The Washington herald., 1912-10-13
~ RALPH ". BENTON.

There 10 nothing which arouses more
terror In the mind Of man than the
thought Of being buried alive. History
u rsplets with instances Of premature
burdals, and. there 10 hardly q person
who has not been terrified by the idea
OF being placed beneath the sod with
the spirk OF life stili faintly burning.
Several decades ago the civili1ea world
vas deeply stirred over the. matter. RE-
liable physician testified a. to numer-
ous cases Of premature burials. The
press Of tl,is country and Europe de-
Yeted column after column to discus
SONS Of the ghoulish question. Ltera-
turs bsgan to abound with stories Of
tho interment Of persons still alive. and
tno pubic was thrown into q frenzy.
8ocieties for the prevention Of prema-
ture burial vere formed. and scores OF
devices Were invented for the purpose Of
detecting signs OF life should . buried
person prove not to be dead.
There have been hundreds Of authentic
cases Of premature burials brought to
light, and there have d0ubtlessly been
many moro instances which will never
become known. The possibility Of such
burials has grown gradually less and
less. until now the matter is looked upon
with ridicule by physicians and under
takers. A large percentage Of the dead
kV-o8y 1ES CIuDo&1uCus ouu II pchoOAh
IL not actually lifeless when pronounced
30 by the physician. he will unques-
tionably be % by the time the undertaken
has finished. working upon him.
The only possibility to-day OF prema-
ture burials is the hasty internient of
bodies. In the warm climate of the
Southern part Of the country bodies are
usually buried the day following death.
and as q result of this 1t Is extremely
vppnhah1A that alive 0CcQ-
sionally buried. particularly in cases OF
catalepsy. In times of war and plague
there are numerous cases Of premature
burials on account Of the expeditions and
indiscl inmate interments.
Many Historic Cases. 80 -
Medical history affords scores Of inter-
esting cases of the interment Of persons
merely thought to be dead. One Of the
first Of these instances which has been
recorded occurred in England in 1873.
After q short illness Lady Russell, the
beautiful wife of n prominent colonel in
the British army, died The husband had
a premonition that the fair lady would
return to life, and in defiance Of the
advice Of physicians and undertakers he
decided to retain the body until decompo-
sition was in an. advanced stage. Six
days he sat at the casket of his wife.
weeping and looking in vain for some
sign Of life. On the seventh day, as the
shadows were beginning to darken the
room and the church bells were tolling
soiemnly. Lady Russell opened her eyes
and a smile wreathed her face. Although
faint and almost lifeless. she was re-
vived and lived for several years.
Shortly afterward. in Leipsic, the wife
of Mathaus Hornisch, q well-known pub
Usher. died. The day following her death
she was buried. That night about II
o'clock there was a faint knock at the
door Of the publishers house Hornisch
was doing in his easy chair and did
not hear the tap, but a servant immedi-
ately answered.
"Well, who's there7' inquired the
menial from within. fearing through su-
rerstition to open the door at that hour
Of the night.
at is your mistress" came the faint
reply. "Open the door. pray you. I am
cold and freezing to DEATH
The servant did not obey the COM
mand. Instead. he fell to the floor with
a shrek Of terror. The publisher. aroused
by the confusion. opened the door and
in stepped his dead wife. clad in her
garments. In her hand she
held . lantern. The husband began a
hasty retreat. believing the object before
from her calmed him. and he returned
to listen to the weird story which she
had to tell.
Arm Moved Away.
1t seemed that as the body was being
lowered. into the narrow cell the grave
digger noticed several large and valu-
able gold rings on the fingers Of Mrs.
Hornisch. Soon after nightfall he en-
tered the graveyard and began to dis |
inter the body. with the idea Of stealing |
the rings. After working about half an
hour, the earth was removed and the |
comm lay before him. At the side Of the |
grave sat q lantern. throwing its yellow |
rays down upon the ghostly body. The |
bands Of gold were glittering upon the |
white fingers The grave digger caught |