Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1882-12-21
MigDlaeed Iseytty.

Gertrude Garrison in Indianapolis Review.
Very coarse persons are fond Of saying flip
pant things about death and dead people
They take a certain kind Of joy in finding
grating names for dead bodies @Stiffs," Gcs
davers" and @foaters" have high honor in their
vocabulary. This indecorousness of language
is their idea Of wit AS there is nothing uD
earth which be made the but of Joke
such impunity as CORPSE this vile form Of
@smartness@ is never properly rebuked.
Other peoples dead are Of 80 little conse-
quence to most Of us that nobody bothers 10
express disapproval when these Objectionable
terms are made use of. How would we like i,
If our own dead were the subjects alluded to-
The slang of the medical colleges, which ia
more heartless than any other slang in the
world has permeated the public until the dig
nifty of death has been lost sight Of Every
forward boy Who outrages taste in language
and manners points the shafts of his unre-
fined wit at the dead by means of words
which should never be heard among
highly civilized people Every newspaper
reporter made dangerous by "a little learning"
studiously avoids speaking of dead bodies hy
any save disgusting and degrading names
the dead, but against the living. Whatever
makes us less refined, less delicate and i,,-s
consderate Injuries US, and this growing habit
of robbing the dead Of even their rightful place
In nomenclature Is one that is doing plenty Of
harm. Youths who have neither sense nor
wisdom, experience no feeling, consider it
fogyish to look or act as though death and its
grim belongings were not Tremendous Joke
which only the weak minded are incapable OF
approaching They would be afraid TO look
y.rol Last To- L.
agine they were impressed by the solemuity
Of the occasion. They consider it the cOrrct
thing to sheer at griaf aid affect al iInpre-
nabie indifference to woe. They laugh a.
grave yards, and burlesque funerals; mimic
mourning and scof at sorrow. This particu-
lar poise of soul does not come from phiIo-o-
ply but from folly. They do not smile at
grief and laugh at the pageant of other peo-
pies agony because they are brave or under
stand either courage OF discipline; but because
they are fools, too coarse, and too selfish TO
dream Of the majesty Of the very things they
deride
The tendency Of t2H EST was to exaggerate
the gloom and terror aud dignity of death: hut
the present bent of iconcclastic coarseness is
even worse. 1t makes of the dead subjects for
unseemly levity l. breeds coarseness of
thought; it eXtinguishes sympathy
We are not compelled to like man simply
because he is dead, or even to speak well of
him if he don't deserve it, but decency should
prevent US speaking of his body as ''ca-
daver," or ''foater" or "stiff" The voca1u-
larry of death is limited and far from elegant,
hut it is not wholly destitute of decency The
word corpse" is not a pleasant word; but
grim and CHASTITY as it is, it is not without
dignity. Remains is uDpleasantly suggcs-
tive One of our preachers. in speaking Of
of his SOUL thus adding to the narrow list Of
words we choose from our last and greatest
enemy new and beautiful term