The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-05-19
-E
BURY THESE CORPSHS.
Shocking State of Affairs
at the Catholic
Cemetery.
MENACE TO HEALTH.
Fou Odors Emanate From the
Stable Where the Bodies Are
Stored. Residents Complain.

While the complaint of Mrs. Gove of
West Hoboken TO the county health au-
thorities to the effect that dead bodies
were buried in the new Catholic Gems
terv barely below the surfaceinay scarce
ly bear the light of investigation, her COM
plant has been the means of exposin g a
condition Of affairs at the cemetery
which the residents in the vicinity de-
mand shall not exist.
These residents for sometime have been
ANNOYED by sickening odors like unto
that of purifying fash. which at times
is waited from the direction of the ceme-
terry. When Mrs. Gove's complaint to
the health authorities was announced it
was naturally believed that this stencil
came ftom bodies unaer the ground.
BURIAL STABLE.
Newspaper investigation reveals the
fact tina the vault IN which Is stored ia
the neighborhood of twenty bodies in
cotins Is full. aud that 1t hassoeen found
necessary to utilize the stable for the re-
caption of bodies awaiting burial. This
stable stands at the southeast corner of
the cemetery within a few feet of West
Side avenue.
UNDER HER WINDOW.
There are tnau houses ia the vicinity.
Mrs. Mary Galatians nome is separated
from it by a narrow driveway.
II don't know how true tbs story is
about bodies only being buried q fe W
iuches underground" she said. when
asked her about The nuisance SO many
were comulaining of. But" she
continued, lido know hat a smell comes
from that stable which I can't put uo. Il
is right under my bedroom window. And
if something is not done soon / shall per-
soually make a complaint to the health
authorities. No. | dom Know the exact
reasons for piliug up the bodies in the
stables. and | don't wanJ TO be involved
in trouble with the management of the
cemetery. Blu l can't stand that smell"
A RET F0UL POT
scaled the fence that separates the
cemetery from the driveway and took a
peep into one OF the stable windows.
There was no one about to answer my
questions. Through the windows could
be seen some eight or ten cofius. soma OF
them in boxes. They looked as though
They had never been underground. The
window was slightly raised, aud from the
ro5m there came q bad odor, not so strong
as | hau been led to expect; but there
WAS no trace of the usual ouor of disiu-
fectants.
linen crossed over what seemed 20 be
a plot of new made ground TO where
some stoneworkefs were enclosing a lot.
This new-made ground is but 4 dressing
vhicn some people in the uefghbornood
actually believe in being put there to
cover buried bodies deeper through fear
of investigation concerning charges of
bodies not Oeiux properly buried. Tue
fact Is. this work was begun last fall.
in order to partially level up the
east or new end of the cemetery, where
great improvements are being carried on.
There are but few graves in this part.
The ground appeared TO be comparatively
dry, though occasionally l came across
ali open grave caved IN as though by rain.
aud III such condition as TO make it
rather difficult to tell whether it had
been dug 10 receive a body or a body been
dug up from IL. Ifoundsone ntan look
ing for a grave which ne SAID had been
covered up by the dressing.
A WEIRD POI.
Strolling on through the Cemetery, l
finally reached the vault. 1t is a mound
like structure, with Iwo large doors in
front. 1t is about large enough TO hold
about twenty boxes or caskets. Near tns
top OF both doors are two small openings
w.t. iron gratings, that admit scarcely
enough light to enable one to get a good
view OF the interior. AS one sceustoms
his eyes to the dark Inferior a weird
vision of promiscuously placed collins aud
plain boxes, piled about to the ceiling,
meets the gaze. The suggestion of sucn
a condense ed mass OF purifying flesh is
simply awful. Tt is said that some OF the
encased bodies have been lying there
awaiting burial for months. Still | failed
at the moment to detect any smell be-
You'd a damp yet somewhat sickening
Odur.
Some of these bodies were placed in the
vault to await the purchase of cemetery
lots by relatives.
no Law VIOLATED.
I ran across a dozen or more stone
workers aud laborers, aud none OF them
believed in the story that bodies We're
buried in the cemetery in violation OF the
provisions of the law. None Of the grave
diagers were about.
Florist Wells told me he had been work
ing around the old and the new cemeteries
for the past fifteen years. and he never
ga the law violated In this respect,
Others to whom I talked said they had
only heard that such was the case; out
they pointed out the fact tnat the sexton
had only seven assistants, and they hardly
bad time to properly dig graves for the
reception of from a dozen to twenty
bodies a day, and tranfer bodies from one
section of the cemetery TO another. Ihls
latter entails a great deal OF Work, as
there are many people VINO buried rel
stives in some out-of-the-way place in the
old cemetery. and have since been enabled
10 purchase family plots in the new por-
ton.
REASONS FOR THE STABLE.
Superintendent OsConneF gives as a
reason for piling bodies in the sta ole tina
heavy rains have made some portions of
the ground unfit for burial purposes; but
that if the weather continues as it Is at
present he'll soon have all the bodies un-
derground. The wet condition OF the
ground, he claims, too, is responsible for
q stench that sometimes arises from al
opened grave.
Meanwhile, the residents complain of
the stencil. saw one man Within q
stones throw of the cemetery gates
throwing open the doors and windows of
his saloon In great haste.
"What are you doing?v l asked. Try
iEg to freeze yourself out? Some people
down town are talking about putting up
their stoves again."
why, don't you smell it?D
sSmeIi what2"
"Pnewi Why one Of those grave yard
workmen was in here awhile ago aud left
smell of the ancient deai behind him