, 1900-01-19
MRS. CHRISTINA HART NARROW
LY ESCAPED BEING BURIED
WHILE STILL ALIVE.
Laid Out in Shroud, With Horror She
Hears the Plans for Embalming
Her Body DISGUISE d Suddenly
Finds Her Voice as the Undertake
er Begins His Work.

at st. Mary's hospital, SO Frustrated
by the shock that physicians have lit
tie hope of her recovery. While in the
trance she was conscious of all that
was transpiring at her bedside. She
heard with horror the announcement
OF her W death. listened to the re-
ceding footsteps of relatives and
friends, noted all preparations for her
burial, the arrival of the undertaken,
and heard the details arranged for her
own funeral, but was powerless by
sign or sound to call attention to her
condition.
Mrs. Hart had been i'll for some time.
Late Saturday night she seemed to
have died, and preparations were made
Monday for her funeral. Today fon
the first time she has been able to speak
of her sensations and the horror she
felt when she realized that they were
preparing for her interment.
TRY as l would, l couldn't move"
she said. "My brain was in a whirl,
seeking to grasp what it all meant.
When my husband said Poor Christi
ma is gone at last!' and his tears fell
on my face, I tried to cry out, but could
not. Then some one laid a cloth over
my face, and I could lear them tiptoe
out of the room. .
Some women came to the bedside
and said what a pity that I had died
so soon. An eternity seemed to have
elapsed since last I spoke. Mentally I
writhed and twisted, but no one OBJ
served me. They all believed me dead.
when the undertaker's assistant
entered the room I could hear him
move all the chairs out of the way.
Taking hold of the bed, he drew it o Il
from the wall, that he might work with
greater freedom. When he placed his
hand on my body it seemed to me that
my flesh fairly shrank. shiveled from
his touch. When I heard him setting
out his embalming utensils and bot
ties I lost consciousness, but only for
a moment.
Knowing that the deadly poison
would soon be injected into my veins,
l sought to scream-struggled so hard
that l feared I would rupture a blood
vessel. 1t was useless. I seemed bound
and fettered, but with my sense Of hear.
ing doubly acute. Anything that cross.
ed my line Of vision I readily recog-
nized.
Fortunately, the undertaken decid-
ed to postpone further operations I'm.
til he could secure the presence ana
assistance Of some of the women. He
left the room, and l was alone in all
the horror of a living tomb. Oh, how
| struggled to make some sign, to
change my position on the bed, how
ever slight, that it might attract at.
%tention, and | be saved from prema-
ture burial. But I could not.
AFTER what seemed an age the In
dertaker returned and resumed his
preparations for embalming. He remov-
ed the cloth from my face. Through
my half-closed eyelids | could see him
plainly. He slowly put his arm
around my body to lift me on to the
cooling-board. The shock Of his TAX
ing hold of me broke the bonds which
bound ME and unlocked my lips. I
gave a scream, and said:
I know it all! You wanted to
bury me alive; I am not dead
George Bruggelmeyer, the undertake
er's assistant, who was preparing the
body for interment, says Mrs. Hart
darted for the front door as soon as
she regained consciousness and seem
ed possessed OF the strength Of a half
dozen women. 1t was with difficulty
he could restrain her until assistance
came. She was taken to st. Mary's,
the Mother Superior of which said this
evening:
1.-THE excitement incident to the
fearful ordeal through which Mrs
Hart passed has quite unnerved her.
and she gets excited when n one
save the sisters go in the room. Shs
had an idea that a conspiracy was
formed to murder her. She has a dis
tinct recollection of all that happened
while she was in the trance, and she
murmurs about those who, she says,
have not treated her kindly.