Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1893-01-20
To Be Buried Alive!


To have crop of barley sown, ripen-
ed and reaped from his grave!
And then to be dug up and brought
back to consciousness
Sounds so impossible as to seem silly,
doesn't it?
And yet this is precisely the expert
ence which an Illinois man proposes to
go through, says the Utica Globe of this
week. This man is none other than
Prof AndrewJ. Seymour, who is now
filling an engagement at the Musee
Theatre in Wheeling. The GLOBE goes
on tosay: Everybody has read of those
remarkable men known as the Fakirs
| of India.
Some enterprising gentlemen of a
speculative tendency having determined
to bring from India one or more of these
Fakirs and have them perform their
wonderous feat at the Worlds Fair.
Andrew J. Seymour, the famous mind
reader" has concluded to demonstrate
that he has such control over his mind
and nervous system that ne can perform
the feat himself.
Mr.. Seymour is native Of Somerville,
Butler county, Ohio, and is ~ years old.
His home is at Pecatonica, Winnebago
county, and he has been before the
public as an entertainer for about III
years. His power Of control over his
mind has constantly grown. He is able
to control his own pulse, sending it up
or down at will, and can suspend all
apparent animation for long periods.
The feat which he proposes to accom-
pliSh next Summer will, however, cast
into the shade anything he has so far &C
compGshed. He admits that there is
an element of danger in it, but is con-
fdent that he will come through the or.
deal all right.
Mr.. Seymour now has most of his ar
~ ngements made. On the 2Ist of June
he will be at 4 place already selected,
near his home, and only a few miles
from Rockford, and at that time he will
place himself in the care ola committee
of citizens who will see that he does pre-
cisely what he promises, preventing the
possibility of fraud or collision. He
will then throw himself into a state Of
insensibility, purely by the force of will
power. So complete will be this sus-
pension of animation that even the
most able medical man will be unable
to say that any life exists, without, of
course, applying the most rigid tests.
This condition reached, his tony ue will
be drawn out to its utmost limit, and
thec turned and folded bac < into his
throat in such manner a., to prevent
the faintest particle of air. reaching the
lungs by way Of the mouth. His nose
and ears will be sealed with wax. His
apparently ifeless body will then be
placed, IN sack so oiled and sealed as
to render it positively air tight Then
he will be put into grave several feet
deep and the grave filed in the regular
way.
During the entire operation he will
be closely watched by the committee,
who will be able to assure the public
that there is no optical delusion or 9TH
er deception about the operation. The
ground over the grave, in common with
the rest of the field, will then be pillow ed
up and sowed with barley. After this
seed springs up, ripens and is harvested,
the grave being meantime watched night
and day, Mr.. Seymour will be! disinter-
red, the wax taken from his ears and
nostrils, his tongue replaced in its nat
ural position, and he will return to life
as we'll as ever except for the Temporal
ry efforts of lying in one position for so
long time.
This remarkable feat has never been
performed in any country with the e1-
Ception of India, but that it has been
repeatedly. accomplished there is be-
You'd question. If Mr.. Seymour per-
forms the feat he is to receive SIoo, 900,
and if he comes out dead, S25, 900 is to
be paid his relatives.