The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-12

irtltt OF wales, ten. eufuru. sir
Claude Wade. Col Julius Medley, thelast
three named high rank officers OF the
British army, the latter the commander
Of the British forces az Lahore The
burial witnessed by Gen. Ventura and
Sir Claude Wade, reported by c. w. Os-
borne, military secretary Of the court of
Rungeet Singh, India. was for "a period
sufficiently long for crop OF barley to
ripen upon the grave from the seed That
witnessed by Col Medley and his staff
was for a period of forty days, the grave
being guarded in the strictest manner by
British soldiers. at the end OF which
period the buried mans coufreres re-
turned and eXhumed and resuscitated
him
Still later we have the authoritative
statement of Archibald c. LeWelyn a
sturdy Briton, who having been an eve
witness to a live burial, for a long period
states that the remarkable power of the
oriental adopts to bury themselves for
months has not been exaggerated in the
least. He says: ''When first went TO
India, some years ago, like every other
white man, / was absolutely incredulous
as to the ability of any man on earth to
be Theoretically sealed in box and buried
under ground for six months, or even six
hours, for that matter One day NV
dhinga told me of fal1ir who had lust
81.
perform the feat. After a great deal Of
ceremony, and by dint of a liberal bride,
we set about to bury the yellow-skinned
old rascal. He was not a very lOvabe
object, and / would have about as little
trouble on my conscience in killing him
as any human being | ever saw; but
felt like an accessory to a murder as we
lowered him into a trench in my garden
and heard the PUNK of earth upon his
q IN ha, do.
head to foot. He had drawn himself up
into a ball, had rolled back his tongue
into his throat, stuffed his ears and nos
trils with soft wadding, and was ap-
parently dead in ten minutes after he be-
gan his final preparations. | put a white
guard over that grave night and day for
six months. At the end of that time, as
agreed, the natives gathered together and
| sent for the officers OF our mess and we
dug him up. If had seen Moses resur-
rected, if Julius Caesar were to walk
down Pennsylvania avenue, / would not
be more astonished than was when | saw
that fakir. He was covered with mold
and, while perfectly inanimate, had not
decayed. In about three hours ne had
fully recovered and was chanting the
praises of Buddha."
Incredible as the statements of Mr.. Os-
borne, Col Medley and A. c. LeWellyn
may seem, and surprising as were the
revelations and strongly pronounced as
were the declarations of 'simpossible" at
the time such facts are now accredited
by the medical literati of Europe and this
country
How long period a person can remain
in a condition of suspended animation.
buried six feet under ground, only the
record of eternity can reveal. 1t is in
evidence that person can be buried suf-
fciently long for crop of barley to ripen
on his grave.
The Quincy Qll.) Herald gave the par
ticulars of a new, startling, strange, and
to the ordinary mind, mysterious phe-
nOmenon concerning the secrets of the
grave. 1t stated that twenty-one years
ago the apparently lifeless body of Miss
Flora Hume was brought from st. Paul.
Mimi, to Colchester and buried In the
Argyle cemetery, and that recently the
coffin was disinterred and that on opening
it it was found that the body had escaped
the ravages of time to the extent that
the features were readily recognized by
relatives, there existing no discoloration
of the face, the form full and round
and looking as though it might have
been buried only few hours Now, if
the facts are as stated-and it requires
no great stretch of credulity on my part
to believe them-there is but one solution
of the problem, and that is, that at the
time of disinterment Flora Hume was not
dead, but alternating, and further, it is
my belief, il only require the wisdom and
power of high caste Indian Yogi to
awaken her out of that sleep,
Lizards, serpents, toads, etc, have
been exhumed from solid granite rocks,
where they have lain entombed thou
sands Of years, deprived of food water
and air When found, a few hours of ex-
posture to sunlight have restored them to
normal conditions.
If we class the magi among alternating
animals, then the facts and phenomena
attending their interment alive for six
months are no more mysterious than for a
hog to be buried in the chalk cliffs of
Dover for 140 days, or for a bear to cast
himself in a death trance on the approach
OF winter, and remain so for four months,
deprived of food, water and air, without
the extinction of the vital principle. One
is no more marvellous than the other.
Some suppose that alternating animals
live on the Gisintegration of their own
tissue as do forty days fasters. Not so.
The bear emerges from his win
ter quarters without loss of flesh,
put rapidly loses it, so much so
that in a few days he is reduced to
a mere skeleton. If the bear can hibern-
ate for months without the loss of flesh,
does II require a great stretch of credul-
ity to believe that under the same condi-
tons his sleep might be prolonged in
definitely ] think not. If this reason
ing is logical then the fakirs buried alive
might, if the conditions remained undis-
turbed, prolong their Information to a
period corresponding in length to the
legendary sleep of Rip Van Wrinkle, and
remain, like Flora Hume, twenty-one
years in an alright coffin and buried six
feet under ground withal
In view of the facts and testimony here
presented, what ground is there for in
credulity as TO the possibility of a girl
lying buried in a snOwdrift fifty-one days
and coming out alive.