Omaha daily bee., 1883-08-15
A TERRIBLE SENSATION.
The Growing Demand for Bodies for
Dissection.
Discovery of a Mine Of CHASTITY
Forms and Skeletons.
Horrible Sight in a Dark Cellar
in the Center Of Town
The Coroner Does not Deem an In
quest Necessary.

A couple OF three years ago the uppo
portion of one of the principal business
blocks on one of our streets was occupic,
by a well known medical association a
temporary headquarters for a college.
One day while it was serving this pur
pose a big sensation was caused by tn,
discovery of a body i'll the dissection
room which had been pretty we'll cut up,
the brains being in n bucket and the
various sections being hung about the
room, in artistic style. The remains were
seized by the coroner but nothing ever
came of it MS it was evident the "stitf''
had only been used for scientific purposes
and the matter was 500 forgotten.
IMPORTING BODIES.
Some time after this the st. Louis
Globe-D Democrat published an article in
which was inserted n letter received from
this same Omaha association by the head
of a medical college there, desiring him to
procure and ship for their use here, from
u dozen to thirty bodies, for which the
highest market price would be paid. The
offer to go into u commission business ON
corpscs was respectfully declined, and the
st. Louis parties did not have professions
al courtesy enough to keep mum.
THE LEGISLATURE APPEALED TO.
AT the last session of the legislature the
passage of an act was secured by whose
provi4 ions the bodies of paupcrs UNI
claimed by friends for burial were to be
turned over to medical colleges or sur
geons for scientific purposes, upon appli-
cation to the county clerk, and filing a
certain bond. This statute was quotedin
full by THE BEE a few days ago. Appli-
cation was subsequently made to the
authorities for blanks on which to make
out applications and bonds for bodies
coming under the description given in
the act, and as cool weather is coming on
it is likely that an early attempt will be
made to
STOCK UPON ''sTIFFS."
Yesterday a BEE reporter started up the
broad stair way leading to the second
story of the block formerly occupied by
the association to see a lawyer in regard
to an important matter. The rise or
face" of the stairs is of ground glass and
recently it has been broken in one or two
places, seven or eight steps above the
landing. The space beneath the steps is
utilized rs a sort of cellar or store room,
which could not be noticed except by one
accustomed to watching ever the slight
lest matters, as reporters have to do.
A STARTLED REPORTER.
AS the reporter went up the steps en-
tirely oblivious of any unusual sight be-
ing on hand, his eyes fell on the broken
panes in the stair, and glancing through
he saw in the faint light below two faces,
both of boys not over twelve years of
age, cold and stiff. The trunks were in
an upright position, and the unexpected
%apparition caused the reporter to stop as
if he had run againet II stone wall, while
his blood run cold, and his whole body
was chilled by the presence of death, and
his hair would have stood on end if there
had been enough left to brace up and
stand. Recovering somewhat from the
first shock, and scarcely believing his
own eyes, a second glance was taken,
and
ANOTHER tLAMMI FACE,
that of a man, seen lying back on a pile
of boxes, the body like that of the two
boys being clad in extremely neat and
well fitting attire. In the were
several headless skeletons, whose ribs
were 50 clean that they shone like steel.
Other objects scattered about in this
charnel house were indistipct owing to
the darkness. The reporter did not wait
long but notified an officer and called
several parties near by to- look at the
CHASTITY sight.
THE OWNERS DISCOVERED.
From the above it will at once be con
Guided by our readers that these
bodies were imported to this
place or stolen from some
grave for dissection but such is not the
case and the mystery is explained by the
fact that the heads and bodies of the
boys and man were of plaster paris, being
dummies used by a clothing house who
had got new ones and stored these away
in this exposed spot, where they were
discovered and so shocked the d~iscoverer
The shining ribs were steel dummies fUi
coat racks and so the coroner concluded
that
No INQUEST WAS NECESSARY.
1t was not so much of a sensation after
all but it served as a foundation for m
item and all the facts given in connection
with it are true.