The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-04-11
Tale of a Man Who
Was Buried Alive.
The Awful Sensation of
Sepulture.
A Kansas Man Saved by DisputatiOus
Doctors Who Wr-u.i F:r
the Dissecting able.

SGCIluS IOOlll, 10 LhC oStoeAA SAPNA1SNS |
of George Hayward, an Independence |
ieweler. Although years have elapsed
since he was lowered gently into his |
grave. the memory of the moment |
when the undertaken screwed down
the lid of his coffin, shutting out the
sunlight, and the sensation he felt as
he was lowered into the grave, while
a funeral dirge was being chanted by
the village choir, still remains to him
as a horrible dream. He was con-
scious from the time he was pro-
nounced dead until he was snatched
from the grave by the medical fra
ternity and laid on the dissecting ta-
BILE in the interest of science
Mr.. Hayward still retains the grim
recollection of hearing the damp
earth falling on the coffin lid, a mourn
full accompaniment to the sObS OF rel
atives. He was unable to help HIM
self or make sign, and, knowing
this, his agony was at times intense.
His greatest agony of mind occurred
when the sexton rounded up his grave
on top and the sound of receding foot
steps smote his ear. Mr.. Hayward
SAYS that at this moment he fell into
the dreamy sensation peculiar to
drowning man. How long he remained
but his sense of living again came
over him when he heard a scraping
on his coffin lid some little time after
he had been buried.
Mr.. Hayward is man So years of
age. For years he has been in the
jewelry business at Independence.
and at present conducts a shop on
South Main street. He has the belief
that many people are buried alive,
and his own experience has tendency
to confirm this belief. To a Journal
representative Mr.. Hayward yester-
day related his burial and resurrection
with the unconcern of a man who does
not fear death.
"It was in Marshville, England,
county Worcestershire, where I was
buried" said Mr.. Hayward, very grim
ly. "My father had large family of
boys, and he raised us all on the
farm near the village. 1 was quite
young, and it was my chief delight to
go to the fields with my older broth
ers. In those days the farmhouses
were surrounded with big yards filled
with straw. This straw was allowed
to rot, and in the fall of the year it
was loaded onto wagons and carted
to the fields as fertilizer. 1t was a
the fields, and I ran ahead of the
horses. The horses in England are
not driven with reins, but they follow
the command of the voice. After
reaching the field, the pitching of the
stray commenced. The men used hop
picks, which are fashioned somewhat
after heavy pitchfork. While stand
ing near one of the hands, by acci-
dent I was struck on the head with
one Of the picks. 1t penetrated my
skull and at the time made me feel
faint and dizzy. My injury was not
considered serious. After returning
to the house 1 was sent into the cellar
and, much to my surprise, could see
in the dark as well as in the light
After coming from the cellar my
strength failed me and 1 was soon
bedfast. Two doctors were called
One Of them insisted that my condi.
tion was due to the blow on the head
the other that 1 had pleurisy At any
rate, two weeks elapsed and my eyes
closed in supposed death.
1T was death as far as my relatives
were concerned. Yet I was painfully
conscious of every movement going
on around me. My eyes were hall
closed, and as was laid out heard
my elder brother John, walk into the
house. I saw him approach the cot
with tears in his eyes, and sympathiz.
ing friends consoled him by asking
him to dry his tears. He is gone.
they said, and other similar express
slons We're used around the bier. Well
known faces would peer down at me
as l lay with my eyes half closed
Tears rained on my face as the burial
shroud was wrapped around my body
AS soon as the undertaken arrived /
knew that l was to be buried alive
Try as I would, nothing could break
the spell which bound me. Every ac.
tlon and every word spoken are as
distinct to my mind now as then.
well, the time for the funeral ar.
rived, and the service was preached
over my living but rigid body. The
undertaker approached and the lid of
my little prison house was fastened
down. Life seemed all but gone when
this took place, but, as 1 stated, nc
effort of mine could break the spell
Inc coffin was showed into the wagon
and the trundling of the vehicle
sounded In my ears. ! was painfully
conscious of the fact that I was soon
to be lowered into my grave. Strange
as it may seem, at times did not fee]
fear at my impending fate. The cof.
nm was taken out of the wagon and
lowered into the grave. In those days
boxes were not used as a receptacle
Tor the coffin. The clods of earth fell
heavy on the lid of the casket. There
was being entombed alive, unable tc
speak or stay the hands Of my friends
My effort to move proved futile. and
the close air OF the coffin seemed
sitting to me. Suddenly the shoyeIina
ceased, and the silence of the toni
was complete. I did not seem to have
the fear then that a person would
naturally expect under such circum
stances. All l remember is that the
grave is lonely place, and the silence
OF the tomb was horribly oppressive
A dreamy sensation came over me
and sense of suffocation became
apparent. My whole system was par
alyzed; were it otherwise my struggles
would have been desperate
"How long 1 remained in this con
dition do not know. The first sense
of returning life came over me when
I heard the scraping of spade on
my coff1nlid. / felt myself raised and
borne away. 1 was taken out of my
coffin, not to my home, but to a dis
secting room. / beheld the doctors
who had waited on me at my home
dressed in long white aprons In thei1
hands they had knives. Through my
half-closed eyes I saw them engaged
in dispute. They were trying to
decide how to cut me up. One argued
one way, while the other doctor took
another view Of the matter, All this
witnessed through nv half.open