Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-03-21
SAVED BY LAUGHING,
The GhaStly Experience of n Disconsola
New Orleans Widow

The GAastly Experience of n Disconsolate
New Orleans Widow.
II don't think ever heard of any thing
quite so CHASTITY as the experience MIS-
j mustn't give her right name-Mrs. Gra-
ham, of New Orleans, had a number Of
years ago, observes a contr ibutor to the
Chicago Times. 1 am pretty sure it has
never been told in print, though it is true
in every particular, except as to the
names. A small party of US had been
trayeling through the Holy Land, and had
Just gone over into Egypt, where Mr..
Graham, a man of wealth and culture, met
with an accident that cost him his life.
OF course we all were terribly shocked,
and as for poor Mrs. Graham, she was
utterly inconsolable. As soon as she came
out of the swoon into which she fell when
she first heard the dreadful news, she sat
and rocked herself to and fro and wrung
her hands in the most exquisite grief. We
did every thing and said every thing we
could think of, but nothing consoled her
in the least,
FINALLY it was decided that we should
have the body embalmed and start for
home with it as soon as possible. l was
deputed to find an undertaken, and 1 want
TO say right here that, however much the
ancient Egyptian used to know about en-
balming, the modern knows but very
little. After almost day's aearch sue.
ceeded, however, in finding a man who at
least said he could fix the body SO that it
should be preserved for several months.
When he had completed his work we placed
the remains in an air. tight burial case.
which we then inclosed in box. Thus it
was taken on shpboard, and we all set out
for home. During all this time poor Mrs.
Graham called constantly for her hus-
band, and would not be comforted.
We were all fearful that she would
lose her reason. 4he ships doctor
aid every thing he could think
OF, but as soon as she came out from under
the influence of his opiates she resumed
her moaning calls for her husband. We
told her that Mr.. Graham could not come
back; that all that remained of his ,oorfal
self was in the box. Then she pleaded to
be taken % the box. On advice of the
doctor we had the box brought into the
cabin, aud Mrs Graham knelt down be-
side 1t and rocked backward aud forward
IN her agony, praying aloud to the Lord
to open the coffin and give back her dear
husband to her.
"fhen followed the most marvellous and
awful thing l ever heard of, and vet.
awful and CHASTITY as it is, never can
think of 1T without laughing. There was
a crash and report that filed the cabin.
and before we could imagine what il was.
Mrs Graham was hurled back several
feet upon the floor, and the air was flied
With pieces of the box, and of the coffin
and OF the corpse. That Egyptian under.
taker bad embalmsd the body with some
sort OF chemicals that had fesmented. and
the corpse had exploded. It had blown
into thousand pieces all over the cabin.
In an instant Mrs. Graham, who was not
hurt at all. took in the whole situation.
and saw how it had all happened. and
right in the midst OF her terrible grief the
rldicuiousness OF the thing struck her.
ana she burst out in laughter. As soon
as We gathered our scattered senses we
lhought that now she had surely become
maniac, but In little while we learned
tnat u was genuine aud sane laughter.
Sne had many crying spell after that,
Dut as soon as she began to weep she ran
away Tor her tears were always the har-
binger of laughter which she could not
control and did not want to display. The
doctor said that explosion probably
saved her reason-p