The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1890-06-13
HORRIBLE If TRUE.
A Grave Yard Story from the
Windy City.
WAS GUS CANTOR BURIED ALIVE2


The Hair-Raising Narrative Told Iby q
Grave Digger-Knecks Heard from a
Coffin After IL Had Been Partly Cow
cred with Earth-what Was Seen Upon
Removing the Lid-Ewidence OF a strug-
gle for Life.
CHICAGO, June 1.-The Journa prints
the following fearful story.
Gustav Cantor is supposed to have died
at st. Elizabeth's hospital Feb % On
that day he became unconscious, and the
physicians gave burial certificate aileg-
ing heart failure as the cause of death.
The funeral occurred two days after this,
and it is said that knocks were heard in
side the coffin after it had been covessd
with earth to the depth of a few inches.
John Steir is a large, innocent-looking
German, who does odd bits of work around
Montrose and Irving Park, and oCbasion-
ally digs graves at the cemetery. Feb. %
last he was passing by the burial ground
when he was called in by Superintendent
Miller, who was standing by grave all
alone.
.John Steir's Awful Story.
Steir, in speaking of what followed. He
had thrown several spadesful of earth into
the grave.
AT believe that mans alive said he; Il
heard a noise in the coffin; listen
ave both bent down our heads and lis
tened as intently as we could. AS I'm a
living man we heard a sound as il some
one was knocking on the coffin lid. The
knocks were perfectly plain, but the sound
was duh and muffied, because the coffin
was partly covered with dirt. There was
water in the grave and it was gradually
filling up. The knocks were repeated sew
eral times and then the water covered the
coffin and all was quiet. i suppose the
man was drowned and could not make an
other attempt for life"
Frightened Ont of Their wits.
"Didnt you raise the coffin and look at
the body?"
"No. Both Miller and were frightened
nearly to death, and when the noise stopped
Miller thought it best to proceed with the
burial. But I tell you it was an awful ex-
perience to stand upon the edge of that
grave and listen to the sounds that issued
from it as they gradually grew fainter and
fainter. i suppose we must have been par
alyzed by fear and did not have possession
of our senses or we would surely have
taken up the body
The Coffin Opened Too Late.
HThe next day saw Miller again. He
was as pale as ghost. He told me that
he had recovered his senses shortly after
left the grave, and that he exhumed the
body. AS he broke open the coffin there
were evidences that frightful struggle
had gone on within it. The man was
twisted all out of shape and his hands
were clutching his hair. Upon his face
was the most horrible expression of agony
that was ever seen. have no doubt that
Cantor was alive when he was lowered to
the bottom Of the grave, and that he did
not die until after the coffin was covered
up by the earth and water"
Miller's Partial Denial.
Superintendent Miller was in a very
nervous condition when asked about the
matter by a reporter His hand trembled,
his voice shook, and he turned from red to
pale and back to red again. He was 10th
to speak of the matter at all, and when he
did it was simply to deny the story.
81 did tell Steirs," said he, "that 1 heard
a sound from the coffin, but l only did it |
for joke in order to scare him."
Steir, however, makes the statement
that he heard the knocks upon the coffin
lid himself, and that he could not have |
been deceived