Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-09-02

down, but | coald not bend a toe or crook
finger. However, it was only after the
doctor had pronounced me dead that I
felt any alarm. Up to that time it had
seemed as if could soon manage to get
rid of the weight. Had a pistol been
fired in the room I am sure the spell
would have been broken. After the doc
tors ultimatum I felt that I should be
buried alive. But was [ alive? All of a
sudden this query flashed over my brain,
and | was troubled more than | can tell
you. As I had never died before, how
was I to know the sensation? Could
the dead hear and think? Was the mind
of a corpse in operation? 1t was a
problem I could not solve.
''Not word was spoken near me, which
[ did not catch and fully understand.
There was a great deal of weeping, and
I failed to satisfy myself as to the cause.
[ had died, but it did not seem as if this
was a sufficient excuse. When my wife
bent over the coffin and sObbed and griev-
ed, and refused to be comforted, did not
feel bad with her. On the contrary. her
action surprised me. When the two other
doctors pronounced me dead [ made up
my mind that I was dead, and that the
end had come. | had been taught to be-
lieve that the spirits of the dead assembled
to heaven, and that the dead were dead in
mind as well as body. 1t was a base de-
ception. [ felt indignant that it was so.
LAS an instance of the acuteness of my
hearing, let me explain that after [ was
placed in the coffin the receptacle was
moved over to an open window III the
parlor, where it was supported on saw
horses. Two of my neighbors took seats
on wagon-box in barnyard fully
two hundred feet away, and for an hour
conversed of my death in ordinary tones
or voice. [ did not miss a single word Of
the conversation, as both afterward adj
mitted. I could hear every tick of the
kitchen clock, and much of the converse
tions of the women in the upstairs
rooms.
con the night previous to the funeral,
about hatf past 10 o'clock and while the
TAO men sitting up with the corpse we're
reading, [ heard two men climb the fence
in the barnyard, and enter the barn. At
ter few minutes they came out, and
heard the jingle of something carried by
one of the pair. I could not make out
what was gong on, but learned after
ward. The two men stole horse from a
field opposite my barn and they entered
my premises in search of bride.
Il heard the people assemble for the
funeral, and as I caught word from this
one or that one, I identified them by
name to myself. [ listened closely to the
sermon, but when the minister spoke of
me [ could not take it as personal. It
was as if the name and person belonged
to someone I had known long ago. |
knew when was carried out and placed
in the hearse, and I am certain that I
heard the clatter of the team running
away before anybody sighted them.
When the people began to call out in af-
fright felt that same fear of being hurt
that any live man does. [ heard them
trying to back the hearse out of the way
to let the team go by, but they were not
quick enough.
GAS the collision came my eyes opened
and my speech was restored, and from
that moment was all right"