A Remarkable Story.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 31, 15 June 1870, Page 7

A Remarkable Story.

A strange story is told by an American journal of the resuscitation of an executed criminal. A man named Kriel, of Louisville, was lately sentenced to death for murdering his wife, and was accordingly hanged in the middle of lust month. M; Kriel, we are told, “ went to his doom grim, implacable, and unnaturally firm." As is not unnatural with gentlemen in his position, “ his desire to live was paramount to every earthly desira” When the drop fell, it was observed that the closed hands and position of the legs and feet of the culprit remained entirely unchanged, “showing a tremendous exercise of will and control of nerve.” The neck was not broken, and General Whittaker, who was present at the execution, declared that pulsation in the carotid arteries of the neck was discernible after the gaol surgeon and his assistants declared life to be extinct. After hanging some minutes, Mr Kriel was cut down, and his body placed in a coffin; “the eyes, that stared half open when the cap was withdrawn, remained closed after a slight touch upon them, and the face assumed an appearance of rest. The red flushing of the cheeks came back to a certain extent, and the dark colouring on the neck under the knotted rope partially disappeared.” No one seemed to have any charge of the body, and it was driven away in a hearse to the vault in the cemetery. “Now,” says the Commercial , “ comes the closing scene in this strange story. Near midnight a light waggon was driven rapidly out of Walnut street, in which were seated three muffled, silent figures—one of them a surgeon of great experimental knowledge, a firm believer in the theory of resuscitation of animal life through the galvanic process. In the waggon were a mattress and several blankets. The waggon halted near the cemetery fence ; the horse was held by the driver, and two men went to the vault, carrying between them a large sack, well filled. In a short time they returned, bringing with them a motionless figure, shrouded in a blanket. The figure was placed on the mattress, and in silence the waggon was driven back to town. The body was conveyed to the surgery of a most skilful and learned surgeon, where some ten or twelve excited and expectant' students stood, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the strange party. The body was* placed in a recumbent position on the table, the clothing unloosed, the chest extended, and an incision made in one of the veins of the arm. At first but a small drop of dark-coloured blood came forth; but repeated incisions and manipulations of the body caused it at last to trickle forth more freely. The galvanic batteiy was then applied, and in less than fifteen minutes the warm blood began to course through the chilled body, and at last tie eyes were opened. The students stood appalled, and could hardly realise the ectent of the demonstration before then. One of them spoke to Kriel, asking him if he was sensible. The eyes answered expressively, and the lips opened ineffectually, for no speech came forth. Stimulants were poured dovfm the throat of the revived criminal, and in less than one hour from the time he had been placed in tlie surgery, Kriel sat up and said, “ Whit have you done ? Am I alive 1” The consternation, and yet the professional delight, of the spectators was loudly expressed. Steps were immediately taken to save Ilia life thus marvellously restored. Strangers disguised Mr Kriel, and furnished him with means'; and by daylight a man, weak and tottering, but firm and immoveable in his demeanour, crossed the river, and was list seen iy a watchful, silent friend, who kopt near him until'he left Seymour, Indiana, by train, on his way to an unknown tat, it is to be hoped, a better future.”