The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1884-07-13
HANDLING THE DEAF.
Forty.Five Years Experience Win
Dead Bodtes-HOw Handling the
Dead fleets Those In the business

i DtllcNc III YOU u yet JHc NerltSt utSDer-
ado to become an undcrtakcr's assistant
he'd be kind and gentle man in six
months. I've been fortv-iivc wears in
the business and I've never knowns Il
man in it who wasn't Il kind, good
hearted fellow"
This was said TO a reporter by one of
the oldest undertakers in the city.
How do you account for it?' asked
the reporter
IL suppose it's being so constantly in
the presence of death. Why, man
| would be brute who could handle
many dead bodies without being soft
encd not only in his feelings but in
his manner. Some people think orr as
sistants, when they are preparing Il
body for burial, roll and toss it about
like Il log OF wood. That great mis-
take. They handle it rs tcnderlv as if
il were Il newt -born baby. A lady once
asked me if il were true that our people
sometimes dressed Il body So carec>slv
| that they stuck pins through the flesh.
Now that's ridiculous. never knew of
such Il case in all my experience.
"The washing and dressing of body
is always left to the undertaken, | sup.
pose?'
Nearly always. Sometimes, when
n female dies. some sunt or other female
relative prefers to do the dressing
When it is left to us we of course con-
suit the family rs to the style of dress
they desire. We have girls employed
here to make burial robes and dresses
and they are generally busy. 4 young
lady, who was about to be married.
died a short time ago, and rs her we'd
ding dress was nearly ready they buried
her in that. Asa rule we dress a Young
female in white and middlc-agcd and
old ones in black. Males are dressed
in black
"llow do you keep the body in good
condition until the time for the funeral?
Isn't it necessary to do something to
preserve the normal appearance of the
features and prevent modification from
setting in?'
"Oh. yes; there are two ways of do
ing that. One is embalming. and the
other is putting the body on ice. En-
balming, YOU know. is done by injecting
II fluid into the arteries. An inciSion is
made in the arm and an artery taken
up and cut. One end is then bound and
the fluid injected into the other. How
long will il preserve the body? That
cant say. The makers of the fluid
claim that ii will preserve it for year.
in perfectly natural condition. Nv,
never had an opportunity of testing it
only know what they say about it. No
don know what the fluid is. Tn,
manufacturers keep that secret"
''ls the embalming process eXpen
| sive?'
"Oh. no: it costs about the same a,
keeping the body on ice. but some peo
pie object to it because it is neceSsar,
to make an incision in the arm. Only
about twenty-five per cent. of the bodie,
are embalmed.N
elbow do you keep body on ice?'
"Well, we don't keep it actually on
the ice; the ice surrounds il and reduces
the temperature so low that the body
freezes. so to speak. The ice. however
is never in contact with the body. But
sometimes. do what we will. dark spots
will appear on Il body where blood has
settled aud concealed. Some member
of "A family has often said to me, on see
ing these discolorations. that mortiiica,
ton WAS beginning, but | have rarely
in warm water and rubbing them with
my hand That warns the congealed
| blood and it assumes its natural color or
leave, the spot Not long ago Il lady
DELAYED the funeral services of her hus-
band, although the minister and friends
were present, until the family physician
could he brought to see if he were not
really alive. She had noticed Il pinkish
color on one ear and check and couldn
he persuaded that he was dead, not
withstanding the fact that his body had
been frozen on ice for three days. -
Il have heard that in New York the
undcrtakcrs, at the request of the FAM
", often paint the faces Of the dead &c
give them lifc-lkc appearance, !,
that ever done hcrc?'
Never to my knowledge. We some
times have to touch up the diScolOrcd
spots with preparation we have, but
could never be persuaded to paint 4
dead person ) face.
Did YOU ever know of persons be
ing buried alive
Never. and doubt if such a thing
ever happened. I've heard OF n body
being taken up from the grave and
| IOIltlN lltA ONNl III Ali' NpIiili' Jul
can readily understand how the water
that sometimes get, into graves would
gradually ill the coffin and float the
body out OF its proper position. How
could man come to life all smOthered
up in grave? It's impossible. I'll
tell You what happened to me once.
however. was called in to attend to
the body of man who had died OF
Asiatic cholera. My assistant and | had
washed the body and We're preparing to
put il on ice, when noticed both hand.
we had crossed them on the chest
move gently down alongside the body,
Just as if the man had got tired of hav-
ing them in one position and wanted t.
change | was a trle startled but
crossed the hanGs on the breast again
more securely, thinking, perhaps, they
had fallen over OF their own weight
Presently they went back again to the
side OF the body in such q natural way
that made up my mind the man wa
not dead. This about two hours after
his apparent death. The family were
very anxious to have the body put OIL
| 100 at once hut invented some pXcL ~