The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-11-26
SMUGGLING A CORPSE.
How Dead Man Was Brought From
Florida to Jersey City, N. J, In Sleep
Ing Car.
Republican,


Washington Republican,
''I wonder how soon he win be shipped
back by express?" meditated railroad
man last night, as mufied up figure
passed painfully along the platform of the
Baltimore & Potomac Depot on its way to
the southern express.
"Do you see many Florida invalids come
back that wayY" asked a reporter.
"From three to five a week In good sea-
sons, and sometimes as many as that In
day. Some die on the way there, and
few on the return trip; but at the places
cracked up as consumption cures the cof-
fin trade is lively, / tell you, while the
'curers' are called embalmers, and 60
down there every season with the rush Of
sick men and women. They pick out their
likely early victims as soon as they see
them. used to run sleeper down there;
that's how know"
"Does It cost as much to bring back the
dead as It did to take them DOWN."
"Just about double. You see there's the
care that's got to be taken of the collins.
They are not made like Saratogas, and
breakup would be very awkward. And
then there's the permits that have to be
got to pass the corpses through each State,
and some charge high for allowing the
bodies to go over their boundry lines"
"Do you always get permitsS"
"When we know there Is a corpse on
board we do, because all concerned would
be liable to arrest the next time we passed
into the State"
"But you could scarcely be imposed up
on, except in the case Of medical subjects,
suppose"
~ guess not easily, because a man must
be pretty mean who would crowd his wife's
body into cask, and certainly no woman
would serve her husband so, however badly
she might have treated him when he was
about and well. But / remember one case
where we brought corpse nearly all the
way in sleeper and never knew II till we
| got TO Jersey. You see poor sick man In
charge Of two friends got on at Jackson
vile. He was very far gone, and ex-
pected to have to leave the party at one OF
the towns we passed through. But when
no such thing happened did not trouble;
only thought I'd missed nay guess for once.
The party occupied whole section, and
refused to let the porter make the beds up,
and they kept to their seats all the way.
| At last the sick man was never seen TO
move, and the other two seemed TO be very
attentive to him, one Of them tanning him
nearly the whole way; Mt least
whenever 1 passed through 1 would
see the fan agoing. The sick man
- 90 l. ..f
but then, that was nothing strange. Well,
all went along all right until we got to near
where they had to get Off. Then the por-
ter came TO me, and l could see big bill
sticking out of his pocket. He said as how
the sick man would need carrying out, and
would lend HIN my rug to sling him in.
The next time l passed the party there
was strong smell of some sort Of scent in
that part OF the car. The porter had
helped them put the rug under the sick
man, and when the train stopped at their
town the three carried him out ON it. They
did not have to support his back, and his
legs did not draw. started TO look in his
face, but one of his friends accidentally
pushed his hat down over his eyes, and /
did not see anything but his underjaw, and
that was hanging. That man was dead.
He had not lived more than half an hour
after he got on the car. | got IL all from
the porter long after, though he denied
that there was anything out Of the way at
the time. The friends had decided that
they would not let on about what had hap
pened for fear of being stopped, and hav-
ing lot of bother with getting permits
and certificates of the cause of death and
all that. That was the only corpse / ever
carried without a coffin that know Of"