The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1872-05-07
NUMBER i
HAZE T0S OF FLESH.
Death by Inches OF the Largest
ssomsa iIa tilo sVGPf:l.
from tho st..Loui. Times. April III

From the st. Louis Times, April III 4
Ga Monday evening Mrs. Amelia
Brooks, aged hfty- one years, died at her
residence in the alley bounded by Tweii.
ty thi:dan Wash streets and Franklin
avenue. Mrs. Brooks, whose frame
was but little more than medium sized.
had Accumulated -1esh until she weighed
between nine hundred and a thousand
pounds Until7very recently SHE had
b3on employed as nurse in the family Of
a barber or Olive street. but an irresist--
ible tendency to plethora curtailed het
sphere of usefulness, ard she was ac-
cordingly retired by the barber and an
other nnrse of less pronounced indiyid-
uality engaged in ner place. '
Rather than see Mrs. Brooks thrown
upon the cold charities of the world,
the barber gave her some money and in
terested himself in procuring light sew,
ing for her. With the proceeds of her
work, and the kindly aid of some Sis
ters of Mercy, she lived very comforta-
bly,, though the limited construction of
the portals and her superabundance of
adipose matter confined her to her room
and to devotional and religious. ,exer;.
cises exclusively. For the last few
weeks she has been confined to her
couch; a massive piece Of architectural
upholstery, and on Monday morning.
though to all appearances in perfect
health, manifested signs Of approaching
dissolution. At one o'clock the whole
of the left side had succumbed to the
power that reduces ''dust to dust and
ashes to ashes" At 2 o'clock, she be:
came cognizant Of the necessity Of an
exertion, but death had gained too firm
a hold to be shaken off. At 8 o'clock
she rouscd herself, but the black shad,
ow had extended over her back, and
was gradually approaching her vital
parts AT o'clock the struggle. was
terrible, and TIE returns ferc nearly all
in, with only two legs and an arm to
hear from. From this time until 8
o'clock in the evening the issue was
certain, and at 8 the soul abandoned its
earthly tenement forever.
There was some little difficulty expe-
risnced in placing the body in its ''nar-
row final resting place" As no coffin
could be found large enough, box was
built six feet long, twenty eight inches
brosd-and twenty eight ihches in depth.
Even this nss not sufficiently wide. and
it was necessary to compress the form
nine inches, but as that was the widest
box that could lie 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
premises. Her dimensions were five
feet ten inches in height, twenty eight
inches across the shoulders and thirty
seven inches seross the hips. Her arms
were thirty inches in circumference, and
her thighs sixteen inches in diameter.
when Sue had bees arrayed IN buriaf
vestments it was found impossible for
seven men to lift her. Finally the box
was tilted on one side, and she was roll-
ed in while the priests chanted the SER
vice of the dead. She was then placed
in large wagon, which proceeded to
Calvary Cemetery. The wagon was
backed up to the grave, and eight men
and six rollers combined their exertions
to lower her into her narrow bed. The
earth was thrown up around her, and o
neat tomb stone erected.