FROM THE BRINK OF THE GRAVE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 20, 18 October 1907, Page 10

FROM THE BRINK OF THE GRAVE.

ASTONISHING NARRATIVES. A distinguished German doctor, G. H. Bcrndt, has come to the conclusion that it is an utter mistake to suppose that dying is painful. He has collected and published in a book a great number of statements from persons who were regarded by tho doctors as dying, but .who unexpectedly recovered. They came as near to being dead as is possible. Nearly all of them testify that dying was pleasant instead of agonising. They wcro all intelligent persons, capable of describing their sensations accurately. From their narratives it appears that what hurts is the terror of dying. You must bo alivo and comparatively well to feel this. When you have : passed a certain point oil the road tb, death pain ceases. Most of the persons say that at tho very moment when they were pronounced dying they were supremely happy. When the sufferer lies in tho arms of death the nerves and tho body are paralysed and insensible to pain, but the brain is active, and conceives the most • delightful visions. Some of the most remarkable narratives collected by Dr. Borndt .are reprinted here. - • > Falling to Death. Tho first' is that of Arnold Siegrist, who fell from Korpfstock Peaks in the Alps. Siegrist says:—"On tho eventful day I and some others had succeeded in making the very difficult ascension of the Korpfstock. We -had reached the highest peak, a lofty narrow projection separated from the main mass of 'the mountain at its base. The sharp peak rises 2000 feet above tho rest of tho mountain. I was anxious to enjoy the scenery, to make observations from every point of view, and to examine thoroughly the lofty summit we had reached.- I therefore rashly detached myself from the rope, •'which, as usual in such oases; connected me with my companions, and proceeded to explore . the peak by myself. After climbing around for about- half an hour I sat down near "the edge at a point where the peak drops down ■l'most' vertically for several thousand feci.. I enjoved the superb scenerv iinmonrely.' — my mind was full of high, and noble thoughts. Suddenly I felt tho ground beneath mo be T ginning to slide outwards towards the abyss. A portion of the p.eak' near tho edge had , ••iismtogratod, probably- by the action of frost, and"the slight addition of my weij. •was sufficient to separate it ■ completely nnr". cause it to topnlo over. I rn-dc i frantV.endeavour to save myself by rolling backward away from the edge, but it was too late.* In another install I was falling through the air. " I realised perfectly that I was falling to my death, but 1 suffered neither fear, pain, nor discomfort. I daresay that if Lhad been in a position to struggle for my life, .howover ineffectually, I should have been in an agony of terror, but as I was absolutely incapable of helping myself I did not have any cause for anxiety. 'For a moment I felt a regret for the now gold chronometer which I was woaring, and which was certainly going to he broken, but this idea quickly passed out of my mind. My mind worked with marvellous rapidity. I must have lost all conception of time, for although 1 could only have been a few seconds in the, air, it seemed to me a very long time. I thought of my dear wife and little ones, and deeply regretted that, I was leaving tlidm, but remembered what a handsome sum of insurance money they,would receive, and I smiled gleefully at tlie" thought that, the insurance company would have to pay this amount after receiving one premium only. I then began to fnld myself• ecstatically happy. I had shaken off tho bonds of the flesh and had entered into the realm of immortality. Every problem of human existence became absolutely clear to mo. I understood exactly how men should live in order to, avoid all strife, sorrow ;■ misery, and poverty. I possessed the secret. of perfect happiness. "At length I was vaguely, aware of a sensation that I was 'brushing through something. It was repeated may times. I can only explain what happened from what I learned afterwards. When I had fallen, about 1000 feet my body leached an almost perpendicular slope, thickly coyered with tr<?es. Had I struck any objcct strong enough to,; arrest my fall completely I should have been shaken to pieces, but I fell into tho light branches of a young tree and swiftly crashed through it. Then I struck, another, and the,process, was repeated again and again. Each time I struck something was taken from tho momentum of my fall. After going through the last, of the trees I shot head downwards into a little gully. For several days I lay in a critical condition. I was, however, in perfect comfort and suffered .not at all. I enjoyed a delicious sensation, of rest and freedom from cafo'. My mind .was'.not so active as during my flight through the air, but I indulged in many long speculations concerning the new life on which I felt I, was entering. After hovering in tho balance for a remarkably long time I began'to return to life, and as I did so, experienced pain and discomfort onco more. When I was convalescent I suffered acutely, and often did I rogrot the happy moments when I was dying." . /. A Chauffeur's Experience.

