Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-07
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

minutes or more. Far be 1t from any
layman to charge Houdini with so
simple trick, but, still. sit might
have been," which is the saddest
thing of tongue or pen. Will he con-
fess?
X X X x
There appears in the Monist, a
scientific magazine published in
London $4,000. an article describing
the feasts of Indian fakirs in permit
ting themselves to be buried for as
long as 40 days under conditions
safeguarding against deceit. The
author, Richard Carrie, said:
THE ability of certain fakirs to
suspend their vital activities for a
considerable length of time and even
to be buried for a while in this con-
dition, without thereby seriously
harming life or health. is confirmed
by performances of which perfectly
reliable. high English civil and mill
tary officials were witnesses"
The writer. however, indicates that
instead of such performances being
accomplished by many fakirs in
India, they were the achievement
of just one fakir, Yogin Haridas
"a man who by special adaptability
and by long training had succeeded
in prolonging the catalepsy observed
in other fakirs, to a quite abnormal
extent. This man succeeded in sus-
pending his vital functions for 40
days and remaining under earth that
length of time. / repeat" says
Garbe, that no case of actual in
humation has been reported before
the case of Heridas and that no
similar case has been authenticated
later since 1887. But in the case
of Haridas himself the repeated in
humation is SO well authenticated
that there Is no room for doubt"
* X x \
The author describes the prepare
tions of Haridas for his feat.
LAS for the immediate prepara-
tons for the burial. Haridas took an
aperient several days beforehand and
thereafter took no food but milk. On
the day of burial he slowly swal-
lowed q strip of cloth three fingers
wide and over 80 yards long and then
pulled it out of his throat. This per-
Torrance was for the purpose of
cleansing the stomach of all foreign
materials After this was
| done, Haridas stopped all the open
| ings of the body with an aromatic
wax. put his tongue folded in the
| DdCk OIL Ills IuOulIly 1OiuCu AlAO al hAo
| over his breast and, went to sleep.
"All this was done in the presence
| of a great multitude. Haridas now
presented the appearance of corpse.
| He was wrapped in the linen cloth on
which he had been sitting, which was
then tied together and sealed with
| the seal of Runjeet Singh, the Ma
haraia, Then the body was laid into
a chest, upon which the Mararaja
himself fastened a heavy lock. The
burial of this chest, the guarding of
the vault about the grave by military
pickets, the exhumation on the
| fortieth day, and the resuscitation OF
| the cold and stark body is told by
| Honingberger in the same way as by
Sir Claude Wade. The two reports
are entirely independent of each
| other.
From the preparation for his burial
which Haridas made in the way OF
stopping up air passages, it is evident
! that he himself was convinced of the
complete cessation of respiration dur
ing his cataleptic torpor. Here he was
| in error, for the absolute cessation OF
respiration for so long time would
| have meant the end of life. A medical
| colleague kindly informs me that
such a stoppage of the air passages
as is reported in the case Of Haridas
is not tight enough to stop all admis
sion of air, aside from the fact that
1 the organs of respiration are not the
/ only means of breathing, but that the
skin also serves this end. and further
| that even through three or four feet
/ of earth and a closed box enough air
NAV pass for the preservation Of life
when reduced to its lewest limit"
cartwright. 1926. by Paul " Colins)