The Cecil Whig., 1886-05-08
GARFIELD'S EMPTY CAsKET.

Strange StDry of the Murdered President =
Funeral.
A special despatch from Detroit,
Mich, says: The Daily Times, published
at Adrain, in this State. gives the follow
ing interesting account of a conversation
between its editor and professional en-
ba.mer at Cleveland, making public
with tue death of President Garfield.
Il the course of the conversation the
embalmer referred to remarked that it
was very easy i'll his profession to make
a blunder which might be Taught with
disagrceable results "Nuw, axe the
case of President Garfield, for instance, -
i'd he
president Garfield What was there
about his case ?'
"Ah | forgot for the moment that |
was talking to an outsider, but the mat
ter has long ceased to be IA secret in the
ranks of the profession, and | might as
we'll tell it. President Garfield died at
Etberon on the 18th day of Septembe
lSSl, OIL the eigLtieth day after he was
Shot. Ga the afternoon of the 2lst the
train bearing his remains reached Wash
ington, amt on the very next day it was
announced that decomposition had al
ready set in, the casket was closed and
the remains shut from view. Why,
somebody blundered. am not going to
give the mans name. for he is out OF
business now, | believe; am sure he
ought to be. But he undertook to en-
balm the remains. and he did it, but he
bunGered in doing it. Let me explain:
Embalming is done for two objects,
which are entirely distant from each
other. and to reach either different
methods are employed. If the embalmer
wishes to preserve the features and
in the left arm (no blood remains in the
arteries after death, you know and in
lectS about q quart of a certain prepara-
ton, the components of which are pro
fessional secret, but the basis of which
is arsenic, or, more properly speaking,
arseniate of soda. But if the embalming
is done with the idea of preserving the
snhject tor the dissecting table, preserv
the tissue you see, and incision is made
i'll the carotid artery and about gallon
of an entirely different fluid is injected
Were You ever in dissectng room
Yes? Well, then, You have noticed the
copper color of the subjects on the table
This discoloration is caused by the ac.
tion of the fluid. And this is precisely
what happened with the remains of
President Garfield. The! were treated
with the latter instead of the former
mixture
"But how do you know this? -
81 know it. Let me explain further.
The train bearing the remains reached
Cleveland on the afternoon of Saturday.
the 24fh. They were to lie in state on
Sunday aud be buried ou Monday. Were
you i'll Cleveland them"
Il was"
And you did not see the remains >"
''No. 1t was announced ha decompo-
stion had set in before the remains left
Washington, and conse quently they were
not exposed to view"
"Well, | saw the remains, and can
vouch for the correctness of what say.
Cleveland had been almost as much Gar
fields home as Mentor. 1t was desired
that if possible the people there should
have chance to get last look at the
face of the man they had loved and hon
ored So much. Accordingly, on reaching
Cleveland the remains were hurried to
an undertaker's establishment, and the
night was spent in try ing to get the face
bleachtd d into presentable shape. But it
was no use. Work as we would and ex.
pertinent as we dared, too much time
had elapsed since the wrong fluid had
been injected and the face was dcolorei
beyond our efforts to bleach it. Sunday
morning found US still at work. 1t also
foun thousands of people in line ready
to pass Ii rough the pavilion and past the
Il was too late to get the
remains back into the casket. All th,.t
day and far into the night the crowds
passed by that empty casket. The re-
mains were placed back on Sunday night
and duly taken to the cemetery on Mon
day. There, | have told you story that
has long been current i'll the profession.
You can give it to the public if you like"