Tho next story is that of Cliauffour Sissay, who was given up for dead after, his auto had run amok, when going 94 miles an hour. ','My astounding experience," says Sissay, "occurred during tho trial races for the championship of the Sarthe. They were held near Eyreux, in Normanby. I was driving my 90, horse-power Ronault racing machine. I was on a magnificent level stretch of road and. was pushing the machine to its utmost speed capacity. Eventually I worked, up to a speed of SM miles an hour. . We were no longer seiwible of contact with the'earth. It was as if iwo were flying j objects at a distance,, wero visible, and. then in an instant they vanished, for. it is hardly possiblo .to see anything which you pass at a speed of 94 miles an hour. Suddenly,' when 1 was not more than 4uo feet away, 1 saw to my horror another motor machine inovc directly upon me. Such a distance is practically nothing when you are going at a speed of 94* miles an hour. [ was within a few fdot of tho. other machine, in two seconds. I made a tremendous effort, to avoid a collision and keep on the road. I shot past .the. other machinc, missing it only by an inch or two, and, for a moment L thought I was out of danger. In another' instant I realised that I : had steered just a. fraction too far to tho right. It was just enough to take mo off the road. I shot across the ditch, and there I encountered the'most peculiar series _of obstacles an automobilist ever had to negotiate. , I was in a great field filled' with a series of, irrigating ditchcs. They ran parallel to one another, and each was' about 100 feet away from the next, , and about four feet wide. Thero were twelve of them, and, my machine was headed .straight across thorn. ■ , " For a mile or more I' sued . across the country,, leaping ditches and hedges. Then' the machine ran oh level ground for an appreciable period, and I was able to apply the brake. But before the machine'stopped I ran into a tree and was sent flying through t he air, though the speed'.had been reduced sufficiently to make the shock less destructive than it would have been a few momc-nts earlier. Even as I hurtled through the air I was not terrified, but experienced what I may call swift visions of joy.' I lay unconscious for many hours. There was scarcely a whole bone in my body,.and I had suffered the severest internal injuries. For instanco, my heart was moved four inches from its normal position. When I recovered consciousness I was still unable to move or speak. I was able to open my oyos and see what was going on about me. I heard tho doctor saying there was no chance for me. They handled me in order to ascertain tho character of my injuries, but this did not; hurt me. I felt as light as a balloon. I hoard tlicm say, "Poor fellow, it would be better if lie were out of his misery." I was not'in any misery, but this remark did. not frighten or annoy mo. I was not' afraid to think that they might let mo die, for I enjoyed dying immensely. My sensations wore of delicious peacefulness, such as I had never experienced even in tho remotest degree when I was thoroughly alive. 1 felt no shocks or jars, no little annoyances or inconveniences. My inind seemed incapable of weariness or fatigue, and troublesome questions that .had formerly perplexed me' appeared perfectly clear. I. said to myself that if my mind had been as clear as this at the time of the accident I could easily have avoided it. I calculated with absolute clearness how I could make a fortune of 100,000f. in a few months

b.v soiling.a certain machine. As I was dying I said I should not bo able to carry out my plan, but now it appears just, as feasible as when it entered my brain-that was half detached from my shattered body" "I lay in a state of delightful happiness, in which I had visions that were half dream .and half reality. I thought that 1 was. riding in the swiftest and most luxurious auto.mobilo that had ever boon created; It was oyen faster than the one in which I had met disaster. If flow'along with never a. jar or ,a jolt, and sometimes I fancied that I was riding on the clouds, but then when I looked at tho landscape about me I changed my mind and concluded that I was on-a road : ,of in-.,, dated rubber. . This, machine, was steorcd and' driven by thought. I had only to wish'a,'' certain speed and immediately I had it. • I ■' had only to wish to be at a place and imino- * diately I was there. Sometimes I amused • myself calculating the speed of the machine.. I took out my watch and looked at a splen-' did palace on tho hillside about twenty miles' ' away."Then I 'said,' "I will go there." Almost instantly my ; machine was, in the, court--yard of the palace. -I r looked, at my,- watchtwo seconds had passed. ; I had been, travelling at a speed-of sixty, miles a minute. . That was good, but I coukl do. better.. I did - not always; scorch. Often I glided