The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-15


then placed in a grave with six feet of
earth piled in he would be unable to
breathe, and the electric appliances so
ready at hand would be useless. Mr..
Deveau.then retired to his ancestral estate
near Fresno, Cal, and evolved what he
calls the grave signal"
IL has the merit of plausibility. True,
the undertakes and funeral directors call
him crank and say that not one person
in 100000 is buried alive. But Mr..
Deveau retorts that not one person In 999, :
100000 has chance to revive in the tomb
after the undertaken has "enbalmed" him.
h lie claims that when the s'grave signal is
generally introduced there will be no en-
balming. He is also deeply prejudlced
against cremation.
Mr.. Deveau, who says he has spent
twelve years of his life and fortune per-
fecting the grave signal, has been exhibit
Ing 1t during the summer in the Sea Beach
Palace at Coney ISLAND.
The attaches of the Palace call him spro-
lessor, the young man who stands out
side and "barks" calls him "Doc," and the
young woman who lives in "the living
tomb" calls him Harry"
Humane and devoted as he is to the res
cue from untold anguish of such of his
countrymen as may be buried alive, Mr..
Deveau has become practical, and he
charges 10 cents for peep at very stacy
exhibition of his invention.
The grave signal consists of a rod that
runs down through tube into the coffin
and rests upon the forehead of the inferred.
series of rubber valves prevents the
egress OF vapor from the grave. At the
slightest movement OF the body, in the
coffin the rod flies up, all the valves are
opened air flows into the prison and the
unfortunate who thus wakes up in dark
ness and on the under side of the earth
waits patiently until some one strolling
through the cemetery notices that the lit
tie red ball signal on the top of the grave
is displayed, and thereupon sounds the
alarm.
One side of the booth is taken up with
young woman, clad in a satin dress, silk
stockings and white shoes, and holding
bouquet of lilies reposes peacefully in
white casket with glass side. There is a
"Gates Ajar," a floral pillow with the
word "Sister'' on it, and other touching
tokens of esteem in which the young
woman is supposed to have been held. A
delicate touch of stage management is the
occasional appearance of small boy who
carries an atomizer and keeps the air
loaded with the heavy fragrance of tube
roses.
Above the casket in which the young
woman reposes land 1T was with pain that
the World reporter noted the fact that
she chews gum while awaiting the rescue
that occurs every few minutes) is a scene
painters imitation of the loose soil with
which grave is filled. Higher up is the
conventional mound with the signal dis
played, and there is scenic background
of graveyard, every mound in which is
equipped with a signal. and a watchful at
tendant is casting his eagle eye over the
landscape looking for the first sign of re-
vival upon the part of any of the more re-
cent arrivals.
Mr.. Deveau is thin blonde, nervous
young man, with nothing of the professor
about him. He does the featuring. When
a crowd gets in he signals to the corpse.
She drops her sandwich or cigarette,
crawls into the casket, he pulls aside the
curtains that have hung gloomily on the
wall, and there she is revealed.
The grave signal is then made to work,
and the rescue follows.