Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-03-30
The Terr0rs of q Trance.

lhe following il the horrible mcn.
tai aud physical experience Of Mis-,
Jo-cphine kyman, Il handsome youpg
lady Of Evansville, Indiana, who /.
just recovering from severe lines.
| during which she was, while IN trance
pronounced dead for three DAYS. and
/ all preparations made for her inter
mr"t She relates the circumstance.
with thrilling eXactue-s Of detail
"Oh, sir, il was horrible. AsI Law
there on my back, stretched out on
the boards, with my arms crossed and
feet tied together, with the lighted
candIc- about my head, aud could rec
my sisters and neighburs come and
/ peer into my iacc,it was awful. heard
every word spoken. Nv BODY. limb.
and arms were n cold a. ice. thought
OF the agony Of being buried alive, Of
being nailed in coffin and lowered in
the ground. ! tried to make some
noise, or move just little, TO let them
know that was alive. but it was i'm.
/ possible. saw my sisters come in one
I hy one and look into my face. Poor
Josie, she's gone Their tears drop.
ped on my hair, and their kisses were
warmth TO my lips. As they turned
to leave me ii seemed a, If must max.
an effort 10 attract their attention, If
only by moving my cyclids. But
couldn't do it. felt like screaming.
! tried 10, but | couldn't move mus.
Gle. The priest came in and felt my
arms and wrists. lie shook his head
Then be placed his ear 10 INV heart.
|. was no use. lie could not hear it
beat. After saying a prayer for the
repnse OF my soul he too turned and
left me. and my agony and horror wa.
redoublcd VIII 10 one find out that
| liycF | said to myself Must
be buried only to wake when it i too
late: Must ! come back TO life when
they put me IN the vault. and all Of
the people have gone away. only to
die Of fright and horror aud ,uhcaliou :
The Thought was madness WHY
doc-n't the doctor do something 10
bring me to mysclfF | am not dead.
1t was no Use. There | lay thinking
aud listening to every word that was
-aid. ] could hear a woman giving
directions as 10 the making of the
shroud. | heard the time sci for the
funeral and all, | could see every
one who came to look at me. tried
TO look conscious aud let them know
that understood it all, but it was i'm.
possible. Ii was a wonder / did not
die OF fright aud agony often think
that | would sooner die, n thousand
times sooner, than 20 through that cx-
peiicnce again.
Finally. when all was ready, when
the shroud was finished and all had
left the room but two or three, some
one said 'Ain't you going to cut her
hair OFF, Ny hair was done up in
long braids aud fell down my back.
Yes, said my sister, well cut it off
now Then they got the scissors and
came up 10 me- While one of them
took hold Of nay head and turned it to
one side the one with the scissors be.
gan the cutting. ] could feel the cold
steel on my neck. | realized that this
was about the last thing they'd do be.
fore putting me in the coffin. The
woman began to clip, and in a second
or two one long braid of hair was ia.
ken off and laid aside. NV head was
then turned the other way to allow
them 20 get at the other braid. but this
was not touched Thank God some.
thing in my condition or some move.
meut, don't know what it was, caus-
ed my sister to scream, and | was saw.
ID. The scissors dropped to the floor
with loud noise, the woman jumped
backed nearly scared TO death, and |
sat up. You should have seen that
house a little while after that. | |
thought everybody had gone crazy.
'Venie's aliver The whole neighbor. !
hood came rushing in as soon as they |
heard of it, and for several days there |
was nothing talked about but me.
NV folks thought ! didn't know 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 everybody from
referring to the fact that my shroud
was bought, the coffin ordered and the
funeral arranged They made an ex-
cuse, too, for part of my hair being
cut off They told me the reason of it
was that a plaster had been put on
the back Of my neck, and my hair got
50 tangled in il that it had TO be cut
away. ! didn't say anything One
day my little brother said TO me, We.
ME, you was going 20 be buried last
Thursday, and they cut your hair off,
lie never imagined that ! knew more
about that than he did. The recollec.
ton Of those terrible days and nights
will never leave me. | pray to God
that may never be CALLED upon TO
a = II - /