safely along in my magically smooth road-bed, enjoying ( ' scenes .of, entrancing ; beauty. Then I fell in-' to a dreamy , state, in. which' I /conversed,', with my family and friends, or. just spent my' timein silent communion with them. It was not until I began to, recover, to everybody's,/' surprise, that I began _to know once more /, what pain and unhappines's meant." I 'shall t/ always look back to tlie' days 'when I 'was : supposed to' be' dying as,' the jolliest Holiday 01 my life." '' '. ' ■ : L -' What, Drowning'is Like.' ' ' Our third section is from the experience/ of a gentleman who, .enjoyed esctatic, vision's )" whilst more than half , drowned. , Ho, )liad . been skating over rather tliin ice, when the-, ice gave way, and he/was-suddenly, plunged ;j into the freezing.',water. . At. first he strjig-:/. gled hard, to forco his way back to the hole through which he had fallen, but finding all his efforts in .vain, lie ceased struggling , and • resigned himself to his fate.. The water at., once flowed into' his lungs and stomach, and he lost normal consciousness." "From the mo- ' mont," he writes, "that I ceased to struggle for life I ceased to feel any pain. I knew that I was dying,' and I was astonished to find how' peasant it' was. I had no longer ' any sensations of cold or suffocation. 1 felt that I was floating on a couch of exquisitesoftness. The most beautiful music I- had ' over heard sounded in my oars. It 'was' soft and sweet, and marvellously melodious. ' I was being carried gently, upward!" and un-;" seen angels or spirits 1 were discoursing sweet : music to'me. r "Then a soft, white light flooded my eyes and : . filled l the space about me entirely. I'could - not understand whence-it came. 1 There was. neither sun' nor lamp.;? There was' something' l unearthly about' if, i yet very soothing and •• delightful.' It was a'light that never: was on ■ land or sea. The music began:to grow softer,: • but without- dying away. Events of my past v life .ran'beforo my eyes like the. scenes of a ■ play. Strange to say, I: only saw: the plea- " sant things that had happened to me. Iwaa '< so delightfully situated that: I could only imagine pleasant things. I felt- a desire to - see all my old and dear friends; and immo-■ diately their faces began to press about me. : I began to converso with' them. ..'I-.am -'not • • ordinarily a ,fluent speaker, but in my dying!.-; state I enjoyed a fluency: of speech■.sucli; as■ I had never possessed before; I was able to:express finest shades of thought-and-feeling , ■ with the precision .'of, a. philosopher and ,the eloquence of a poet.' ', I was: able: to :express all the , clever, and ; noble ideas -which, I bad felt boforo, but'had never been able.-to'eon- j vert into . distinct . articulate speech.. My.' , 'friends, , like, .myself, were gifted with 1 - an eloquence far beyond anything which I had known them.to possess before. _ After a, time tho throng, of my friends faded 'away and'.l was left, alone until my,'sweetheart.- Her face... fljore an imxious [expression, as .if she were, , vaguely aware that, some disaster had hap-, pened to me. I told her thajb 'I was dying, ' but that,' I- was "perfectly' happy,/'and that I.' hoped we should meet again. ■ ./; .• f 'Now," I.said, "we have still a little time ■ that we can spend together.' ; Let 'us enjoy ourselves." "Most willingly," she answered. She smiled sweetly, at me and then ;camo and nestled by my side. As we.sat. there a.:; most wonderful pageant unrolled itself beforo • us. -".We visited, all. the beautiful, places on earth : that we had.longed to ...see-'and had planned, to see when we should have time and money. We went to London and saw the- shops,- along the (Strand,... and. after that we called at Buck- . inghani-Palate, .'where the King and! Queen/. . received us'; most. kindly. After.'; that " wo.' passed, oyer' to the Continent, . where wo saw ; all the sights of Paris, climbed up to the top of the Arc de Trio'mph'c, and viewed the tomb of Napoleon. We. also witnessed, the grand- . est. theatrical performance wo 'oyer saw.' 'We travelled on to the Mediterranean, stopped at' Florence, Rome, Naples' and. Venice. Wo. journeyed leisurely through Switzerland, and made our way northward down the Rhine/ • Then we came home again. l I had premonition that itwas' tirno to/nart from; my sweetheart, although I had'still no feeling of pain ; or fatigue.' We; kissed ono "another good-bye' : without anysadiiess, and sho'faded away.' "Then came a period of absolute unconsciousness. From this I was : suddenly awak- '< onert> by the most excruciating pain I had ever suffered* The fact was, as I' learned afterwards, that I had been rescued from tho water and that the strenuous methods of resuscitating the drowning were being ■ ap- ■ ; plied to mo. It was the moment of my re- "■ turn to life that caused me so such trouble and' pain." , l