Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-02-10
CLARA MUNCE,
DIED JUNE 8, 1854,
Aged Is Years.
"Why, TO whom does this refer??''


asked the reporter.
at refers to me-" replied Miss
Munce quietly. cit was on my
coffin-at least suppose may call
it my coffin, though j was not
buried in it. l occupied it, how
ever for some hours, and had it not
been for the intelligence of lady
who came to attend my funeral /
should have been in it now. My
uncle took it to his home in Chica-
go, where he is fond of showing it
to his friends and telling my story.
i kept the plate, which / seldom
allow any one to see, for the rec
objections it awakens are not pleas
ant.
when l was young girl 1 was
in very delicate health. ] used to
fall into frances, in which / knew
all that was going on around me
and heard every word said in the
room where / lay, but / could not
speak or make the slightest sign of
life. My body grew gradually
colder, but ordinarily aroused my
self with start within ten or fl
teen minutes. The doctor said il
was form of epilepsy, and warned
me that some day or another an at
tack may be prolonged or mistaken
for death. 1t always affected me
under these conditions. After Sleep
ing, as consciousness slowly re-
turned, found myself wide awake,
but unable t0 speak or move.
"After the doctors caution, be-
gan to grow afraid of myself. 1t
was horrible sensation. / dreaded
to go 10 sleep at night, and, though
drOwsiness Overpowered me at last,
/ awoke unrefreshed. During the
day was languid and tired, but
dared not lie down, for l knew by
experience that if / slept by day
light / was almost certain to fall
into trance on awaking. AS a
consequence of all this mental dis
turbance | became seriously ill, and
i was ordered to the country; but be-
fore arrangements were made for me
TO go L was stricken down with
brain fever and my life was des-
paired of.
Nov, before the fever attacked
me, and while / was confined to my
bed by the sickness brought on by
anxiety about my condition, the
frances seemed to disappear. When
l slept L was refreshed, and awoke
at once to full vigor, and not, as
formerly, by slow degrees, to
wretched helplessness and immO-
bility. / think / should have es-
capped the brain fever had it not
been for the doctor. He told me
that the epilepsy was only muster |
ing its forces for an attack more |
vigorous than any had yet expe-
rienced-as storm sometimes lulls |
before il sweeps everything before |
it. He frightened me terribly, and
my brain gave way.
1.-The brain fever was conquered,
but | was very weak-sO weak that |
1 did not rally. The doctor, always
cheerful, said / never would. lay
for days neither asleep nor awake,
but not in trance, for could move
and speak feebly. she may go out
like the snuff of a candle at any
minute said the doctor in my
hearing, and l nearly verified his
prediction by going out at once.
zone day-it was June 2, 1851
felt that ! was really improving.
Life seemed to be coming back TO
me. The doctor had not noticed it,
but | knew by the unwonted dis
tinctness with which the rumble of
the Greenpoint wagons struck upon
my ear that / was gathering new
At last | grew tired, and,
for the first time in several weeks,
| slept sOundly and healthily.
al awOke slowly, and with the
rigor of limb that | knew so well.
An unutterable horror took possess
sion of me, / felt | was in trance
and remembered the good doctors
for laundering. My fears
were well founded, for half an hour
later, when the nurse came to look
at me, I heard her utter a quick eX-
of alarm, and hurrying
away she called my mother and
sisters. The doctor was summoned,
and arrived when all my relatives
i'm the house were around my bed.
He felt my pulse, put his hand upon
my forehead, forced open one of {
my eyes, and examined the pupil, (
little thinking that 1 saw him as
plainly as he 5 W me, and SORROW
'ully remarked:
Il feared it. She is going fast! 1.
oh, the misery of that day and
The night following! On the morn
ng of June 3 my body was cold and
stiff, and, while my mind was as
active as ever, / knew that looked
ike a corpse. My friends thought
ne dead, and when the doctor
anne they stood aside, silent and
and made way for him to I,
.pprdach the bed. He looked at
ne steadily for a few seconds, and {
hen said reverentially:
'Yes, poor creature, she is gone
nd he covered my face with the 8
heet. II
"And this was the man who had
irst told me that an epilePtic fit {
night be so prolonged as TO De mis-
eken for death. Ny Indignation
t that moment ahsointeiy over
covered my fear. Otherwise l
elieye should have died on the
pot. "a =