FORMALITIES AND THEIR FATAL CONSEQUENCES.

Whenever grave-yards have been removed, owing to the rapid expansion of towns, in America, or examined elsewhere, unmistakable evidences of premature burial have been disclosed, as will be seen in this volume; bodies have been found turned upon their faces, the limbs contorted, with hair dishevelled, the clothing torn, the flesh mutilated, and coffins broken by the inmates in their mad endeavour to escape after returning consciousness, to terminate life only in unspeakable mental and physical agonies. It may be said that every grave-yard has its traditions, but the facts are carefully concealed lest they should reach the ears of the relatives, or incriminate the doctors who had with such confidence certified to actual deaths which were only apparent. It is not, however, the custom to remove grave-yards in Europe until all possibility of such discoveries has disappeared. To reopen a grave is to break the seal of domestic grief. There is a widespread belief that where a coffin, with a duly certified corpse,—dead or alive,—has been screwed up, it must not be opened without an authorisation from a magistrate, mayor, or other official, and many people have been suffocated in their coffins while waiting for this formality. Common sense, under the circumstances, seems to be often paralysed.

In England it has been decided, Reg. v. Sharpe (1 Dearsley and Bell, 160), to be a misdemeanour to disinter a body without lawful authority, even where the motive of the offender was pious and laudable; and a too rigorous interpretation of this and similar enactments in other countries has led to the suffocation of many unfortunate victims of a mistaken medical diagnosis, whose lives, by prompt interposition, might have been saved.

KÖppen, in his work, entitled “Information Relative to Persons who have been Buried Alive,” Halle, 1799, dedicated to His Majesty the King of Prussia, Frederick William III., quotes the following amongst a large number of cases of premature burial:—“In D——, the Baroness F—— died of small-pox. She was kept in her house three days, and then put in the family vault. After a time, a noise of knocking was heard in the vault, and the voice of the Baroness was also heard. The authorities were informed; and instead of opening the door with an axe, as could have been done, the key was sent for, which took three or four hours before the messenger returned with it. On opening the vault it was found that the lady was lying on her side, with evidences of having suffered terrible agony.”

Struve, in his essay on “Suspended Animation,” 1803, p. 71, relates the following:—“A beggar arrived late at night, and almost frozen to death, at a German village, and, observing a school-house open, resolved to sleep there. The next morning, the school-boys found the poor man sitting motionless in the room, and hastened, affrighted, to inform the schoolmaster of what they had seen. The villagers, supposing the beggar to be dead, interred him in the evening. During the night, the watchman heard a knocking in the grave, accompanied by lamentations. He gave information to the bailiff of the village, who declined to listen to his tale. Soon afterwards the watchman returned to the grave, and again heard a hollow noise, interrupted by sighs. He once more hastened to the magistrate, earnestly soliciting him to cause the grave to be opened; but the latter, being irresolute, delayed this measure till the next morning, when he applied to the sheriff, who lived at a distance from the village, in order to obtain the necessary directions. He was, however, obliged to wait some time before an interview took place.A MAGISTRATE CENSURED. The more judicious sheriff severely censured the magistrate for not having opened the grave on the information from the watchman, and desired him to return and cause it to be opened without delay. On his arrival, the grave was immediately opened; but, just Heaven! what a sight! The poor, wretched man, after having recovered in the grave, had expired for want of air. In his anguish and desperation he had torn the flesh from his arms. All the spectators were struck with horror at this dreadful scene.”

The Undertakers’ Journal, November 22, 1880, relates the following:—

“An extraordinary story is reported from Tredegar, South Wales. A man was buried at Cefn Golan Cemetery, and it is alleged that some of those who took part in carrying the body to the burial-ground heard knocking inside the coffin. No notice was taken of the affair at the time, but it has now come up again, and the rumour has caused a painful sensation throughout the district. It is stated that application has been made to the Home Secretary for permission to exhume the body.”

Dr. Franz Hartmann, in his “Premature Burial,” pp. 10 and 44, relates the two following cases:—“In the year 1856 a man died in an Hungarian village. It is customary there to dig the graves in rows. As the grave-digger was making the new grave he heard sounds as of knocking proceeding from a grave where a man had been buried a few days previously. Terrified, he went to the priest, and with the priest to the police. At last permission was granted to open the grave; but by that time its occupant had died in reality. The fact that he had been buried alive was made evident by the condition of the body, and by the wounds which the man had inflicted upon himself by biting his shoulders and arms.

“In a small town in Prussia, an undertaker, living within the limits of the cemetery, heard during the night cries proceeding from within a grave in which a person had been buried on the previous day. Not daring to interfere without permission, he went to the police and reported the matter. When, after a great deal of delay, the required formalities were fulfilled and permission granted to open the grave, it was found that the man had been buried alive, but that he was now dead. His body, which had been cold at the time of the funeral, was now warm and bleeding from many wounds, where he had skinned his hands and head in his struggles to free himself before suffocation made an end to his misery.”

A medical correspondent communicates to the author particulars of the following case, which occurred at Salzburg, Austria:—“Some children were playing in the Luzergasse Cemetery, and their attention was attracted by knocking sounds in a newly-made grave. They informed the grave-digger of it, and he secured permission to open the grave from whence the sounds seemed to come. A man had been buried there at two p.m. that day. The formalities of the permission to open the grave delayed it till seven p.m., when, on opening the coffin, the body was found to be bent completely over forwards, and was frightfully distorted and bleeding from places on the hands and arms, which seemed to have been gnawed by the man’s own teeth. The medical experts who were called in to examine the case declared that the man had been buried alive.”

From the Undertakers’ and Funeral Directors’ Journal, January 22, 1887.

“Another shocking case of premature burial is reported; the distressing incident took place at Saumur, in France. A young man suddenly died, at least to all appearance, and his burial was ordered to take place as soon as possible. The croquemorts, or undertaker’s men, who carried the coffin to the grave, thought they heard a noise like knocking under its lid, yet, being afraid of creating a panic among the people who attended the funeral, they went on with their burden.FATAL RESULTS. The coffin was duly placed in the grave, but, as the earth was being thrown upon it, unmistakable sounds of knocking were heard by everybody. The mayor, however, had to be sent for before the coffin could be opened, and some delay occurred in the arrival of that official. When the lid was removed, the horrible discovery was made that the unfortunate inmate had only just died from asphyxia. The conviction is spreading that the terrible French law requiring speedy interment ought to be modified without delay.”

Mr. William Harbutt, School of Art, Bath, writes to me, November 27, 1895:—“The copies of the pamphlet ‘The Perils of Premature Burial,’ by Professor Alex. Wilder, you kindly sent me are in circulation. Almost every one to whom I mention the subject knows some instances. One, a case at Radstock, twelve miles from Bath, where the bearers at the funeral heard noises inside the coffin, but were afraid to open it without the authority from a magistrate. When it was opened next day the appearance of the body showed that he had been coffined alive, and had had a terrible struggle to escape.”

From the Star, London, May 13, 1895.

The Paris edition of the New York Herald, May 14, 1895, says:—

“The case of the woman buried alive at Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie, the other day, has almost found a pendant at Limoges. A woman, belonging to the village of Laterie, died, to all appearance at least, a few days ago. After the body had been placed in a coffin, it was transported to the village church. On the way the bearers heard sounds proceeding from it, and at once sent for the mayor, who ordered it to be opened. The woman was found to be suffering from eclampsia, which had been mistaken for death by her relatives.”

The following case is instructive in that the victim was exhumed without an order from the Home Secretary, or waiting for any formalities, and was restored to life:—