The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-14
HAUNTED BY SPECTERS.
TWO BROTHERS BOTHER 4
COUNTRY CORONER BADLY.

me Ghosts ofJOhn and William Rem
witch, Victims of the Glenmede Cut
Disaster Cause Much Trouble to the
Ex-Coroner of Boone County, Mis-
souri-There Were Fourteen Feet
and Only Six heads, Count Them
Any Way He Would-The Mystery
Finally Explained.
From the Chicago Times.
"Everybody believes in ghosts, but they
sever will admit it." proclaimed the ex-
soroner of Boone county to the assembly in
Receiver Hopkins rooms at the Hotel
Woodland in Kansas City. A general laugh
and a toast greeted the remark.
. That's all right for you boys. ;" continued
the ex-coroner, "you may drink to the
health Of the ghosts now standing athirst at
the dsrkened sideboard, but Pll just stay
put on that sentiment. You never saw
ghost but have. wasn't brought up to
believe Ia them either. had heard Of dim
visitants at uncenny hours filling the i'm
palpable air with an incense bespeaking
the adjacent bone orchard, aud ever
thereupon had rallied and grown satirical.
have also attended spiritualistic meet
ings, sitting ia the seat of the scornful.
Ghost or goblin, gay or grewsome l never
dotted on. / always reckoned that they were
disturbers, and never thought they were
good people.
"After was made coroner, though, | de-
veloped more than an especial interest in
corpses. / had penchant for them and
became a connoisseur. Suicides were my
especial weakness hold that man who
SAINT find something akin to Ruskin's idea
of beauty in a corpse ia lacking in appre-
station of art. Ninety-two degrees Fahren-
neit, / allow, is not the only standard in
human beauty. And then, corpses are so
gentle! They never kick about the hot or
cold water you use when washin' them, and
their soft, confidin' nature kind Of appeals
TO the natural spirit Of kindliness In a man.
NOW, have known of attendants in q
morgue treating a corpse like late conner
In a cheap Turkish bath, but that was never
my style. l treated them kindly, which
same l hold Is plenty Of reason for their
coming back, IL they are, as is often argued,
Of peripatetic nature. But they never
come back. Not one that was ever buried
In a box with nails in. / used to get up
often In the middle of the night and 60
down to the morgue to see IL my charges
was actin properly, and not figurin' in the
landscape adjacent to the morgue, as some
leople allowed they might be. But there
hey was, always decent and orderly, each
OIL his own particular slab and just steadily
drilling at the mouth an ears, and trying
TO pop their eyes open, maybe to get look
1t theIce box.
1T vas durin' my second term-to be ex-
act, July 13-that the Glenmede cut disaster
happened. The night shift had gone on in
the Chicago and Alton railroad cut at Glen
mede, and shortly after they set to work
the entertainments tumbled down and buried
half score Of them. The first consignment
OF four was brought up about o'clock in the
evening and we set to work to fix 'em up
o biz. We got the dirt scraped off their faces
and had given each of them dry shampoo
when the wagon brought up two more
corpses. We hung out the sign, standing
room only, and prepared to rig up a couple
OF extra board slabs. The new
Aabs was pretty much misfits, but the
county only owned two marble slabs, so
told my six guests they could draw cuts for
places. Seem they was in no humor TO we
fixed 'em up as best we could and pinned
each mans name on his coat front. A fter
the names WAS all written out in red ink on
clean store paper, took a list of em, locked
up the shop, and went out the back
way. felt pretty proud like when
got home and thought of my pets back
ut the shop. We generally only had a
corpse once In a long while, and when re-
heoted on the collection of assorted shapes
and sizes that we had gathered in just In
one day felt that the coroner of Boone
olal whose skilled labor was not bein' paid
for as it should be- While loves corpses
for their own sake don't believe the pleas
ure of handlin' OF 'em should be made
legal tender remunerative for the labor per-
formed / remembered how lovin' and
brotherly they was sleepin' side by side as
the honored guests of the county coroner
/ saw them just like when left them
seven in ALL No, six. l took out my list
only six. Then remembered when we was
putin plank for their feet to rest on
had counted the feet. IL seemed that there
were three bare, three boots four stockined,
and four brogans-fourteen in all-and
allowin' two feet for each man there ought
to be seven men. And only counted six.
"'Well' thinks /, this morgue amt no
dime museum, and Boone county amt
a-burying freaks this year, 30 I'll just in
vestigate bit, and, putin on my coat, l
went down to the morgue. l went In the
back way and lit match. had to keep
right on lightin' matches, as there wasn't
no electric lights or gas fixtures in morgues
in those days. left the door open, cause
the bodies filled nearly all the space In the
little room, and. IL bein' close night In
July, there wasn't the abundance of fresh
air in the room as healthful corpses need.
The weather was distressing, and most
one had rolled of on the floor.
tried to put him back, but there
wasn't room, SO he had to sit
up ell night with his back against the wall.
lights a match and makes my little talk.
You're welcome here, gents, and 1 feels
kindly toward ye. l practice the golden
rule to such of you as expect some day to
be a corpse myself. You'll all have a box
to yerself on the county ana bunch of
real flowers as your host the coroner of
Boone county stands good for. But among
you is a man as wasn't born in the state of
Missouri, cause he has seen ft TO abuse a
charity. l make no personal allusion, but
pause for reply from the interloper with
four feet
There bein' no considerable reply in lit
another match and began oountin' the
heads
noticed while doing this that the man
sittin' against the wall seemed 20 be par
tlcularly interested. | counted them twice.
There was six each time, an the corpse
against the wall was watchin' and keepin'
tab on me. He made me bit uncomfort-
able, starin' at me as though he expected
might find vacancy TO put him in, so
turned his face to the wall-like the picture
10 the song-and began countin' the feet.
There was three bare, three boots, four
stockin', four brogan.
felt was gettin' ratified, and said out