Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1889-07-06


wen to the house designated and found
a tall and powerful mulatto lying ON
on the floor. The women ex-
planned that the man had entered the
house two hours before, apparently in
great agony, and thrown himself upon
a bed. So evident were his struggles
that, lest he might fall from the bed,
they had placed mattress and man on
the floor He was too heavy for us to
carry easy SO the driver took him By
the feet and grasped the shoulders,
and thus we dragged him TO the stair
S,.ay slid tira Quwn 70 the siecwaik.
and managed to shove him f.es for
most into the wagon through the door
at the rear. When | attempted to
close the door | found that the body
was longer than the wagon. BY rails
ing the head and propping 1t up on
pillow | foreshOrtened the body so
that the door could be shut and fast
ened and drove to my Office, nearly
mile away.
Then came a surprise. On opening
the door to remove the body saw
that the man had rolled over on his
side. This man is alive said to my
attendant, and proceeded to place my
hand on the small of his back, directly
over the kidneys, the place where
natural heat is longest retained. And
sure enough, though the head and
hands were cold as DEATH the back
was quite warm. A patrol-wagon was
summoned and by the time the sup
posed corpse reached the station there
was irregular breathing; few minutes
later the breathing was regular and
natural"
"Did the man recOver?"
"He was taken to the hospital and
lived ten days. buried him then"
"But | must not forget to tell you a
good joke on the late Inspector John
Bonfeld and one that illustrates his
peculiar methods. A year or two ago
drunken man quarreled with street
car conductor, and was pushed or
thrown from the car. He fell on his
back, was rendered unconscious by the
conclusion, pronounced dead by by
ISLANDERS, placed in patrol-wagon,
brought TO my office, and turned over
to me as a corpse. He soon revived
of his own motion and | summoned
another wagon and had him removed
to the police station, where he was
booked rs drunk and disorderly.
| BOniield ordered the arrest Of the con-
| ductor and driver of the car and had
| them locked up. He then informed
the night reporters that murder had
/ boon committed und tnat he had jht
perpetrators under arrest OF course
they came to me for certain partic.
ulars. and the next morning all the
papers publishd the facts. When Bon.
field read the reports he'tele ephoned tC
the station: Kick that driver and con
ductor out They had been held all
night on a charge OF murder while
the supposed victim was quietly sleep
ing of his drunk. The fellow wa,
fined five dollars and costs next morn,
ingn
The many cases of suspended ANNA
tion reported recently have made nery.
Gus people more nervous than before.
There is more fear of being buried
alive than of the grim monster him.
! self To counteract this fear by pro
yiding some certain test that will
| discriminate between permanent and
temporary death and suspended ami
nation medical scientists have long
been striving Electric and galyaniC
batteries have all been tried, as have
all nerve excitants known to the ma.
teria medica, and yet there is positive
proof in the revelations of the toni
that in many instances all have failed
and that the miserable victim has con.
sciously endured the horrors OF torture
OF gradual sutfocation in the grave
Since ante-burial methods have failed
latterly attention has been directed tC
the possibility of devising a way by
which a person actually buried alive
can inform the outer world of his ter.
ribe condition and be rescued. Two
| years ago letters patent We're granted
to two Chicago men, whose invention
consists of an apparatus having one OF
more electric circuits and an indicator
and alarm located therein and one OF
more burial caskets and make-and.
break devices located in the caSkets,
connected with the circuit wires and
arranged to be operated by a move
ment OF the body within the casket
also of an air or gas reservoir arranged
| in connection With @the easket and
operated by the circuit to furnish 6
supply of air or life-supporting gas tC
the body within. 1t is claimed that ,
motion Of foot or an arm to the ex
tent of one thirty-second of an inch
whether by contraction or expansion
will sound the alarm. The design
intended to supply fresh air in cases o.
resuscitation consists of magnet
shaped cylinder, the armatures being
on either side Of the head, and it is
opened simultaneously with the sound.
ing of the alarm. This will prevent
sutlocation until a rescue is effected.
In case of an alarm the ordinary
process of shoveling out the earth
might be too slow, hence provision is
made for more speedy work. About
one foot above the casket is plate on
which the earth rests, To this are at
tached iron uprights extending above
the surface of the ground and termi-
mt iptr in bnnl,u tp ~ hinh ba,.,, ,,,,.,