The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-04-27
THE HAIR AFTER DEATH,
Instances in which it has Grown
to Great Length.

the subjoined narrative is now for
the first time published:
In the year 1868 the bodies in the
vaults of the church which then
stood on the north side of Carmlne
street, near the junction of Varick
and Clarkson streets, were removed.
In some of the vaults the collins
had been ranged in rows, as many
as ten being placed one on top of the
other. Up to the time that the re-
moval of the bodies was begun there
had not been a burjal-if the placing
of a body in the vaults can be 80
termed-underneath the church for
seventeen years. 1t was not sur
prising, therefore, that when the
men went to work most of the COT
fins were found decayed, and that
where there had originally been
several collins nothing was found
but mass of rotten wood, remnants
of bones, and now and then frag-
ments of bodies that held together,
but had only the bare resem blance
to skeletons of the human body.
There were, however. a few cof-
fins, which were found to be in a
fair state of preservation, but even
the majority of these fell to pieces
at the slightest touch. The work
had lasted nearly a week when one
day a vault was reached in which
every coffin but one had crumbled.
Their contents lay in scattered
heaps on the top of the casket which
had been the first to be placed in
the vault. Strange to say, although
the workman made rough use OF
their shovels, this coffin remained
intact, and when the last shovelful
of "rubbIsh" -as the men called it
had been scraped off the lid there
was no Indication that the casket
was not as strong as the day when
it was tenderly laid, as the friends
of the dead one fondly hoped, never
to be disturbed from its resting
place.
One of the laborers with a broom
swept off the mould and dust of
years that covered portions of the
lid, and a faint glinting near the
centre of it caught their watchful
eyes. Holding lantern over the
coffin, one of the men found this to
| proceed from the plata heavy
silver one. Bending down and
scraping it with a trovel the work
man described the name and age of
the person who had been buried in
the casket. 1t showed that the
body was that of a boy of twelve
years, which had lain there for up
word of sixteen years. In attempt
ing to lift the coffin the lid came off,
the worn and rusted screws falling
to the ground.
PERFECT, BUT FOR 4 MOMENT ONLY.
The sight that met the eyes of the
lookers-on they will probably never
forget. One of them, a Catholic,
knelt down on the stone floor and
devoutly made the sign of the cross.
The interior of the cofin-the
satin lining and the delicate
fringe that bordered twas yellow
and mouldy, but the body of the
boy-a handsome boy he must have
benin its white shroud, with a
broad white silk ribbon about the
waist, looked as though it had but
recently been laid in the coffin. The
face was marble white, the lips
were half parted as if in a smile,
and beneath the partly closed eye
lids could be seen by the lanterns
rays the eyes themselves. The little
| hands were folded across the breast,
and most wonderful of all, perhaps,
was the hair. It was neatly parted
at the sides, and appeared as if it
had just been combed, for the damp
ness of the vaults was upon it, and
this dampness seemed like the trace
of a Wetted brush. The hair fell in
long tresses on either side, and had
curled and stretched down and along
and over the body to the waist, COW
ering it here and there like thin
veil.
All this was seen at a glance.
The wonderful appearance Of the
body remained unchanged for a
much less time than it takes to tell
it; for, as the men stood as if trans
| fixed to the spot, gazing upon the
child, an almost imperceptible mo-
ton was discerned about the face.
The eyes commenced slowly to
sink, the STROUD to crumble, and in
an instant almost the air had done
its work, and the frail shell that
had once doubtless been the pet of a
household faded into nothingness.
When those present land the writer
Of this sketch was one of them) had
regained their composure they stood
before an almost empty coffin; for,
besides a skeleton that fell to frag-
ments when touched, there lay at
the bottom of the casket nothing
but the glossy curls that had once
adorned the lads head in lifetime,
but had continued'to grow probably
for years after the day when the
grave first claimed its own.
OSCAR WILDE's STORY.
Most people understand that hail
does sometimes grow after death
but there are perhaps few who
know that there is a very consider.
able growth in at least cne-third OF
the cases where bodies are inferred
in the usual manner. A story was
told by Oscar Wilde at a dinner
party in New York which illustrates
this fact. When Gabriel Dante
Rossettl was very young-scarcely