Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-15
A Ghastly Surprise.
Funeral Prepared and the Corpse Found to be Missing.
 From the Baltimore Gazette1

Found to be Missing. [From the Baltimore Gazettel The reiening sensation on Tuesday, the 12th, in South Baltimore, where sensations are few and far between was founded on simple funeral. Funerals occur every day amp it is the exception for strange and singu- lar occurrences to result from an ordinary ! procession of mourners and carriages to the grave of some departed relation or friend, but in this case, which affords an unlimited fund for conjecture and opinion, the strange min gles with the pathetic and presents a weird and unnatural story. On the 10th of June last Charles B. Helm, carriage painter, aged P years, son of George Helm, 112 Leaden- hall street, died at his home on Hanover street of bilious neuralgia. The remains were enclosed in black casket and the naIfe inscribed on plate, which was placed uponN the lid of the coffin On the 18th of July < they were taken to the Baltimore cemetery on Belair avenue, where the recent grave desecrations took place. The coffin was | placed in 8 vault, and check bearing the number 665 was placed in conspicuous | place thereon.
 Yesterday was the day appointed for the I interment The father left the other mem- bers of the family at the newly dug grave, in which had already been placed the box which was to receive the coffin, and proceeded to the vault to order the removal of the remains. There he met the watchman at the vault, to whom he exhibited the permit, with the re- quest that his sons casket be shown him. 'What was the number ?" asked the watch man.
 "665," answered the father. 'Here it is, responded the man, after short search, placing his hand upon an old coffin, on which was the number GG5 8 tag.
 Mr. Helm looked at the coffin for moment and then stepped back aghast. "That, D said he, ''that is not my sons cof- fin. The plate is not on it, and his had six handles while this has only four" The watchman insisted that the coffin dis playod was the one because the tagged num- Der was on it and there could be no mistake. Then ensued heated debate, the father contending that it was not his sons, and the watchman insisting that it was. At length the superintendent was called, to whom the case was stated. All the coffins in the vault
 were overhauled, but without success, MT.
 Helm failing to recognize in any of
 them that of his son. After a fruit less search and a thousand and one con
 lectures as to whether the remains were stolen or buried in mistake, the assembled attendants broke up and returned to the city bowed down with grief. The newly made grave was reflled and the father again sought the superintendent to obtain from him some explanation of the dreadful occurrence. This, however, the superintendent failed to give. Mir. Helm, after being admonished to keep the matter quiet, was promised that the regis ter should be overhauled, and that all bodies coming in since the 12th of July would be exhumed in order to find the one sought after. MT. Helm, the deceased mother and his wife are in a state of inconsolable grief at their loss. Mir. Helm does not know what to think of the occurrence, and says he would be tempted to believe that his son's remains were stolen were it not that the public vault is safe and we'll guarded and was established as preventative against dissertation.
 
 An Pathetic Ball.
 [London Letter to The Philadelphia Telegraph.l
 Mir Du Maurier has not caricatured the aesthetic style of dress in the least. On the contrary, he has drawn it very mild. The favorite colors are peacoek-blue in dull shade, sage green, terracotta red, and bright saffron color. Most of the ladies had their hair cut short, and pulled out in wisps to look like the personages in medieval illuminations. One lady present had copied the costume worn by Ellen Terry as Portad, and her dress was made of magnificent satin and brocade, but lacking the consummate and exquisite grace of that charming actress the effect was far from being good. The materials employ ed were mostly crape, cashmere and thin Chinese silk. with here and there heavy sa- tin. The wearers of these wonderful robes posed about the room in limp and back ,boneless manner, leaning up against door posts or convenient pieces of furniture in at titudes more or less marvellous to behold, but all on the foppy style. In fact to be truly @sthetic one must have neither back bone nor back-hair cropped locks, and tendency to double up on the smallest pro- vocation being essential.
 This new craze, however, has its advan- tages. A pretty girl in one of these queer dresses looks pretty in spite of it, while an ugly one has at least the comfort of being conspicuous and attractinga degree of notice that she would not otherwise obtain. And if the things were well and tastefully done. it would be rather nice than otherwise, being picturesque and peculiar at all events. But the dresses themselves are so hideous, ands SO badly made, and often, alas and alas anything but clean,e and the cropped heads are so very trying and the lilies and sunfiow- CTS look so absurd, that the picturesque ele- ment in the affair is overridden by the ridi- culous one. It has, however, one great mer- it-it is economical. An @sthetic ball-dress will cost but very few more shillings than ParisiaY1 one will nour1ds