Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-03

A Louisiana Murderers Hide Made into
Shoe Leather.


"Pardon me, but what a very nice,
though peculiar-looking, pair Of slippers
you are wearing. They fit you, as a
Teutonico-Semitic would have it, like de
baber on de vall,'" remarked a NEWS re-
porter yesterday to a gentleman Of this
city who was taking his ease, in fatigue
uniform. under his own vine and fig tree.
The slippers were of unusually
glossy-black appearance, Of exceed
ingly pliable material, and put in
the shade, as TO general elegance, any of
the marvellous shoe products from the
most celebrated Of shoe stores on the Rue
du Quatre Septembre, Paris, the paradise
Of cObblers.
The gentleman removed one OF them for
the inspection OF the NEWS man, who de-
tected In the leather an unusual quantity
OF porous-loOking marks, terribly suspi-
cious OF human skin.
"There is a peculiar story attached to
these slippers" said the owner. "If you
have any time and patience to spare, !
VIII tell you about them"
u am one OF those people, he began,
VINO interpret the great trulsm that
there Is no destruction in nature,' to i'm.
ply that there should be no waste In ma
lure. Livery particle OF the bodies OF the
lower animals when dead may be utilized
~ val ioAs ways, anu WHY suUulu uOJ dlSO
the body OF a man? II might be done In
an inofiensive manner. The question is
one that has occupied the minds of
thoughtful men from the earliest days OF
the worlds civilization Cremation is
farce and nuisance. Fancy ones keep
Ing the incinerated remains Of a crusty
old mOther-iD-laW upon ones mante!
ms burden too heavy for a man that
hopes for heaven. The Latin poet, Lucan,
IND IL ira of no Of
Aureus VINO, upon the death of two Of the
children OF his brother, Pleisthenes,
served the remains up brOiled,
as the principal dish at a
banquet at which the bereaved parent was
present, but little suspecting the nature
OF the dish set before HIM. After the re-
past, however, Aureus told his brother the
whole truth, and so disguised was the
newly rising sun at Pleisthenes' horror
that 1t went back i'll its course and sank
for an entire day once again into the arms
"No; human flesh is decidedly NOT sue
cess as an article OF food II doesn't
even agree with Professional eannibals. 1t
could not be supposed 10 DO so for man Is
an omnivorous animal. and omnivOrous
animals are to be eschewed as food. See
how ieperous-looEing a diet of human
flesh makes a man-eatng shark and how
coriated, also, is an old epicufe whose
gods are pork-ohops, Holsters, oysters and
duck-all 0mniyorous products. But 80
far as the epidermis and dermis Of a hu-
man body is c6ncerned, | have made a
grand discovery, which is attested by the
slippers you 50 greatly admire, IL Is on
this wise: 3"
Down in LOUISIANA, on the banks OF
the lovely Teche, where LOngfellOw's I'M
happy 'Evangeifne' in exile moufned her
long-lost lover. dwelt family OF negro
desperadoes named Steele, who by night
committed rohberies and outrages and by
day amused themselves by fighting with
jack-knlves for pint bottles of stolen
whisky, One of the gang, named Sam,
was arrested, tried, convicted of murder,
and sentenced to be hanged. A we'll
belonged, defended him on his
trial, and, out of gratitude,
the condemned man bequeathed
him his body to be disposed of, as he
should see hit, in the interest of science. In
company with young medical student
from Albany, n. Y, l was a guest Of the
lawyer at tue time Of Steele's execution,
and on condition that we would remove
the skin from the body, the latter was
given us by its new owner. This was only
matter Of couple OF hours, and off we
went across country to the nearest tan
merry, II having occurred to us, that the
skin might make good leather. Oh,
yes, the tanner would prepare
1t for us, though the charge
for doing so would be SIS, or about ten
times the amount charged for bull0ck's
hide. But ought to have mentioned be-
fore that in the dissection Of Steele we
made an Important surgical discovery.
1t is q pet theory with physicians that
perforation OF the liver results In imme-
diate death. InOne of the lobes Of Steele's
liver, however, we found encysted four
inches of the blade OF a jack-khifs which
had evidently found its way there in some
desperate encounter. ff FL
"When the skin OF the defnnct muir
derer had been cured, 1t was Of a light
brown color, but copious application of
lamp black gave it the beautiful glossy
hue now possessed by my slippers. They
were made from the thickest portion of
the skin-the part that covered the thighs
and have Worn them Continuously for
seven years. They are now as good as
new, and wifi last my life-tirne."
What became OF the lremaInder OF the
skinr' ~'n ~ 5eii5giA
"My companion took it to Albany with
him, and the greater portion ofoitg IS now
hanging In the museum OF the Medical
College of that CITY,"
---=---------
WEEKLY LETTER SHEET PRICES
nTTas