BURIED ALIVE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 130, 31 May 1873, Page 4

BURIED ALIVE.

(Savannah (Ga) Anvertiser.) Y- With all the reverence due to the dead, and with every possible regard for the feelings of the living, which in no way would we .harrow up unnecessarily, we state, and believe, that not unfrequently there are instances where human beings afe buried alive ! To be sure this is an uncommon, but by nomeans an impossible circumstance, as facts '"'have- shown. Under the sod in the various graveyards of the land may be fuyther evidence of this kind. In cemeteries that have been dug over, and the remains of the dead exhumed, there have been found in coffins, nailed and screwed tightly together-, bodies of skeletons that were turned over on their sides or faces, sometimes with the knees drawn up, the joints distended, the hands clenched, the arms thrust against the coffin's narrow sides,* the "fingers twisted in.the hairs of the head, the eyes glaring, the teeth ground together, the head doubled under, and many indubitable proofs that the last death struggle did not take place before burial, but that after the coffin had been laid away in the shades of tho tomb, or lowered' in the deep, solid earth, then ond there a fierce, agonising, desperate, lonely, and hopeless contest for lifo. was waged into exhaustion ! In the old public burial ground in the city, of Brooklyn, when a general exhumation .was made to enable the ground to be diverted to streets and building lots, the writer saw no less than eight of such instances. One of these waa evidently that of a young bride, dressed in wedding garments of the richest white satin, with "a bridal veil, and ring of a costly style and quality, and all the evidence of wealth, refinement, and station of life. The remains were supposed to have been buried about twenty years previously. The coffin plate was gone, and in the really indecent haste of the heartless contractors and brutish laborers, who ruthlessly tore and tossed the relics up, there was not the faintest clue to the identity. But upon examination it was discovered that the skeleton was twisted and displaced (as no shock of the exhumation could have caused) and the garments grasped as in a vice in* the clenched finger bones, showing conclusively that a terrific struggle had taken place in the last . narrow house and home of tbe lovely, youthful, early loved and lost bride. Even the long raven tresses, which were as glossy and perfect as ever, were bit fast in the fieshless teeth as though with the final, despairing, smothered cry and grasp of death ! Numerous instances of a similar nature have transpired in different places. A most heart-rending instance of this kind has just been reported at this office. The information appears to be truthful, and the circumstances narrated appear probable. On Thursday of last week a coloured man died (or was suppposed to have died) and great lamentation was made over the body by the relatives and friends. Tbe "corpse was laid out, the limbs composed, the eyes closed, and the features were exceedingly natural. As, is sometimes the custom*, the so-called mourners were provided with victuals and intoxicating liquor, which "they plied themselves with until surfeited and drunk. Noisy and indecorous demonstrations of grief were made until the third day (Saturday) when the brother of the supposed corpse became incensed at the disgraceful proceeding, and determined to bury it at once. The other folks remonstrated,; declaring that the body was yet warm, and perhaps not dead. But he insisted, as he said he would prefer to bury it than have a continuance of the shocking demonstrations. Accordingly the remains were deposited temporarily in a receiving vault. Yesterday the vault was opened, and the coffin brought out for permanent burial elsewhere, when it was noticed that the strong screws wbich had been tightly driven in three days previous were strained, and the top of the coffin prised half open. Tremblingly, and with the most dreadful anticipation, the box was opened, and horrible — most horrible to relate— the body was found turned and twisted over, the face downward, one hand clutching the hair of the head, and the other reaching out, with tbe nails driven into the wood ; the teeth clenched, the eyes glazed and distended, and even the feet giving evidence of having been used in the last hopeless and frightful effort to escape, suffocation ! These are the facts as narrated. The name of the/victim was Andrew Dow.