Years ago, many people feared that they would accidentally be buried alive. Coffins were sometimes built with holes in them, attached to a six foot long copper tube. A bell was hung over the grave and the cord attached to it led down, through the earth, into the coffin. If someone was mistakenly buried without actually being dead, they could breathe through the copper tube and ring the bell to alert the gravedigger that they were still alive.

In a certain small town in the United States, the local gravedigger heard a bell ringing one night. He was accustomed to hearing bells ring in his graveyard. Sometimes it was just local children playing a prank. Other times it was just the wind. This time, he was shocked to see that the cord ringing the bell was being pulled from deep underground.

The gravedigger put his ear to the top of the copper tube and listened. He heard a faint voice from below begging and pleading to be released from the grave. The man looked at the name on the headstone. "Are you Sarah Bannon?" he asked.

"Yes!" the muffled voice cried.

"Were you born on September 17, 1807?" asked the gravedigger.

"Yes!" came the answer from deep below.

"The headstone says you died on February 20, 1859."

"No, I didn't die" cried the voice. "I'm still alive. They made a mistake! Dig me up! I beg you!"

"Sorry, Lady", said the gravedigger, detaching the bell from its cord to silence it and plugging up the copper tube with dirt. "This is August 1859. Whatever you are down there, you sure as hell ain't alive no more, and you sure as hell ain't comin' up."

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