The Evening critic., 1882-02-01
GuITEAu,S BODY.
Whit he Exhibitede


A dispatch from philadelphia, dated yes.
terday, says "a special dispatch from
Washington stated that Mr.. Scovilc, Gu-
teau's brother.in-law, had received letter
from n person in Philadelphia, engaged in
the manufacture of refrigerators and cool
ing apparatus, proposing to preserve the
assassins body Immediately after hanging
and place it on exhibition in this coun-
try and in Europe, half the proceeds
of the exhibition to be paid to Guiteau's
relatives. The person is j. ii. Ridgway, at
315 Race street.
Speaking to reporter o-day Mr.. Ridg-
way said that he had received the follow
ing letter from Mr.. Scoville:
WASHINGTON, d. c., January 80, 1882.
j. ". RidDcdB, esq.
ceived. The relatives are Inclined TO regard
your proposition favorably. In case of death
the brain will have to be removed for post
mortem examinations. GEO. ScoVILLE
Commenting upon it, Mr.. Ridgway said.
"Thc letter which | wrote Mr.. Scoville last
week, and which he refers to here, con-
tanned this proposition, which, as you see,
is agreed to according to its terms. am TO
have possession of the body of Guiteau i'm
mediately after death. ] shall then
have it preserved in n refrigerating
apparatus upon which 1 have patent.
The body will be exhibited in the principal
cities of this country and Europe. | will
have built sort Of case or room, about the
size of my private Office, which is about ten
feet square. Three sides of the case will be
Of glass, so that the whole interior may be
plainly visible. Attached to the fourth
side will be my refrgerating apparatus. l
have not yet decided how the body shall
be disposed, but it will be arranged so as to
look as natural as possible. The form will
be dressed just as in life, and the features
will retain the expression they wore i'm
mediately after they became fixed in death.
l expect to make an outlay of at least 49,,
coo in fitting up the exhibition case and
refrigerating car"
what Mr.. scOviIIe Says.
"Mr. Scoville," said THE CRITIC to that
gentleman this morning, "do you know
anything about this statement" showing
him the above.
"Oh, yes" he answered after reading it;
81 have received several letters from that
party, and in my answer stated that
could not answer for the relatives and had
not consulted them and could only answer
for myself. / told him that if l had any
say in the matter the first thing l should
| demand after Guiteau's death would be u
| post-mortem examination of his brain and
ascertain its condition as to disease, but he
| is not dead yet, and his death may be a
| iODS way VII.
"Still, if the man should be executed,
| then the question would arise what should
be done with the body. don't know, if it
was embalmed, decently clothed and used in
such a manner as to offer no indignity to
| it or insult to the relatives Of the man,
| whether it would not be q better DISPOSE
tion than placing it in a grave to be robbed,
as it certainly would be. If there was any
income from the exhibition and | was
the administrator, would use the money
derived first to pay Guiteau's debts.
would not touch penny of it for myself.
If after the debts were settled, anything
was left i should use that to try and benefit
lupatics in some way or promote the abo
lition of capital punishment. However,
am not relative and cannot speak for
them they must speak for themselves.
only say what / should be likely to do il
the matter rested with me. By the way,
received a letter to-day from an old soldier
claiming to be sixty years of age, stating
that he was poor and wanting to dispose o
his body. He said that if 1 could find somt
one to provide for him the balance of hi
life they could have his body after death.
HE saw that l had been applied to fol
Guiteau's body and thought maybe somt
person would like to have his. have sew
eral applicants who want Guiteau's body
and perhaps some one will accommodate
the old soldier. This isa new business and
might thrive, but imagine the difficulty
would be in procuring subjects"