The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-08-13
Is Deaths a Kindly Clasp?

narration from personal experience OF
| how IL feels to die. is an interesting addi-
| ton to the little We know on matter OF
| preamincnt interest. People who have
| suffered what virtually was death by
| drowning, have described the sensations
of tho struggle and the surrender;
| md a few who havo been hanged into
| ipsepsibility, havo como back to life to
| tell how it feels to die. A European scien-
| tist, too, has lately collected much evidence
at.,ut the sensation felt by persons falling
| from lofty places. The testimony from oil
| these sources Is practically unanimous
that the passing from lfo to death is pain
less. peaceful and usually pleasurable. The
return to consciousness is usually the re-
verse OF these conditions. being often ex-
ceedingly painful. fact which might be
taken by the pessimistic rs an Indication
that it Is better TO die thnn to live.
An interesting case Of man who has
como back from death to life is that OF MI
CHAEL BLUME. who, some weeks ago. was
twice strung up to n beam byn rope around
his neck by mob Of lynchers near Fresno.
California. BLUME was In Jail at Sanger.
near Fresno. ON a charge OF being impli-
Gated in n murder. Feeling against him
ran high. and one night mob Of people
took him from the poorly guarded Jail and
endeavored to eXtort q confession from him.
His hands were tied he was made to stand
on a barrel. and n rope was passed over
convenient beam and fastened in moose
around his neck. He declared he had moth
ing to confess. and after some parley the
barrel was knocked from under him. and at
the same time he was jerked up toward the
l1,& ha lypoharc p,,lliDp On the
A few days later BLUME described his
sensations at the end OF the rope:
| "Iexpected to die. They pushed me on and fel.
my neck crack. Then heard harsh. grating sound.
which now suppose was caused by the ropo being
drawn the beam as the men were hauling mo up
Consciousness was OF very short duration. There was
after my neck cracked. seemed TO be swim.
ming in air that was intensely dark but thought
in some familiar plaza. 1t was like a dream. I
seemed floating away faster and faster. and light
er and lighter. until passed into nothngness.
81 did not know when was let down. returned to
consciousness gradually and as panessy as had
passed away 1t was like vision. very strange and
wonderful, and gradually thought l was returning
from some place. did not know where. and by some
eans. knew not what. Tho first thing remember
was seeing the eyes Of the men who were standing
around me. nothing but their eyes at arst: but
gradually conld their forms and knew that they
men: but s.ill II seemed IKE some dream. At
last came to myself. and was able to get upon my
feet. The rope had been loosened."
Another attempt was made to extort
confession. but the dazed and half dead
man declared he had nothing to confess.
and after a few minutes spent in this way
| the lynchers again stood BLUME on the
barrel and again hauled him up:
"Ithint did not drop SO far Is before At any rate
| my experience was not quite tho same was con
scious of painful and somewhat long struggle. but
| ms grew weak and exhausted quit struggling ami
| experienced the same almost enjoyable sensations
passed painiessly into nothngness My return to
tciousness about the as before except that
an acute sense OF distress was associated with my
other feelings OF diiny seeing and hearing things"
We ourselves have heard similar tcsti-
mOny from Il gentleman of intelligence and
| education. who practically experienced he
| sensations that attend dissolution. He had
been sick with n fever. and to all appear
ances died. He thought he was dying. and
his friends thought no was dead. II he
had really passed into death instead Of into
| the corpsc-like trance from which he sub
| scqucntly revived, he would have suffered
no additional pang. His report was that
the sensation of dying was physically
pleasurable. n relief and a luxury: and all
OF the physical pain and mortal distress
that attended his remarkable experience
were the sensations that accompanied the
struggle back to life.
Such cases confirm tho evidence already
accumulated that the actual grip Of death
is a friendly. kindly clasp. that the pains of
death are like the pleasures of life. greatest
in the anticipation. and however severe tho
struggle may seem to an onookcr. dying Is
as painless. because as natural. US falling
asleep.