The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-09-29

room Runtjit-Singh and Sir Claude
entered. the servant Of the buried fakir
accompanying them. A light was then
brought, and they descended into a cell
about three feet below the floor Of the
square apartment In this cell was a
wooden box four feet in length by three
feet in width. with a square sloping
roof. 1t stood upright Its door was
locked and sealed In the same manner
as the door Of the barra durri The
box was the comm Of the fakir, though
1t could not literally be said to contain
his remains.
to him surprising fame. This Is the
brought to view. inclosed in q white
linen bag, drawn together at the top.
and securely fastened with a string.
The grand salute now shook the gar
den air. and the lowering multitude
came crowding TO the door to witness
the spectacle. The servant first remov-
ed the body of his master from the box.
and placed IL against the closed door
Of the receptacle in q sQuatting posture
Runtjit Sigmn and Sir Claude then de-
scended into the cell. which was so
small that. when they tried to sit down
on the ground in front of the box. their
hands and knees came in contact with
the person Of the seeming corpse. The
servant now commenced TO pour water
over the body Of his master. but. as IL
was the purpose of Sir Claude to detect
any fraudulent practice. he objected TO
this, and proposed to Rutjit-Sinhg to
have the bag torn open. so as to in
spect the person OF the fakir before the
process of resuscitation was initiated.
This was accordingly done. the bag be-
ing so considerably widowed as TO
render il but the work Of a moment.
The legs and arms OF the fakir were
ehriveled and stiff, but the face was
full as in life. the head reclining on the
shoulder like that OF a corpse. Sir
Claude called TO the medical gentle
men who was in attendance 10 descend
into the cell and inspect the body,
which they did. but could detect no pull
sation in the heart. temples. or wrists.
There was. however, a beat about the
coronal region OF the brain which no
other part OF the person exhibited. This
is one of the facts which establish a
resemblance between the imitation
death OF the Hindoo fakirs and catalep-
sy. In this disease flushing OF the face
has often been noticed. while the trunk
and extremitieS remain cold. In per-
haps the majority Of cases. however.
the face is pale, and at least as cool as
commenced bathing his master in hot
water, the arms and legs gradually re-
taxing from the rigid state in which
they were Contracted. Runjit-Singh
assisted the servant by rubbing the leg
and arms of the to-all-appearances
dead man, while the latter put a hot
wheaton cake on top Of the fakir's head
"a process which was twice or thrice
repeated before any result was appar-
ent.
The servant next removed from the
nostrils and ears of his master the wax
and cotton plugs with which they were
sealed. then opened the rigid jaws by
inserting the point OF his knife between
the teeth, and prying them apart.Then
holding the jaws open with the left
hand. he drew the tongue forward with
the forefinger OF his right. that usually
flexible member flying back to its curv-
ed position, 80 that its tips closed the
gullet repeatedly during the process.
He now rubbed the fakir's eyelids with
butter (ghD for some seconds.
until he succeeded in opening one OF
them. The eyeball was still glazed and
The next process was to renew the
hot wheaton cake on top Of the head.
At this instant the body heaved convul-
sively. the nostrils became violently in
fated, respiration was resumed, and
the limbs began to assume their nat
ural fullness. The servant at this stage
placed some clarified butter on the
tongue OF the fakir. and made him swal
low it. A few minutes after the eye
balls began to dilate slowly, recovered
their natural color by tnsensible gra-
dations. and cleaned with intelligence
in them and recognizing Runjit-S!ngh
who sat facing him. the fakir COM
to artculate In scarcely audi