Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-01-01
A Horrible Death.

A Horrible Death.
No doubt the rush, hurry and hustle
of the present day leads to many a
mans burial before life is extinct. The
following from Colorado shows that
care should be exercised in inter nents
and that people should not be buried
until decomposition sets in:
On Sunday. November 80, Louis
Brenuer, 30 years of age, an employe of
South Park railroad shops, was sup
posed to have died from over-indulg-
ence in malt stimulents. His funeral
was set for December 2, under the aus
pices Of one of the local tribes.of Red
Men.
There was nothing unusual about the
services until the coffined body was
placed in the hearse. Then for some
unexplained reason, the horses which
had been used for this purpose for
years refused to go. and became so
unruly that they had to be changed for
another team. When the. c0rsege was
ready 10 move the horse of Henry
Speck. one of the mouners, positively
refused to move, and he was obliged to
procure another animal. To add to the
list of uncommon and uncanny events.
runaway team crossed the funeral
procession on the way to the Riverside
cemetery and collided with a buggy
containing two of the friends of the
deceased. The men escaped injury.
but the buggy was badly damaged. Ar
irving at the cemetery, the coffin was
dropped from the hearse by blundering
attendants, to the disgust of THE
mourners.
Another and more sickening accident
awaited them. AS the coffin was being
lowered into the grave one of the ropes
broke, and for moment the people
were Mortified by seeing the coffil
standing on end In the grave. Accord
ing to the burial services of the Rec
Men it is provided for the liberation o.
a dove from small box placed on th'
4 COluIf JuSt dS tllO ntSb VI 0ik
is thrown into the grave. This wa
| finally done after the coffin had beer
properly placed in the grave. With ::
feeling akin to superstitious terror
some Of the mourners saw the dove
f1utter from its cage and alight at th:
very edge of the grave. 1t would no
take wings until frightened away b.
the men who piled dirt over tbs narrow
home of the supposed deceased. Their
were unusually thoughtful faces in TIT
procession that wended its way slowl.
from the city of the dead. The NOR,
superstitious began to ponder over thu
matter. and finally decided to disinte
the remains. This work was done on'
week ago last Sunday, and to their un
speakaple horros they discovered. a
soon as the lid of the coffin box wa
raised, that the coffin itself was split
and the glass in tie cover was broken
as if the dead had come to life, and il
the unutterable agony of d realization
of his position had struggled with tn
mad desperation of hopeiessness ant
helplessness to free himself from tn
very grasp of a death whose horrors cal
be but 'feebly imagined by the living.
The coffin lid was raised, and the ful
horror burst upon them. The body wa
I lying on its face, the Innings of th
coffin had been torn to threads. th
hair was pulled out of the head. th
arms were bent and the hands S
| tightly clinched that the finger nail
had been sunk into the flesh. The fac
of the dead was distorted from tn
awful struggle through which the maj
had passed, and the cheeks shove
that in his frenzy the man entombe
alive had dug his nails deep into hi
flesh. Horrorstricken at the discover
!, they had made, the friends first mad
sure that life was indeed extinct, an
J then replaced the lid of the coffin, re
filed the grave and left the place.