The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1921-10-07
VOICES FROM THE TOME
WARNS CAUTION OF BURYING

A recent news dispatch from
Geneva. Switzerland. concerning Rev
Buadenbacher. who. after having
been declared officially dead. awoke
Ia hours after his heart had stopped
beating. has caused much comment.
A death certificate had been made
out. arrangements for the funeral
had been completed and the news
papers had published eulogies of
him. But to the amazement, sur
prise, delight etc. Of everybody he
suddenly came to life. Although
much weakened, he declared that his
"call had not come yet" and doctors
say that he might live many years.
This instance calls to mind several
other cases, some of which however
did not have the same happy conclu-
sion. In the olden days an incident
such as this might easily have led to
premature burial, and even today
in Germany, where bodies are placed
under the care of inspectors for a GER
tain number of days before inter-
ment. there is an average of one re-
suscitation a year. At this rate 100
persons would be buried alive in
century. Il Is better to be too eau
tious than too careless Even the
ancient Romans, who prescribed IL
days between death and burial, some
times went astray, and Pliny tells us
that the consul Acilius, who was plac-
cd on the funeral pyre, shrieked for
help as the flames closed in; but it
legally was too late to save him and
he persisted.
Burial alive is extremely rare now
adays, but there have bee nsome in
stances and not so long ago whore
r.ople have recovered consciousness
while they were being placed in, the
tomb. A long time ago before Pied
mont became part of Italy, a young
woman apparently died on the eve
of her wedding, and the doctor de-
clared her dead from heart failure
due to joy q er her coming marriag.
She was taken to the cemetery but as
the first earth was thrown on the
/ coffin noises came from the interior.
| The superstitious people fled in terror
I hat vol h a II
the presence of mind to insist on the
coffin being opened. 1t was too late,
however, and she lay with life ex
! tinct, in a position of horror and
pain.
In l74S Lady Edgecumbe of Lon
don, after a short illness, was sup
posed to have passed away and was
placed in the family vault after a
mourning period of a week. Soon
afterwards a thief entered the tomb
and attempted to remove a valuable
ring from the finger of the corpse.
The ring could not be moved and
fearful lest someone should catch
him. he crushed the finger in his
hand in a vain effort to get it off.
| To his horror the body moved and
he left with a frightened cry. The
woman made her way out and soon
was home again. Not long after a
child was born to her and she lived
to an advanced age in excellent
health.
The mother of Ebenezer Erskine of
Scotland was buried alive while in a
trance. A grave-robber opened the
grave and tried to take ring from
one of the fingers, but the ring was
| tight and to save time the robbed cut
| the finger off. She woke with a
scream and returned home, to the
great joy of her family. Mrs. Erskine
lived to be the mother of Ebenezer
Erskine, one of the greatest pulpit
orators who ever lived.
Few people know that Robert r.
/ Lee was born after his mother had
| been laid in her casGet. Mrs. Lee
was subject to a sickness in which she
fell into a trance at times impossible
to distinguish from death. On one
occaai IN she was Pronounced dead
by the pl! sician and nctrally placed
in a coilin. During the funeral SER
vice cries and the sound of beating
came from the inside. The lid was
torn off and she was found alive al
though nearly suffocated. a year
later her son obert f. Lee was born.
A peculiar incident occurred to a
famous English doctor. He tells of
case where a man apparently sue
cumbed to apoplexy and whose
friends came to take last look at
their former companion. Standing
around the casket they proceeded to
drink last toast to the dead mans
memory One member of the party,
becoming somewhat intoxicated, con-