Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1906-02-17
Saved for Many Years of Life.

burial, perfectly conscious of all that
was taking place about him, and real
1zing that he would soon be inferred
beneath three feet of earth, yet I'M
able to cry out or to move, or in any
way warn those bent upon their grim
task, was the actual experience OF a
man who is living to-day, and who,
after a lapse of forty years, has just
been able to locate the woman who
nursed him back to life after his
strange paralysis had passed and he
was rescued.
The man is Private Joiner of Mis-
sissippi. The woman he first laid
eyes upon when he recovered from
mis- horrible nightmare is Frances
Courtney Darlington of Hyde Park,
wife of Brig.-Gen. Darlington, u s. A,
retired. A short time ago she re-
ceived a letter which had been for
warded from one place to another
until it finally reached her. 1t was
from Private Joiner, and expressed
once more his thanks to the northern
woman who was SO kind to him when
he, a confederate soldier, was in sore
need of kindness. The episode oc-
CURED after the battle of Franklin,
Tenn, one of the most destructive
ton tells the story as follows:
'The women of the town stood
ready to nurse the wounded, but there
were few men to bury the dead. and
there were so many killed! Just out
side the Presbyterian church, where
1 was doing my work, trying to care
for the living, the dead were brought
and laid in the church yard until the
io1 ro1o he
1t was hard to cheer the men inside.
and inspire them with hope and cour-
age, when 1 knew the sounds outside
were those of the steps of the few
remaining men in town who were
bringing in the brave dead to pile
them up where one man could watch
them until the burial l heard the
tramp. of feet and guessed the errand.
Still, l had to keep smile upon my
lips although it almost faded when
1 realized that vigilance was neceS-
sary, because every battle had Its tale
of human vultures who preyed upon
the slain.
GAS the day wore on I heard fewer
footsteps about the church, and at
last the yard was left with only one
negro to watch. For a time the sill
ence outside was unbroken. Sudden
ly 1 was startled by a shrill scream.
After night of awful terror and
hours of constant cannonading 1T
seemed too slight a thing to stop to
investigate, and 1 went on, unheed-
ing, with my work among the
wounded.
ct was nearly an hour before l
was again disturbed, and then in the
deepening dusk some one came to the
door and whispered my name. There
followed a disjointed explanation.
Something for me to do. A strange
thing outside. 1t was the 1st day of
December, 1864, and cold for that date
in Tennessee, but l ran out of the
church without a wrap, for those
were not the days to think of ones
self There were a number of men
IL the yard, gently lifting the dead
from the pile where they we're laid,
one upon another like cordwood- At
last they took out a soldier and laid
him on the grass.
I'VE all bent tenderly over him,
and as we looked he opened his eyes
and moved his arms YEARLY. 1t SEEM
ed more than 1 could bear; as though
something of the supernatural were
added to what was already terrible
Exeality, for the man who had lain
Anong the dead all day, only to come
to himself at nightfall.
81 could do nothing except to whis-
per words of cheer and encourage
ment. He wore the confederate uni
form, and I had a church full of
Union soldiers, so they took him
across the street to a house where
other confederate soldiers were being
cared for, and did not see him again
for several days Then he told me
the whole story
He had had the strange experience
of being wounded and of lying as
though dead. He was conscious of
being moved and carried; he knew
that he was alive: he was possessed
with the terrible fear of being buried
before death came; but hours went
by before the strange paralysis left
him.
First of all, he was able to move
his feet, and he put forth all his
strength to move one foot at a time
in the hope of being seem At last
he found his voice, and cried for help,
The scream which I had heard came
from the poor superstitious negro
who had been set to watch the dead,
and who had heard the voice from
under the awful pile.
This man who had been left for
dead was Private Joiner of Missis-
sippi. You see, he has not forgotten
tho pf uha honf ruor hin, fo