Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-21

The Resnfrectfonists.

d
civilization, which is supplied by the meth
ods resorted to by anatomical teachers TOR
the PURPOSE of obtaining subjects for dls-4
section. From the year 1850 until the all
teration of the. law in 1882, the Resurrec-
tiOnists OF Body SnatcheFsY in England
were almost the only source of this supply;
they were persons generally of the worst
character, 1T we except the watchmen OF
that time who were set to guard the burial
Sr6ui4ds all Of whom received a regular
percentage on the sum obtained by the
ResurrectiOnists. The publicwere for many
wears aWarB of ehurchyaFds being robbedi
It was known to be effected with wonderful
rapiditya and sdexterity5 but the DaodHs op-
eFu,lds was never fathomed by the public,
and c1riousiy enough, no accidental cir.
cumstance occurred to furnish the explana-
tionss Even the members of the medical
profession, with few exceptions, were
kept in ignorance of it,so careful were the
Resurrectionists to remove all traces, OF
their mode of working after completing
their taSk.-,syse5, -r,-.,,es, zr..,,
It was generally supposed that the body
Fnatcffer proceeded as a novice would have
done, By removing all the earth with which
th6gra4e had been filed, and having arr
rIveu~atthe coffin, forced openJth lidso as
tOTremoVe the bodys But this would have
occupied time and increased the chances of
detectIon.2 TO avoid this, they only cleared
the earth aW ayE above the head of the
coffin, taking care to leave that whichacov-
cred the other eEtl as far as possible undis-
turbed. The lid of the coffin was then brok5
en- with a crow bar, a rope slipped in under
the arms of the corpse, and the body care
fully withdrawn. The clothing was then
replaced in the coffin and the grave relied.
BY this lmeans, in aAshallow grave with a
LIGHT SoiE the body snate tehers could remove
a. corpse in about fifteen minutes. Silence
was essential to their success. and IN grav-
ely ylsoils they had a peculiar mode of fling
ing out the earth to prevent the rattling of
the stones against the iron spade. ~ . II
AS soons as ,thel body sWasI raised it was
placed in a sack and them carried away
ina closed searriage.ss1n ascending themfrom
thecOuntFy to London they were packed in
crates and hogsheads. The bodies were
never directly, conveyed to the sdissecting
room. The students wouldoften take them
to'their own rooms and then remove them
to the colleges in cabs, the coachmen being
well paid for their work. Sometimes the
driverswas exorbitant in his demands. and
WasIsomewhat in genions in enforcing them
a. pupil who was conveying a body, in q
coach at one time to his hospital was aston
ished, upon finding himself in front of a
upon the window, said to the affrighted
youth, my fare to so and so is a guinea
Hf1less you wish to be put down here" The
reply, without hesitation. was, "Quite right
nay man, ,TdriEe On.|s3 tfa7i 2 - s-fs ,-1eT q
lathe OPENING of a new session there
was considerable competition between the
different colleges as to. which should ge
them0st bodies, and this rivalry occasions
ally led to revolving scenes and riots. Al
Que time two ResuTreo eotionists having gain.
ediaccess to private cemetery near Lon
don by bribihg the graye-dIgger, at time;
Drought away as many as six bodies in :
single night. Two other snatchers hearing
of this profitable arrangement, threatened
to expose the raYe-digger if he did no
admit them to q share of the plunder; bu
he was ahead of them, and pointed then
out TO a number of lAborers as body2snatch
ers come to bribe him, when the whole
body of nlensTpursued them, and they mar
istrate, and told him if he. would send of
tieers to the cemetery he would find eyery
grave rifled of its dead, the grave-diggel
having sold them to the body-snatchers.-
The indignant people rushed to the buria
ground, broke open the gates, dug up. tn
graves, and finding the empty cOf6ns, seizeC
the graye-digger, threw him into one ofth'
deepest excavations, began shoyeling tn,
earth over him, and would have buried hin
alive. but for the active efforts of two con
stables. The mob then went to his house
broke every article Of furniture in it, ant
Dragging out hissw and children threw
tbemliBto a stagnant pool in the nefghbor
hoJde Such disturbances as these fright
ened the Observation-Disclosures and they desistet
from their business fora while, procurins
bodies from tindeftakers, who were bribet
to fill the coffins with stones and brickbats
over which the CLERGY man often read tht
solemn funeral services ii1as - =. ~.
aThe bodies of suicides were often stoler
from the persons appointed to sit up will
them, ofithey were obtained from the poor
houses on the strength OF pretended re
laCfonsbip BY this means a man nance
Patrick, at one time got nearly fifty bodies
nom st. Giles workhonse, his wife, under
various DISCUSSES, claiming to be related tx
thedead persons. 70 eas eai 70
THE professional Resurre ectionists, how
ever were SO useful that when they GO
into trouble the surgeons interested them
selves in their favor. and advanced large
sums of money. to keep them out, OF Jail
cir Ashley Cooper expended hnndreds o
pounds for this purpose, single liberation
having cost him E16O. A leading Resur-
rectionist once received G144 for twelve
subjects in one evening, out of which he
had to pay his subordinates five pounds
each.- These high prices lead persons. fre-
oIfe1tlY while affHe to offer to sell their
bodies for dissection after death, but sur
geons were very. wary about acceding tc
such proposal as the laWsdid not reeog.
Iifze the right of property.
-tCuriouslyb enough, graves were not dis
fiirBed 70 obtain The entire body, for the
teeth alone, at one time, offered great temp
.eu1eas 10 s9II bsIgYiI9b sbeer II . -