Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1890-05-28
A RUSSIAN HORROR.
A Peasant Comes to Life IN tho Grave ana
*!9 10 Then Murdered.

8 . So
A Peasant Comes to Lie IL the Grave ana
5.4 IL Then Murdered.
A very lurid light has just been
thrown upon the life and superstitions
Of the Russian peasantry BY the per-
petration OF grewsoue crime in the
name Of what they take to be Chris.
tianity. A rich, popular farmer died
rather suddenly In the village Of Soor-
ofisky. He had been seen in the enjoy.
ment Of excellent health Thursday, and
was found dead in his bed Friday morn
ing. He was prayed for and duly
''waked," after which he was carried to
the grave. Almost all the inhabitants
OF the village, inclusive of tho priest,
followed him to the churchyard. just
as the body was being lowered the lid,
which had been fastened rather
loosely with wooden. nails, began
to rise up slowly and detach itself from
the coffin, to the indescribable horror Of
the friends and mourners Of the de-
ceased. Then the dead man was seen
in his white shroud, stretching his arms
upward and sitting up. At this sight
the grave-diggers let 20 the cords and
along with the bystanders fled in terror
from the spot. The supposed corpse
then arose, scrambled out OF the grave,
and, shivering from the cold (the NOR
curry was twodegrees below zero, Fairy,
made for the village as fast as his
feebleness allowed him. But the vii
layers had barred and bolted them
selves in against the "wizard," and no
one made answer to the appeals he
made, with chattering teeth, to be ad-
mitted; and so, blue, breathless, trem-
bling, he ran from hut to hut like rat
In burning room, seeking some es-
cape from death.
At last fortune seemed to favor him,
and he CHANGED on hut, the inmate of
which was an old woman who had not
been to the funeral, and, knowing moth
ing of his resurrection, had left her
door unbarred. He opened it and en-
tered, and, going up to the stove, seemed
as If he would get inside it if he could.
Meanwhile the peasants gathered to-
gether, armed themselves with poles
and stakes of aspenwood, the only
effectual weapons in fight with
''wizard," and surrounded the cabin. A
few Of those whose superstition was
modified by faith in the merits of mod
ern improvements also took guns and
pistols with them, and, the door being
opened, the attacks Of these Christians
against this ''devil's ally" began. Tho
miserable man, dazed by all that had
happened that morning, and suffering
from cold and hunger, was soon over
powered, and his neighbo:s, with many
pious ejaculations, trsnsfxed him,
though alive and unhurt, with holy aspen
stakes to the ground in the court before
the hut. When things had reached
this point the priest, who had recovered
somewhat from his terror, came upon
the scene, with a half-developed idea
that perhaps after all the alleged corpse
had been plunged in lethargic sleep
and might recover and live as BEFORE
But he found the unfortunate man
pinned down to the earth with the aspen
pales, with no manner of doubt about
his death. The police superintendent
(Stanovoy), who lived close by, then ar
rived, and also saw the murdered man,
and made inquiry into the manner of
his death.-St Petersburg Cor. London
Telegraph.