Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-03-19
MIs cELLAHE0 aus.
A CHASTITY Practical Joke-Looked Up
by Night in a Dissecting Room.
From the San Francisco Bulletin. !

Medical students are noted for their love
of rough, practical jokes. Some Of them in
an eastern city once placed in bag num>
Der of human hands taken from subjects for
dislocation, which they left in a lonely place.
alarming the whole neighborhood by creating
the belief that some horrible and mysterious
murder had been perpetrated there. On
another occasion number of them in college
one night frightened gawky boy almost out
OF his senses by running the CHASTITY. dis
severed hand of ''subject" in his face. and
grimly asking him if he would like to see
corpae. These jokes however rough as they
were, were mild compared with one which
was lately pcrpetrated in the Medical College
here. One of the students attended lecture
In state which indicated much closer wor>
ship of "the rosy" than of his books. He
was allowed to clay off" and take it out in
sleep until the staid professor had ceased inn
parting grave instruction on some of the prac>
teal diseases which afIlict ''the house We live
1n When the doctors had dispersed, the
students solemnly concluded to show their
diSapprobation of intemperauce in general,
and that of their erring brother in particlar
tho offence in this case having been height.
ened by his getting ''corucd" alone, when a
dozen sympathizing friends would have been
willing to have stood by him to see that .'the
fair thing was done all around
-Four brawny students took up the sleeping
inebriate and carried him into the dissectinG
room, upon the long table of which, devoted
to the deposit of "stiffs," they slowly ana
sadly laid hin, down to take his rest. The
corpse of an aged colored gentleman and of a
brawny white were toted up alongside him,
to each of which the inebriate was tied, that
there might be proper bond of brotherhood
between them. The door of the dissecting
IL, r,II.
dents, with the consciousness of duty we'll
performed, went to enjoy their dinner. it be-
ing then about p. NJ. In the language of
the playbils, an interval of six hours mus.
now be supposed to have elapsed. All in the
meantime was we'll. with the sleeping inebri-
ate. lie may have snored sonoriously and
stretched and kicked stupidity, but his cold
companions made no complaint Even a
drunken sleep, however long as it generally
is, like the traditional lane, must have amend:
and SO about ~ T. H., not quite at witchinr
hour, unpleasanty near it, the sleeper's sem
ses began to revisit the earth, when it was
calculated that he would make night hideous
with his ye!s.
lie gradually came to, and alter many
yawns, the hardness Of his bed and want of
pillow at last struck him. He rose on his ell
bow to see where he was. The half. grown
moon was shining with peculiarly un-
certain and ghost like light through the ROOM
The .inebrate rubbed his eyes and stared, but
as he could remember nothing except that he
had been drunk when lie lost consciousness.
he could not make out where he was FL
naly lie jumped up, which movement dragged
his sleeping partner, with heavy thud. on
the floor after him. he was q man of iron
nerve, or he would have been frightened al
most into insanity; but even as it was, he
stood not upon the order of his going, but
went at once for the door, dragging his
''pards" at his heels. The door was locked,
and on it he pounded with knucke and heel
turiously, yelling for help the while savagely
The porter in the barn was finally started
from his peaceful slumbers and was far more
frightened than the inmates of the dissecting
room. When he became convinced that the
! uproar was in the room of the corpses he
thought they had awoke with an unearthly
life, and were about to visit vengeance on him
for the liberties taken with their late earthly
tenements. Half naked, and with the speed
of Tam O'Shanter with the witches at his
heels, he rushed up Stockton street, pausing
not until he had summoned a small and hur-
riedly>recruited army of stray night-walkers.
| With these he made nervous return to the
college, and cautiously and with ell.liehted
steps he led the way TO the dissectine room.
whence the knocking aud internal noise was
still heard. few moments suficed to ex-
! plain the situation, and TO bring forth tor
rents of curses on the head of him whom it
was but too truthfully suspected had put the
| students up to the rascally joke. AS an IL
| lustration Of perseverance in wicked courses
it may be stated that after the imprisoned
student finally stopped cursing he immediate
! ly resolyed-not aloud-to drink DO more,
but that it was his duty to stand drinks for
the crowd which relieved him from his horrid
| company. The drinks were accordingly ta-
ken, and the crowd separated.
-"Mr, Brown owe you a grudge, remem-
1 her that 7" ssI shall not ha frirb+o,o3 81. .