Evening star., 1929-10-06
WANDERED HOME,
FINDS OWN GRAVE
"Buried" 19 Years Ago, So
ToWnsmen Thought-Man
Finds Family Gone.

ALMA. Nebr., October (N.AN.AD.
In this busy little county seat last
week a man literally came back to life
efter 10 years and reached across his
own clearly marked grave to shake
hands srlilingly with the undertaken
who buried him there.
The man is John Bartels, and lest
the reader become incredulous. we has
ten to explain Bartels was not dead,
but every one said he was
His widow his best friends who
were the pallbearers-all were positive.
And to make the record more definite
was found in the Alma Cemetery the
BartelS plot with a neat granite head
stone inscribed:
John F. Bartels.
1856-1909.
Time was when John Ernest Fred
erick Bartels was one of the prosperous
citizens of this rich Southwestern Ne
braska county. He owned 480 acres of
good farm land and earned comfor-
table living buying and selling broom
corn. He had wife, who was a good
cook and an excellent housekeeper, and
two daughters, who encouraged him to
keep adding to his bank account. Yet
Bartels was not happy.
Moves to Missouri.
% III 1oS4 lie IHoVeu 10 MlSSOuTi, ana
took up his home in NeoSho. He soon
was established there as broom manu-
facturer, then a year or two later be-
came a grower and shipper of straw
berries. Crops were good, money seemed
plentiful and his bank account grew
But still he was not happy. One July
day in 1901 he said to his wife:
Eta, I'm tired out. For several sea-
sons have been looking after all the
strawberry pickers, besides the loading
and shipping. I've put out 81 cars of
berries this Summer-and that's an
awful lot for one man"
What are you going to do now
John?" he says his wife asked, look
ing at his gaunt face.
"Do?" he retorted. I'm going to
quit"
He produced a checkbook. Here"
he said, tearing out check Here's
an order for the balance I've got in
the bank. It's l.000-yourS-take it.
I'm going to kansas City-away, some
where, to rest
So he went out of the house and out
of the life of his family. which was not
to see or hear from him again for 19
years
Old Man Appears.
Early the morning of September 10,
last, an old man walked away from
the Burlington Station in Alma. His
gait was inflrm and he depended on a
stout hickory stick.
He entered the grocery of w. A.
SWartz on Almas main street.
Hello. Wyleyi" ne said
Swartz glanced up from the coffee
grinder
Good morning, sir"
"You don't know me-I'm John
Bartels"
Wyley Swartz stared
John BartelS? Why, you can't be
hes dead and buried many years."
But man alive. 1 am John Bartels,"
the caller insisted.
Swartz finally grasped his hand and
patted him on the shoulder.
John" said the gray-haired grocer,
II can't believe it. Why-why. l was
a pallbearer at YOUR funeral 19 years
ago last March!"
They didn't get me. WILEY" re-
turned Bartels, with a chuckle.
The old friends talked animatedly.
Swartz said there was no mistake about
the funeral He recalled some of the
other pallbearers-J. G. Thompson. now
a veteran lawyer of Alma; Sam" Whit
ney. a decorator. and Henry Metz2cr,
the towns plumber.
Second Recognition.
Th7 friends sauntersd across the
street and into Thompsons office.
There was another amazing recognition.
Bartcls persuaded Thompson to ac-