Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1884-08-28
PROOFS OF CANNIBALISM.
THE BODY OF LIEUT. KISLIN GBCRY
EXHUMED IN ROCHESTER,.

THE BODY OF LIEUT. kISLiNGbCh hI
EXHUMED IN ROCHESTER.
i Little Remaining Except the Bones.-- The
Flesh Cut From the Body and Limbs.
lone Of His Brothers Advancing
the Theory that In the Desperate
Struggle for Life the Weak were
Sacrificed for the Strong.
FROM tie Neso York San.
ROCHESTER,, Aug. 1.-THE remains
of Lieut. Frederick F. Kislingbury of
the Greely expedition reached this
city on Saturday evening last, and
were inferred at Mount Hope ceme-
terry on Sunday afternoon. There was
great curiosity to view the remains,
but as they were encased in iron, and
as friends had been strictly enjoined
| not to remove the lid, the coffin was
not opened. The rumors that the sur
vivors of the Greely party had turned
| cannibals, and the oft-repeated in
junction not to open the coffin under
! any circumstances, aroused in the
| minds of many of the Lieutenant's
friends and relatives suspicious that
there was some truth In the horrible
| story. Consequently it was detsrmin-
| ed to exhume the remains. The cof-
fin was taken from the grave this
morning and carried to the chapel in
the cemetery. There the lid was re-
moved in the presence of Frank w.
Kislingbury, and John P. Kislingbury,
brothers of the deceased Lieutenant,
DIR. Charles Buckley, Dr. F. A. Man
deville, Superintendent Stellson, and
Assistant Superintendent Vaudeville,
of the Cemetery, and two newspaper
men. 1t was at first supposed that
the lid was rivited, but it proved to be
held by fifty two iron bolts, which
were easily uns screwed. Between the
cover and the contents of the coffin
was some rubber packing saturated
with white lead Feeling his way in
to the mass of cotton waste which filled
the coffin, Undertaken Jeffries ex-
claimed: "He is here" A strong
odor of alcohol, but no pronounced
suggestions of decay, came from the
casket. The body was taken from the
casket and placed on a table. The
white sheeting which covered the face
was removed, the tarred rope entwin-
ing the blanket was cut, and the last
covering was removed from the body.
The blackensd, feshless face, bearing
marks of arctic soil, bore no semblance
to the dead man. The head was COW
cred with long, matted, dark brown
hair, lighter colorsd mustache clung
to the upper lip, and beard OF the
same color surrounded the lower part
of the face.
The body was fully identified by the
teeth and other marks. 1t was strip
ped of its flesh evidently with knife.
Frank w. Kislingbury, when asked
what he thought of the result, said he
was satisfied Of the truth of the ru-
mors. Although it was terrible
shock, he had desired an investigation
from the beginning, and had expressed
it as his opinion that the casket should
be opened in order to prove that the
remains were really in it.
John P. Kislingbury said Il feel
satisfied now that the rumors were
true, and I think that the Govern.
ment should now investigate the mat
ter to the bottom. We have the proo1
that was Fred was eaten, in spite o1
the assurances that his remains were
in good condition and entirely recog
nizable.
The physicians who made the ex
: animation swore to the following
statement:
+ We found the body in an iron cas-
= ket. Its weight approximated, in oul
opinion, about fifty pounds. On ex
animation of the head no signs or in
juries were visible. Tho skin was NOT
broken. The ears and nose were in.
tact. The eyes were sunken and was
ted. The skin and muscles of the in
terror portion of the face and neck
were intact. From the upper portion
of the stsrnum and olavicle to tho low
! er border of tho fifth rib on the left
! side the skin and muscles had all beer
removed down to the ribs on the right
> side. The skin and muscles down tc
the lower border of the last rib wer,
: gone. There were two openings be
; tween the fourth aud fifth intercosta
> spaces into the thoracic cavity. Th'
skin and muscles on the anterior por
ton of the abdomen were intact to tn,
crest Of illium of the pelvic bones
The muscles and skin of the anterio
and posterior of the thighs were en-
tirely removed except the skin on tn,
anterior portion of the knee joints
The muscles and skin of the left lie,
: were removed to within three inche
. of the ankle joint. On the right leg
) skin and muscles were removed t,
e within FIVE inches Of the ankle joint
$ Both feet were intact. There was n,
8 vestige of integument or muscles el
e on either arm, including the muscle
! of the shoulder blades to the wris
joints, except on the right forearm
the interosseus membrane remaining
The flesh and muscles on both hand
were intact. The examination of th
d posterior portion of the body showe
q that the skin and muscles of the bac
4 from the seventh cervical vertebra ha
: been dissected or cut completely ava
down to the bones, with the exception
:. of pieces of skin from two to thre
inches square en- each side of the uE
per portion Of the sacrum. The pc
vic bones were completely denudee
All the extremities were attached t
q the body by igaments only. No frat
It lures of the body were discovered
d We found all the organs of the thora
e and abdomen present. There was e,
n idence of recent Inflammation of tn
, stomach and bowels. The large il
testines were distended with hardene