my arms and wrists.
He shook his head. Then he placed his ear
to my heart. IT was no use. He could not
hear it beat. After saying short prayer for
the repose of my souI, he too turned and left
me, and my agony and horror were redoub-
led. viii no one find out that live p said
/ l to myself Must be buried ONLY to wake
. l
( life when they put me in the vault, ana all
I Of the people have gone away. only to die of
/ fright and horror and suffOration p The
| thought was madness. why don't the doc
/ tor do something to bring me to myself I
am not dead . It was no use. There I Law
/ thinking and listening To every word that
was said. I cOnld hear a woman giving di-
rections as to the making of the shroud
/ heard the time set for the funeral and all.
could see every one who came in to look at
me. / tried to look conscious, and let them
know I understood it all. but it was impossi-
bic. 1t is a wonder didn't die of fright and
agony. often think that would sooner
die, thousand times sooner. than go through
that experience again.
'Finallv, when all was ready, when the
shroud was finished, and all had left the room
but two or three, some one said, Amt you
going to cut her hair off o NV hair was done
up in long braids and fell down my back.
Yes said my sister, wei cut it off now
Then they got the scissors and came up to
me. While one of them took hold of my head
and turned it to one side, the one with the
scissors began the cutting. ! could feel the
cold steel on my neck. ] realized that this
was the last thing they'd do before putting
me in the coffin. The woman began to clip,
and in a second or two one long braid of hair
was taken off and laid aside Ny head was
then turned the other way to allow them to
get at the other braid, but this was not
touched. Thank God, something in my con-
dition or some movement. I don't know what
it was, caused my sister to scream, and was
saved. The scissors dropped to the floor
with loud noise the woman jumped back
nearly scared to DEATH and I sat up. You
should have seen that house n little while
after that. I thought everybody had gone
crazy 'Venie's alive FVenie's alive = The
whole neighborhood came rushing in as soon
as they heard of it. and for several days theer
was nothing talked about but me. Ny folks
thought did not understand what had been
going on Little they thought that every
word spoken in that room was heard and
understood by me. They tried to keep every
body from referring to the fact that my
shroud was bought, the coffin ordered, and
the funeral arranged. They made an excuse,
too for part of my hair being cut of. They
told me that the reason of it was that plas-
ter had been put on the back Of my neck, and
my hair got so tangled in it that it had to be
cut away I didn't say anything One day
nv little brother said to me 'Venie, you
was going to be buried last Thursday, and
they cut your hair of He never imagined
that I knew more about it than he did. The