Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-06-05
SECOND-AANDICE.
Employed TO Keep Dead Bodies,
and Then Used For Lem
Onade and lee Cream
Purposes.

new lOrk Mereury.J.
What becomes of the ice placed uu-
der dead bodies after it has served its
temporary purpose, is a problem to
which a Mercury reporter devoted
some of his spare time last week.
At n east side undertaking estab-
llshmeut, in response to questions on
the subject, the proprietor said:
We sell out secondhand ice toany
one who asks for it. five did not,
of course we would not use it after
being on a body, and consequently
must throw it away. It's better to
make a profit Of half Of its value, be-
sides getting It's use, than drop
ping it into the gutter. The prin-
cipal part Of the customers | have
calling upon me for second handed
ice on Sundays in the summer are
ice-cream dealers aud soda water
men. They place the ice in boxes
about the tanks. The ice cream men
pulverize it and use it in freezing.
None Of the lee is dangerous for these
purposes, because it is not touched or
brought in contact with anything that
enters the stomach. The ice which l
sell them is generally used in keeping
dead bodies. Sometimes, if the per-
sons are poor, we have to resort to the
old method of keeping the remains by
packing the ice in small pieces about
the entire body. This ice is certainly
beyond all harm or danger, and can
be used as well as tbat Just brought
from the boat"
Another undertaken said
The practice is nothing unusual.
Why [ have had so much of a demand
for my useless aud secondhand ice
during last summer, that | intended
to charge extra this Summer for ice
used by the patent ireezers. It's the
best, and as good as new. OF course,
it's clean profit to US. We charge for
icing bodies and for all ice used. |
don't mind about ice cream men and
soda stands using it, but when lemon
ade peddlers call for it, l kind of
weaken on giving it, and may not sell
any at all to that class of trade here
after. Last summer, one very warm
night, | went into a saloon with
a friend of mine on the Bowery,
to have a drink. My friend
called for beer, | called for a glass of
sarsaparilla. After my friend mad his
beer placed before him, my drink was
soon poured out, and when the glass
was nearly full a large piece of ice was
dropped into it. As the ice bobbed
up and down in the sarsapariila, the
glass was soon covered with a damp
ness, and l prepared to drink down
the cooling draught, when suddenly
looked up at the bartender, aud be-
held the man who had but a few mo.
ments before beel in my place buying
second hand ice. What the person
died from who was kept with that ice
| shall not say, but the thought of il
made a cold sweat run down my back
Luckily | did not drink the sarsa.
parilla, but made some excuse and
left the place.
Another time g young fellow cami
into my place on a Sunday afternoon
in a great state of excitement.
He said, BOSS, let me have ter
cents worth Of ice or l will have t
close up business"
My man brought him up a lot O
good large pieces, which might hav,
COST twenty cents from the boat. H,
secured these aud at once left. Soor
after | saw that ice floating In straw,
berry lemonade 10 Grand street, anC
a big policeman was drinking two OF
three schooners to keep out the heat
That ice was used in a pat.
ent freezer, about the body of a mar
who committed suicide by blowins
out his brains. OF course there wa!
no danger in the ice, but if that fact
was made known TO the strong mem
Der of the force he would certainly
grow weak. AS was leaving the
strawberry lemonade man aud the bi.
policeman, | saw several young girl.
getting dribs, who would certainly
faint iftheY knew what the ice haC
been freezing before it struck the
lemonade.
| have known of instances where
this secondhand ice had been ap
piled to sick people.
The worst use Of this ice | have
ever witnessed was one day | had ar
order for freezing a body in Thirty.
sixth street. 1t was that of a mar
who had died from some c%ontagiou,
disease. In fact we had to be rather
careful in handling the body ourselves
|, We kept him on the ice for nearly
three days, and On the third day pre-.
pared him for burial. That evening
, after work was done, some of the mel
carried QUO the ice aud threw it in the
middle of the street. When we wen
out to u wagon TO depart we hehelC
about six little boys picking up the
ice aud crunching pieces in theii
mouths, | became greatlyalarmed, but
as soon as | told the boys the ice
would sioken them, they immediately
threw it away, but not until they had
consumed much Of il"