The New York herald., 1878-11-08

science The body y-snatchers Of London quite
novels best known AS the husband of the woman who
SO frequently s.hopped may be taken fair sam
pie of them. Paris also consumes an immense num-
Der of human 'subjects' In her dissecting rooms,
but the French less delicate about all the SUBJ
jects which relate to the human economy. it is far
less difficult to obtain them there than it is else
where.
In this country the crime Of desecrating graves
attracted much attention before the year 1876
Since then it has increased in frequency until there
is not only class OF criminals devoted to it, but
kindred and dreadful line of operations has
sprung from it, 1t seems to be the natural ambition
OF these ghous and vampires to get or the
remains Of the most prominent personages, ana re-
Gently fears have been expressed that even the tomb
OF Washington might not be safe.
It is not 50 very long ago that the grave Of Henry
citement in Troy another atrocous case OF re
surrecting young man named Michael Price.
about nineteen years Of age; mad d,ea OF c0hsunP
Hill. About two weeks afterward the sexton
was oIe night warned by the barking OF =, .
grounds, and next morning discovered footsteps
leading toward the spot where the body OF Price had
lain The earth had been disturbed and there were
marks Of blood on the turf where the corpse had been
removed. The next day mob forced open room in
which it supposed to be concealed. and 1t was
there found upon dissectfng board. riot ensned.
and the building came near to being torn down.
September 1S73 the vault containing the remains Of
broken open and the bones found in the cofin were
scattered about The robbers only carried away the
silver mountings, however. and did not molest the
LINcoLN's TOMB DEsEcRArEp.
On the 7th of November. 1876 an attempt was made
steal the body of President Lincoln from its tomb
at springfield, III The scheme was well arranged; /;
but detective had obtained hint Of it long before
the plot ripe. The chief spirit in the de-
who kept saloon in West Madison street
in Chicago. With him associated Jack
Swigle. known among the people Of his lk as the
"Prnce OF Ropers, was third conspirator; but he.
too informer in the service Of detective Mr..
p d. Tyrre After the Others had tried him to their
satisfaction and had concluded that they could trust
him they told him that they intended TO get posses
sion Of the remains of the dead president They in
tended to bury them in some remote and lonely place
and only to reveal their whereabouts upon the pay
ment OF large reward swigle was not quite
for time to consider it. He informed Mr..
z. ". Deane. lawer Of Chicago. and and
communicated with Mr. Robert Lincoln tho son Of
the late President and upon consultation 1t de-
termined that Swge should continue to take part in
the conspiracy be the means Of preventing its
consum,nation. He returned to Hughes and Mullan,
and told them that he approved their plan. con-
tractor then in good social standing. taken into
their confidence and sent to Springfield to examine
the tomb He reported its condition, and the night
of the 18th fixed upon for the execution Of the
nefarious project.
THE PLAN DISCOVERED.
In the meantime all of these facts had been COM
got ready to 60 to Springfield. Mullan had ordered
Swge to procure team and wagon, and had told him
that he intended to RENTER the body in the sand
under the bridge the Sangamon River or else to
sink it IN the The detectives and Mullan and
his party went to Springfield on the same train.
and lodged in different hotels Mullan during
the day. which was that OF the Presidential
election. took some tools which he had
forgotten along and Swigle and Hughes were ordered
out to survey the ground. When it dark the con-
spirators had all gathered there and the detectives
following them in private carriage. The latter
were well hidden away before the burglary was begun
The monument under which the body Of Mr.. Lincoln
reposes stands at the top of activity facing the
south The resurrectonists passed to the north side
and began saving the lock of the door of the cata-
comb. Swigle crept back to the other side and told
detectives waited until the robbers had, entered the
vault and then hurried around to prevent them from
coming out free. At this moment q cap on revolver
accidentally exploded and 1t was necessary to throw
caution to the winds The detectives reached the
before the echo had died away but they too
late The robbers had fed, and the place was de-
serted There was no moon. and the sky was thick
with clouds. The detectives mmedatey scattered in
all directions but it dark that they could not
have person ten feet away. Nothing was heard
of the robbers.
THE COFFIN MOVED.
On examination it found that the lid Of the
sarcophagus had been pried off, It 10 slab of marble
about feet broad eight feet LONG and two inches
thick They had also taken of the end pieces. which
set in plaster of paris and bound with copper
hooks. The coffin had been moved about two feet.
They were about drawing it out when the alarm oc-
Cured. Hughes and Mullen were arrested in Chicago
on the 17th Of November, and six months afterward
sentenced to serve one year in the Illinois Peni
tentiary.
POPULAR INDIGNATION.
This outrage excited the deepest indignation through
the entire Union; but. although this feeling was
freely and eoquently expressed II did not deter other
criminals from engaging IN the dangerous and infer
nal occupation. The HERALD has frequently contained
telegraphic accounts of the rfng OF graves and on
the 31st of last January reported the arrest in Toledo
Of one Charles q. Morton styling himself . doctor.
who accused Of exhunning the body Of lady
He had sent them the Ann Arbor Medical College.
which just then waxing in notoriety on account
Of the facility with which dead humanity could be
marketed there.
On the 31st Of May the public painfully startled
by learning that the corpse OF John Scott Harrison.
of President Harrison. had been discovered hang
ing By the neck III chute connected with OF the
subcellars of the Ohio Medical College ia Cincinnati
Mr.. Harrison had been dead about week. and was
inferred in the Presbyterian cemetery at North Bend
Ind. Special precautions had been taken to guard
against dissertation of his grave, and IL had been
dug very deep and walled up with bricks. Large
stones weighing several tons had been placed top
of the metallic coffin and had then been firmly ce-
mented together A man named Linn had been hired
Harrison had been painfully impressed by the robbery
OF the tomb Of young gentleman named Devons, and
Mr.. John Harrison Of party who went to the
college search for the body What his horror 70
there face to face with his dead grandfstherl !
subsequently, Devons' body was found at Ann Arbor.
where many other missing citizens OF prominence
aso turned up in the well filed picking watts Of the
dissecting department.
telegraphic despatch from Chicago. dated Novem-
Der 3. contained Of the arrest of A. Mackey, of
Keokuk, Iowa, for receiving 'resurrected" bodies.
One of them sent to the medical college In that
city.