The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-05-16

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rerview with q professional embalmer:
ait is very easy 10 make blunder
which might be fraught with disagree
able results. Now take the case Of
President Garfield. for instance" said
be.
President Garfield7 What was there
about his case7'- queried the scribe.
"Ah. forgot for a moment that
was talking to an outsider. but the
matter has long ceased to be secret in
the ranks of the profession. and /
might as well tell it to you. Now
listen. President Garfield died at FL
bercn on the 18Th OF September. 1881.
on the eightieth day after be was shot.
On the afternoon of the 2lst. the ram
bearing his remains reached Washing
ton. and on the WV next day il vas
announced that decomposition had J.
ready set in, the caSEet was closed. and
the remains shut from view. Why7
Somebody bl lndered. ] am not going
10 give the mans name, 70 he is out Of
business now, I believe; ! am sure he
ought TO be. But be undertook to EN-
balm the remains, aud he did il. out he
b undered in doing II. Let me explain.
Embalming is done for two objects,
which are entirely distinct from each
other, and 10 reach either different
methods are empi Iyed. IL the EN-
halmer wishes TO preserve the features
and complexion intact. he opens the
brachial artery in the left arm (no blood
remains in the arteries after death, you
know, and inject about a quart of a
certain preparation. the comDonents of
which are a profound secret, but the
basis OF which Is arsenic, or more prop
erly speaking. arseniate of soda. But
If the embaming is done with the idea
OF preserving the subject for the dissect-
ing-table. preserving the tissues. You
see an incision is made in the carotid
artery, and about a gallon of entirely
different fluid injected. Were you ever
in dissecting roJm7 Yes. Well then
you have noticed the copper color OF
subjects on the table. The coloration is
caused by the action Of the fluid. And
this is precisely what happened with
the remains of President Garfield. They
were treated with the latter instead of
the former mixture"
But how do on Know this ?"
81 know IL. Let me explain further
on the afternoon of Saturday,
the 2ith inst. They we to lie in state
on SUNDAY and be buried on Monday.
Were you in Cleveland them"
Il was
And did you see the remains?"
mo; IL was announced that decom-
position had set in before the remains
left Washington. and consequently
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
Garfeld's home as Mentor. II was de-
sirei that. il possible. the people there
should have a chance to get a last look
at the face OF the man they had loved
and honored so much. Accordingly.
on reaching Cleveland. the remains
were hurried to the uDdertaker's estab
lishment, and the night was spent in
trying TO get the face bleached into pre-
shape. But it was no use
Work as We would and experiment as
we dared. too much time had elapsed |
since the wrong fluid bad been injected. |
and the face was diScOlOred beyond our f.
efforts 10 bleach IL. Sunday morning
found us still. at work. IL also found !
thousands of people in line ready to |
pass through the pavilion aid past the |
1t was too late'io get the |
back into the casket. and all |
that day and far into the night crowds !
passed by that empty casket. The re
mains were placed back on Sunday
night and duly taken to the cemetery
on Monday
There, have told You a story that
has long been current in the profession.
You can give it to the public. If You
ike"