The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1872-05-18
AHALr TON OF FLESH.
Death BY Inches of the Largest Woman n
the World.
From the St. Louis Times.

From the St. Louis Times.
On Monday evening Mrs. Amelia Brooks,
aged fifty one years. died nj her residence.
in the alley bounded by Twenty second,
Twenty.,hird, Wash streets and Franklin
avenue. Mrs. Brooks. whose frame wss but
little more than medium sized, had accu.
mulated flesh until she weighed between
900 and 1000 pounds Until very recently
she had been employed as nurse in the
family Of . barber. on Olive street, but
an irresistible tendency to plethora cur.
tailed her sphere Of usefulness. and she was
accordingly retired by the barber, and
another nurse of less pronounced individu.
slity engaged in her place.
Rather than see Mrs. Brooks thrown upon
the cold charities of the world, the barber
gave her some money and interested him.
self in procuring light sewing for hes.
With the proceeds of her work. and the
kindly aid Of some Sisters Of Mercy, she
lived very comfortably, though the limited
construction Of the portals and her supers,
bundance Of adipose matter confined her TO
her room and to devotional exercises exclu.
sively. For the last few weeks she had
been confined TO her couch, \ massive piece
Of architectural upholstry. and on Monday
morning, though to all appearances in per.
feet health, manifested signs ot sppr mch>
ing dissolution. AT one O'Clock, the whole
left side had succummed to the Power that
reduces ''dust to dust and ashes to sshes"
At two O'Clock she became cognizant OF
the necessity Of an exer,ion, but Death hal
gained too firm hold u be shaken of. Al
three o'clock she reused herself, but the
Black Shadow hnc extended over the back
and was gradually approaching her vital
pats. At four O'Clock the struggle was
terrible, and ut six the returns we're nearly
all IN. with only two legs and sn arm to
hear from. From this time until eight
o'clock in the evening the issue was ccr.
tain. and at nine the soul abandoned in
earthly tenement forever.
There was some little difficulty expert.
enced in placing the body III its marrow
final resting place." As no coffin could be
found large enough. q box WAS built six
feet long, twenty.eight inches broad and
twenty six in depth. Even this was not
sufficiently wide. and it was necessary to
compress the form nire inches, but a. that
was the widest box that could be got into
the room without tearing out the front
of the house it was thought more charitable
to reduce the clay than to injure the premi
ses. Her dimensions were five feet ten
inches in hight, and twenty-eight inches
across the shoulders, and thirty.seven inch.
es across the hips Her arms were thirty
inches in circumference and her thighs six.
teen inches in diameter.
When she had been srrayed In burial
v"s,,"""'s - fn""d i,mrnssihla f",
seven men to lift her. Finally the box was
tilted on one side and she was rolled in
while the priests chanted the service Of the
dead. Sh" was then placed in lA'gs
wagon, which proceeded carefully TO Cal.
very cemcntcry. The wagon was hacked
up to the grave and eight men and six roll
ers combined their cxerti"ns to lower her
into her narrow bed The earth was thrown
upon her and a neat tombstone erected.