The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-04-15
PREFER TO BE CREMATED.
WHY PEOPLE DESIRE TO BE BURNED.
Chicago Urdertakers Tell About the So
crsts of Their Business and tho Pc
culinrities of Their Patrons-Fear
OF Being Buried Alive.

and some one brought up the subject of
persons being buried alive. Two of the
men were well-known undertakes and
one physician.
'It's all 'bosh' about people being buried
alive" said one. You read in the news
papers once in while OF such a case, but
never yet saw n man who had ever seen
such a case. / think the changes in the
position of the body, as is frequently
described after resurrection. are brought
about by the careless handling OF the coffin,
which causes the body to be rolled around
and disarranged."
''Never will any of the bodies buried by
me come to life" remarked one OF the I'M
derta&ers. 81 have a perfect horror of
such an idea. l always fix them so that
there is no danger of such an occurrence
No one will ever say that buried live
person. / started in business in little
town in Minnesota, and one night l was
called to arrange body for burial. The
body was that of a young girl. We
fixed everything all up nicely and
1 went home to bed. The funeral
was during the warm weather and they
wanted to get the body under ground. At
about 3 O'Clock in the morning | was
called again, and what | saw made me
creep. The glrl had come back TO life
and was the liveliest dead person l ever
saw. She was very nervous person and
had gone into n trance, during which she
seemed to be dead. The body had looked
exactly as though in death, and the at
tending physician had declared that life
was extinct. The girl completely recov-
cred, and the last heard Of her she was
married and the mother of large family
l shudder when | think of the conse-
quences if she had been buried and after
ward came to life. To think of her agony
and her suffering in finding herself con-
fined in a narrow box with several feet Of
earth and the solid box cover between
her and continued life. How she would
have endeavored to free herself from the
place only to find her efforts unavaiinQ.
Now, whenever l have body to pre-
pare for burial arrange it in the proper
manner and embalm it. After body is
embalmed there is no danger of it ever
coming to life again. do this for the sake
OF the dead person, its relatives and my
own personal feelings in the matter. the
embalming process is very simple. An in
cision is made in the body, generally in the
abdomen, and he fluids are drawn off.
The arteries of the heart are opened in
some cases and all the blood drawn of.
This is done with a suction pump Then
the embalming fluid is injected into the
veins and this preserves the body. The
embalming fluid is composed principally
OF arsenical properties; arsenic, you know,
acting as preventative OF the body"
YES, in case of man dying from the
effects of arsenic the body lasts longer
and is found in a better state of preserva-
ton if resurrected after some time. In
post norton examinations We find this
always to be the case" said the doctor.
well, L don't believe that peo-
pie are buried alive" said the other
undertaken. Il never yet heard anything
definite of such case. But l used to
have man work for me when l WAS in
business in New York, who had a horror
of such an occurrence. He was a Span
lard. and was one OF the best men l ever
had work for me. One day he was ar
ranging a body for burial when / noticed
q queer movement which he made. 1t
was as though he were striking the body.
When he left the room for
moment 1 turned the sheet down
from the body and right over the heart
was q tiny round red spot. l examined it
closely and saw that an incision had been
made with some instrument. We dressed
another body that night and watched him
very closely to see what he did. Final
IL | saw him draw something from his
breast pocket, and, with a thrust, press it
against the breast of the corpse. l sprang
and seized his arm, which startled him so
that he dropped what he had in his hand.
a h.. L.
than a needle. Ii was about five inches
long and had beautifully jeweled han
die. | asked him what he did that for and
be replied that he always pierced the hearts
of the bodies he prepared for burial. When
in Madrid, where he learned his trade
OF undertaken, he mad become involved in
trouble, as one OF the persons whom he
had prepared for burial had been proved
by a later disinterment to have been
buried alive. The authorities made
trouble over the matter and he nearly lost
his life as the result. He made VOW
that he would never again run such risk,
and he made it point ever afterward to
pierce the heart of anybody he prepared
for burial. 1t had come to be second ma
ture TO him. and he always carried it out
as part of the business. 1t may have
been the proper thing in Spain, but it was
too cold-blooded for me, and had to let
him go.'
81 had patient once who had a terror
OF being buried alive" said the doctor,
land one day he made me promise that
after his body was ready for burial l
would plunge knife into his heart, 80
that he would not run the risk of waking
up in his coffin. The poor old fellow
nearly had fit over the idea, and prom.
Used to do as he requested. The day OF
the funeral came, and l was present to
carry out the wish of the old man. Sew
eral members OF the family entered the
room with me to watch the commission of
the deed. / had slender dagger which
had used as a paper knife, it was a relic
which / had picked up in the East.
opened the clothing on the corpse, put the
point of the knife over the place where the
heart was and struck the handle of the dag
ger with the palm OF my hand. My hair
stood right up on end and / felt as faint as
though l had received sunstroke. l
pulled the knife out, arranged the CLOTH
| ing, and we left the room. When / got
outside found that was wet with per-
| SEPARATION"
didn't you feel like a murderer"
| asked the undertaken.
"Why should II" was the reply. "The
man was as dead as nail. He was a man
no longer. / felt Just as though were
handling piece of lifeless clay. That is
all ii was, anyhow"
| spTha reason that 40 MANY pcrsonz a 70 ha-