The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1888-12-21
SOMETHING OF CITY LIFE.
Grave Robbing is Not what IL Was Wont
to BE.

to BE.
Grave robbng is not what 1t used to be.
Too many men have gone into the business
and glutted the market with subjects.
With the opening Of the season early last
fall AN unusually large number of men en-
gagged In the business
The result was that the market was glutted,
and prices forced down so that a man could
hardly make decent living by robbing graves,
unless he had q special contract with some
college.
Then the more entorprising OF the craft
went out of the business because 1t was not
sufficiently remunerative.
Now that the ground over the graves is
frozen to depth of foot or two, q man has
to understand his business pretty well to rob
grave, aud these low-priced amateurs can't
keep pace with the present demand for sub
jects. The result is that the medical colleges
are short for cadavers. For instance. not a
single subject has the Columbia College dis
secting-room been able to get for three
weeks,
The Georgetown Medical College has also
been unable to secure the usual number OF
subjects, but they have not used so many this
winter as usual, anyway, because of their trou-
BILE with their neighbors. In fact 1t might be
safe to say that not one half SO many subjects
were cut up in the dissecting room of this in
stitution during the term that is now drawing
to close as during the corresponding term Of
last year,
Another reason for the scarcity Of material
for the anatomical demonstrators knife is
that the police have been more than usually
active in their watchfulness to prevent these
depredations among the ranks Of the recent
dead. There is a cemetery from which the
colleges have drawn considerable portions of
their material which has never been mentioned
as an adjunct to medical advancement In the
newspapers, because the police have not as yet
been able to catch any one there.
One morning, month ago, while the mai
in charge of the cemetery was making his
rounds, he found body that he had himself
seen buried lying on top OF the ground beside
the open grave. The mark of rope around
the dead woman's neck explained the matter.
The grave-robbers were dissatisfied with the
woman after they had pulled her out of the
grave and looked at her and they didn't
bother to replace the body This same thing
happened again a few mornings later and
still again about week after.
The Superintendent OF the cemetery got
mad. He objected to this additional work of
going around In the morning and burrying
over again people who had been unearthed by
supercillious body-snatchers. So he notified
the police The police watched the grave
yard so closely that the grave robbers were I'M
able to get any more subjects from II and SO
quite a considerable portion OF the supply
which came from this source was cut of.
Getting Home From Partyj or, the Adj.
ventures OF u Night.
1t was over week ago, but the story has
just got out-not generally enough though
so that there is no danger that the actors
names will ever get out.
A young lady, with fondness for cham
payne and young men with blonde nous
taches, started home from an evening party
with young man with moustache of Just the
right golden shade to look like part Of the
yellow champagne he was drinking, in com
mon, hired hack-a ''nightliner."
She, our young lady, was not "society
belle,n or the daughter of a prominent Off
cial," but she was handsome, popular young
woman, whose mothers name is on the best
| sort of visiting lists Our young lady had
drank quite bit Of champagne; she was
hardly well, anyway, and the young man with
| the blonde moustache-well, the less said
about him the less lasceratiop the young lady's
feelings will suffer.
Some time later this same hack was trotting
up one of the numbered streets that cross the
Is. & p. Railroad tracks and connect South
Washington with the northern part of the CITY,
with the old nags In sleepy trot and the
Jarvey fast asleep and full of rum on the box
1t wouldn't do to tell what street this was be-
cause there would be good natured police.
man and sleeping Waterman to be got into
trouble. When the hack ratified up to the
railroad tracks the man who is hired to raise