The Woman They Refused to Bury

History and tradition furnish many examples of that horror of all horrors, the burial for dead of persons who were in a trance. The body of Mrs. Catherine Costillo now lies at the rooms of the Cross Undertaking Company, dead to all appearances, but on account of peculiar circumstances attending the demise, the husband and friends think she may be still alive. This belief is strengthened by the fact that a brother of the woman, who is now living, once was in a comatose condition for thirty hours and narrowly escaped being buried. The spiritualists of the city are greatly agitated over the matter and crowded the undertaking rooms yesterday afternoon to see the body of one whom they believe is temporarily sojourning in Spirit Land. City Physician Palmer was telephoned for and, on making an examination of the body, failed to find traces of life, assigning the cause as pneumonia. After the doctor had gone, the husband, Costillo, put on her best clothes and, while he stood looking at her, either saw or believed he saw her eyes open and shut. A prominent spiritualist, C. S. Knight, claimed to be under the influence of a 'spirit doctor' who declared she was in a trance. Mrs. K. Rhoads, a magnetic healer, was also asked to give her opinion and said the spirits told her that the 'invisible battery' had been put on, and if it proved powerful enough, it would awaken the sleeping form. The husband has made known his desire to have the burial indefinitely postponed until it is proven beyond a doubt that life is extinct.