Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1908-01-10
THOUGHT HE WAS
BURIED ALIVE
The PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
OF ETHAN ALLEN DOE

so that | might sleep. So far as
recall there was nothing unusual il
my going to bed. nor were my refec
tions in the brief period that elapsed
before slum5er such as to presage any
strange Illness or cataleptic seizure
had eaten heartily of lobster and
cheese shortly before bed time, but sc
perfect had my digestion always been
that had no fears OF strange dreams
To go TO bed upon live lobster in
his full armament of claws and
/ squeezers might have discomforted me,
but to go to bed. as the saying is upon
dead one and cooked, gave me no
gloomy forebOdings whatsoever.
The Incidents | am about to relate
are enough to shake the stoutest cour-
age and disturb the very depth Of the
soberest logic and calm Judgment. If.
therefore, to follow me through this
grim narrative shall threaten 10 I'M
seat the reason or shock unduly The
nervous system. | beg you will AXE
warning thus early, that no untoward
results may come to you through this
strange tale.
! must have been taken off in my
sleep. so it seemed when | returned
again to consciousness. But what hor-
rible dread oppressed me as my senses
gradually resumed their functionsl A
feeling of closeness, of shut-inness. of
GREATNESS darkness too deep to pene-
tlate. | could not cry out. for my
throat was dry and my vocal chords
We're paralyzed. A terror too vast
and awful for words oyercame me-
blind unreasoning, instructive dread.
For, through the dim shadows of my
halfformed thoughts came TO me the
awful, startling, predominating unget-
awayfromabie TRUTH had been bur-
led alive.
1t is solemn thing to wake and
discover this to be the case. 1t is
so revoking, so unthoughtful of ones
friends, so lonesome, so unfathomable,
so intense To have gone to sleep in
apparent health and strength, looking
forward ioyfully TO the morrow; to
have been seized in slumber with some
so closely resembling disso- /
luton as TO be indistinguishable, to |
have had untruthful eulogies pro-
nounced, and then to have been con-
signed to earth in this narrow box. to .
wake betimes and shiver with mortal |
terror.
Gradually ! regained the use of my
limbs, although my voice remained as
dead as | was thought to have been
Slowly | drew one hand up by my side, 4
'or the narrOwness of my cell for
)ade outstretching it, | felt about my l
lead-there was the smooth hardness
Ind polished surface that could mean
lut one thing Above me | felt. and
encountered the same hard, polished,
stubborn, immovable, wooden OBJ
tacle. | felt my hair rising erect
rom its roots and turning slowly
ray in this perpetual night Then
thought l saw a reflection of my
in the shadows above me-
nd | remembered that there was
sually glass just above the upper
art of the body and that my Inca
rents might be dimly reflected
herein.
The ihoughts that came to me in
MS horrih.a time | shall never be
bic accure ely to set down They
ashed Ike lightning upon me and as
lickly forsook me- They charged me
columns, battali0ns, armies, myri-
Is. torturing me with their infinite Z
arety and their acute clearness. &
- ! 4 l. ~
lie hope that my tones might pene- 4
ate the earth above nett would af-
nd me some relief But my voice D
manned useless to me, and | lay |.
ere shivering and silent, wondering p
wv long | might survive. |,
Suddenly. strangest of all, | felt the
-appings about me move. | felt !
in current of air strike me, cooling !,
y hot forehead and appearing to !
me through some aperture in my !
closure ! felt a slight pressure !
on me, up and down, as if a hand
ntly passed over me. What awful
implication was this? Was my !
sting place being desecrated by
ouls in search of gain? Still the
nd stroked me up and down. | was
re ii was hand now for | felt
, pressure of fingers. Yet | lay 4.
re helpless. unable TO move, I'M -
lie even 70 turn over felt my
r turning from gray to pure white. I
was the climax of my suffering. l
/ could withstand no more. In 4
= minutes / would go mad.
3ut hush, In the darkness there
s~a voice. oh, the music of it,
sweet. delirious unforgetable mel !
of it | shall never forget 1t
d.
Yves only 10 minutes FUN Roches. (
boss. II YOU gifts off there YOU bet J
git up now and dress yourself We (
y stops five minutes!'
was in August, [ remember And s
nd been I'm Lower g.
Origin of Common Terms.
BALLOT, as generally used. has
ldered far from its original mean.
of .'litflp hall Even "hfackhal1.