The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-18
LIFE SAVED IA BODY sxArcHEns
Doctors Disagreed About What Dis
ease Had killed Him.


To Doe buried alive while sorrowing
friends are standing about the open grave.
and then come 90 life IN q dissecting room.
Is the actual experience OF George Hay
ward, an Independence jeweler. Although
years have elapsed since be was lowered
gently into his grave. the memory of the
moment when the undertaken screwed
down the id of HIS coffin. shutting out the
sunlight, and the sensation he felt as he
was lowered into the grave. while a fu-
neral dirge was being chanted by the VII
lage choir, stil remains 10 him as a hOrri-
bic dream. He was conscious from the
time be was pronounced dead until he was
snatched from the grave by the medical
fraternity and laid on the dlssecting table
IN the Interest Of science"
ar. Hay ward still retains the grim rec
objection OF hearing. the damp earth fall
ING on the coffin I'D, mOurnful accom-
paniment to the sobs of relatives. He was
unable TO help himself or make sign, and
knowing this. his agony was at times In
tense. His greatest agony Of mind occur
red when the sexton rounded up his grave
on top and the sound of recediug foot
Steps sm9te his ear. Mr.. Hayward says
lhat al this moment he fell into the
dreamy sensation peculiar to a drowning
man. How long he remained in that con-
aSltlon he does not know, but his sense Of
uNlng again came over him when he heard
q scrdplng on his coffin lid some little
time after he had been buried
Mr. Hayward Is a man 90 years of age.
tor years he has been ia the jewelry BUSH
ness az Independence, and at present con-
ducts shop on South Main street. He has
LAe belief that many people are buried
awe and now his own experience has a
tendency TO confirm this belief To "a re-
porter MI. Hayward yesterday related his
burial and resurrection, with the uucOn-
Germ OF man who does not fear death.
1T was Ia Marshville, England, county
worcestershire, where i was buried" said
ait; hayward, very grimly. My father
"a ID d
us all on the farm near the village. i was
! qul+e young, and II was my chief delight
70 go TO the fields with my older brothers.
IN those DAYS the farm houses were sur
| rounded with big yards filed with straw.
rms straw was allowed to rot and In the
ran OF the year IL was loaded into wagons
and carted TO the fields as a fertilizer II
was bright morning when we started for
the fields, and ran ahead Of the horses.
Inc horses in England are not driven
with reins. but they follow the command
of the voice. After reaching the field the
pitching Of the straw commenced. The
men usesu mop picks, which are fashioned
somewhat after heavy pitchfork. While
standing near one of the hands, By acct
dent was struck ON the head by 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 / was sent
into the cellar and, much 10 my surprise,
l could see in the dark as well as IN the
! light. After coming from the cellar my
| strength failed me, and ] was soon bed
! them insisted that my condition was due
| 10 the blow on the head, the other that l
! had pleurisy. AT any rate, two weeks
| passed, ana 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 half-closed and as l was
| laid out / heard my elder brother, john,
/ walk into the house. / saw him approach
| the cot with tears in his eyes and sympa-
/ thizing friends cOnsoled him by asking
| him to dry his tears. He is gone they
| said, and other similar expressions 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 ar
/ rived / knew that / was to be buried alive
/ Try as i would, nothing could break the
| spell which bound me. Every action and
| every word spoken are as distinct to my
/ mind now as then.
! well, the time for the funeral arrived
| ana the service was preached over my Nv
| ing but rigid body. The undertaken ap-
! preached and the nd of my little prison
! house was fastened. down. Life seemed all
! but gone when this took place, but, as
| started, no effort of mine could break the
! spell. The coffin was showed into the wa
! gOn and the trundling of the vehicle sound
| ed in my ears. l was painfully conscious
/ Of the fact that / was soon to be lowered
/ into my grave Strange as IL may seem, at
] times did not feel fear at my impending
| fate The coffin was taken out of the wa
| gon and lowered into the grave. In those
/ days boxes We're not used as a receptacle
/ for the coffin. The clods of earth fell heavy
/ on the lid of the Gasket. There I was be-
/ ing entOmDed alive, unable TO speak or
! stay the hands Of my friends My effort
to move proved futile, and the close air Of
! the coffin seemed sitting 10 me. Suddenly
! the shoveling ceased and the silence of the
! tomb was complete. | did not seem TO have
\ the fear then that a person would natur-
/ ally expect under such circumstances. All
/ remember is that the grave is a lonely
| place and the silence of the tomb was hor-
ribly oppressive. A dreamy sensation
! came over me and a sense of suffocatlon
/ became apparent. My whole system was
! paralyZed; were it otherwise my struggles
! would have been desperate.
How long ! remained in this condition
] l do not know. The first sense of re-
! turning life came over me when l heard
the scraplng Of a spade on my coffin
| lid. l felt myself raised and borne away
l was taken out of my coffin, not to
my home, but to a dissecting room. l be-
held the doctors who had waited on me
at my home, dressed in long, white APP
rons In their hands they had knives
Through my half-closed eyes 1 saw them
engaged in a dispute, They were trying
to decide how to cut me up. one argued
one way, while the other doctor took an
other view Of the matter. All this
witnessed through my half-open eyes. My
sense Of hearing was remarkably acute
| Both approached the table and opened
my mouth to take out my tongue, when
by superhuman effort, my eyelids We're
slightly raised. The next thing l heard
was:
''Iook out, you fool he IS allvew
" He is dead" rejoined the other doc
tor.
See, he opens his eyes continued
the first doctor. The other physician let
his knife drop and a short time after
that / commenced to recover rapidly In
stead of cutting me Up, they took me
home There was great rejoicing among
my relatives. 1 owed my life to the doc
/ tors dispute as TO what allied me during
my illness. 1 suppose 1 was kept alive
for some purpose" continued Mr.. Hay
ward, as he finished his grewsome tale,
"for l am the father Of ten children"
Mr.. Hayward has been a resident of
Independence for some years and is high
ly thought of as a citizen. He is a mem
Der of the Latter-Day Saints church.
UPS AND DOWNS OF FORTUNE.