St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-05

one looked for. An investigation fol-
lowed, and it was discovered that the
men who went to the hospital on the
first trip had taken the wrong body, there
being two in the morgue at the time.
In consequence of the blunder, the
body of poor, unknown tramp had
been given funeral outfit of the swell
est description, and wealthy resident
of the Badger state was hustled into
rough box and hurried out to the Pot
ter'S field in Oakland cemetery. The
matter was rectified as expeditiouSlv and
quietly as possible and none, save those
I directly concerned, ever knew of the
strange circumstance.
Every newspaper reader will recall
the remarkable case OF mistaken iden
tity in winch firm of St. Paul under
takers was concerned about year ago.
An unknown man was killed by falling
from the third story of the Metropolitan
opera house. then in process of erection.
The body was taken to the mOrgue of
the undertakerS in question, and re-
manned there until the following day
unclaimed and unidentified. About
noon of that day word came from Hazel
wood, little village of Dakota county,
that young man named MahOney had
left his home some months previous to
the accident. and from the description
of the man who had been killed the two
might be one and the same person. In
innate friends in st. Paul who knew
MahOney we'll called at the undertake
ers and fully identified the dead man as
Mahoney. MahOney's own brother ar
rived latter in the evening ana fully
corroborated the identification. The
remains were then prepared and
shipped to HaZelwoOd, and. after the
manner of the Irish. were walked
for several days. during which time
the villagers, to the number of at least
fifty called at the home of MahOney and
gaZed upon the face of the dead. The
dead man was surely Mahoney. and he
was duly buried as Mahoney. The day
after the funeral, MahOney'S brother
went to Minneapolis to secure the
clothes of his dead brother. and what
was his surprise and horror to be met
face to face with the man supposed to
be at the time Wondering in the earth.
1t afterwards TRANSFERRED that the man
who met with the accident was not Ma
honey but man named Maloney, who
lived in Worcester, Mass. The reSem-
blance of MahOney and MalOney was as
striking as the similarity in the names,
so much so that Mahoney'S own brother
was ucCClfcQs
Does it ever happen that people are
buried alive? There is a popular inn
preston that they are, and now and
then one runs across blOOd-curdling
tales of collins having been broken open
and bodies found partially turned in
their places, or with features horribly
distorted, showing plainly that life was
not extinct at the time of burial. SO
strong is this impression in the minds of
many, and so fearful are they of the
horror of the thing, that they 60 so far
as to make provision before dying
that their bodies be retained for
such length of time as to
preclude all possibility that life is not
yet extinct. and some even will that
their bodies after death be destroyed by
fire, or cremated, according to the popu-
lar usage of the word. 1t is unneceS-
sary here to depict the horrors of being
ent0mbed alive. 1t is fearful, an aw-
full thing to contemplate. But, accord
ing to undertakers, there is but little to
be feared on this score nowadays.
They claim that if life is not extinct
when the physician so announces, all
doubt in the matter is settled after the
remains are embaImed, for the fluid
used in embalming is rank poison,
and effectually destroys any spark of
life remaining. Therefore none need
have fears of being buried alive so long
as the present system of embalming is
in vogue.