Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-12-08
LIVED A DUAL LIFE.

J 10 break III upon inc Olulnafy Hulhuiuln
round Of everyday life, the more exhilar-
ating is the aspect which mundane affairs
assume. like to meet with novel adj
ventures, provided, though, they are not
too startlingly sensational, such as one
which befell me in New York in 1866. Ii
was recalled to my mind the other day by
my reading in a paper an account of a
woman who laid in a rance two days
and came very near being buried alive.
l have in my scrap book d clipping from
the New York Herald of August, 1866.
1t refers to the finding of the body of an
unknown man on the outskirts of the
city, and adds that the corpse was lying
at the morgue awaiting identification.
The body referred to was none other
than my own. | was the dead man.
In the year 1865 | left Australia, where
| had been mining with fair success for a
number Of years. | had accumulated
Horace Greeley advice, | travelled cas-,
instead Of west and came to the United
States. From San Francisco | went to
New York. | had a habit of carrying
about 81, 600 on my person all the time,
and was not a bit careful to refrain from
jingling it. One day l met a man on
Broadway who hailed me as a friend,
saying he had me- me in Australia. Be
ing somewhat lonesome, | entered into
a friendly conversation with him. AS it
was near evening / proposed going to
dinner, and we went to u restaurant. He
was a very entertaining talker, and We
had quite a jolly time.
DRowsY FEELING.
AS we went on the street | began to
feel "a very drowsy feeling coming over
me. | could not shake it off. My friend
proposed that we 90 and sit down some
where. He supported me With his arm All
that | can remember next was being
taken somewhere in a hack. From what
/ could learn afterward he must have
taken me to a lonely spot and robbed me
OF every thing | had, and not content with
robbery he must AVE tried to add muir
der 10 mis- crime. | have three scars on
my head TO this day where he struck me
with sone kind OF bludgeon.
When | came to my senses | heard a
strange voice saying; We'll, he's dead. "
/ tried to open my eyes and get a look at
the speaker, but my eyelids remained
fast closed, and the muscles controlling
them refused to work. Then | felt a
warm pressure OF my left wrist as if
some one was feeling my pulse, and in
another visit a harsh voice said: Eyes.
there's not a sign of life" Feeling sure
that was the party referred to [ tried to
sit up, for was lying in a horizontal
position, and remarked as forcibly as |
could that | was not a dead person by
any means. But my jaws refused to
act, and as for assuming an upright atti-
tudc, | just might as well have -ttempted
to jump forty leagues without the aid Of
a pair of those famous boots which the
giants were wont to possess in the DAYS
of Tim Pippin' and Jack O. the Bean
Stalk" | could not move, speak or see.
TAKEN TO THE MoRGUE.
The last speaker suggested that |
should be taken to the morgue. | real
lied that / was in some hospital to
which | had been carried. The persons
around me were evidently doctors, who
had, after an examination decided that /
was dead. oh, if | could make but
one struggle or convulsive movement
to show that was not a corpse. / could
not, though. The horrible truth was
forced upon me, | was III that trance like
condition of which / had often heard. |
would be buried alive. The thought
was agonizing. | held control over all
my faculties, but had not the power to
moye. Thrill after thrill Of horror went
through my cold body as | was being
laid ou at the morgue. When laid on
the marble slab to be gazed at by the
public, | became aware of another
change coming over me. Not only
was | able TO understand what was
said and done around me, but |
could also see and place myself,
as it were, beyond myself. | could see
through a wall. | could stand beside
persons hundreds of miles away. was
in Australia IN my old haunts. felt
that was a spirit and could float through
space like a butterfly, yet l could not
tear myself from my conscious body. |
tried to impress my presence upon others
so that | might tell them of my predica-
ment. / epdeavored to make myself WIS.,
ible in spirit form. Both effects were in
vain. My spirit power was limited.
After about three days | felt myself be-
ing placed in a coffin and heard one OF
the morgue officers remark that ! was TO
be buried in the Pottcr's field. Then [
had not been identified. | remember
making almost a superhuman effort t.
shout or move ere | was closed up in the
coffin. ! cannot describe the awful pangs
of agony | suffered as the wagon bearing
the coffin rumbled over the street to the
cemetery.
BURIED ALIVE.
They were, If it was possible, intensi-
fed when the coffin was thrown into a
hole and the clods Of earth were tossed
in. Each thump against the box sounded
like a cannon discharge. Then in spirit
| stood beside the grave diggers and
watched them cover my body up, hiding
II from the world forever. AT last they
left me. Queer ~fancies began to Cypress
me. | no longer felt the horror of my
situation so acutely. The awful silence
broken at intervals by low, weird
Those are the worms of the
earth crawling" said "a strange voice in
my ear. They are coming to II fresh
feast. Soon the worms" ceased to
crawl and the oppressive silence was un
broken again. In spirit | then wandered