Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-10-29
ASTUDYIN REALLIFE
Chris. Baker and His Subjects p" at the
Medical College.
AN OUTCAST And A PRISONER.
The Ex-Gravs Robber aud His Present
Work-CheerfaiA Among Corpsss-
A Queer Darkcy.

High I'D on the parapets OF the Notre
Dame Cathedral, and hundreds OF feet
above the busting st.eets OF gay Paris
below. the visitor sees carved in massive
stone the weird dwarfs that once awed
the foolish people and made them shudder
at the thought OF cemeteries. But sci
ence. the enemy OF fraud and the foe OF
superstition. has almost eradicated the
foolish traditions OF ID, and only In ex-
ceptIonaI cases do the vulgar now give ear
to such silly tales.
THE GHOUL OF RICHMOND.
Perhaps Of all the races the negro viii
cling longest to the belief in the super
natural, and mere. even I'm enlightened
Richmond, they have their fears and su-
perstitions, and It Will te decades before
these silly ideas vanish. Yes, even in this
city to-day, The darlSes have nine
teenth-century ghoul that fully comes up
TO specifications and rates the black
folks culver in their very boots. And,
what is more. the shoul in question Is
himself an Ethiopian. and stranger still, he
labors in the cause Of science. His name
is Chris Baker. and he serves as janltor
and general utility man at the Medical
College Of Virginia.
Chris Is to-day a prisoner within the
walls of the honcred institution in which
he holds his positi)l, AMI only ut the
rarest intervals eoes he venture out into
the streets. He is self-tmmurad and
self-incarcerated man. and nothing can in
,fra % u q
liberty or death with Patrick Henry. but
with Chris It is-according to his ideas
liberty and death. for he thinks that his
colored brethren are clamoring for his
gore. and that his appearance in their
midst would mean his destruction. He Is
scapegoat of the Afro-Americans, the out
cast Of his race, and Thereby hangs a
tale"
His history Is an interesting one, and
n study of his life would make story
as weird and ghastly as romance from
the pen Of Victor Hugo. But let us first
Introduce Chris with pen-plcture show
ing him as he appears to-day.
A little wel-made darky, with ginger
bread skin and slightly rheumatic legs,
is this nineteenth-century ghoul. During
his work -hOurs-and he Is generally pretty
busy-a black skull-cap adorns his close
ly-shaven caput, while a long oilcloth
apron covers his clothing. In his mouth
a clay pipe, like the summit Of Nesuvlus'
is necessarily belching forth Its smoke,
while around the corners Of the lips there
occasionally plays a sly smile. chris is
Jolly little ghoul, and can perhaps be more
Oh Il In, ho Of ak eight
corpses than any man in Richmond. In
fact he wouldn't be cheerful at all II
there wasn't a dead man somewhere
around. for his duties keep him in the dis
secting-rOom throughout the day.
NEITHER FEAR NOR VENERATION.
The society of "stifrs" is to him what
the company OF a solree would be 10 the
social lion and he giides about the awful,
malodorous alartme1t wiuaOut the least
fear or vencrltion or the 'lifeless clG. -
that IS used TO advance the cause OF
science. To describe Chris without taking
a peep at his surroundings would be like
seeing Hamlet without the melancholy
Dane, for outside of the college he would
be a very ordinary. everyday little darky.
The dissecting-room-the joy and delight
of his heart-is a place well calculated to
nauseate the average man, for the odor
from the cadaycrs Is simply frightfui,
and the new students tumble over by the
dozens when they hear their first lecture
in the pace. Right here IL should be
stated however that this state of affairs
ls unavoidable. and indicates no lack of
tidincss or care on the part of the col
lege faculty. The institution from top to
bottom is kept as clean as a pin, but the
odor from the bodies cannot be sup
pressed. and one pretty soon becomes har-
dened TO II.
When / first saw Chris last week-and,
by the way, he is rather shy of re-
porters-he was I'm the little ante-chamber
which leads to the dissecting-room For
some reason or other he talked quite
willingly to me. and a small pour boire'
caused his face to shine and his tongue
TO wag most readily.
There were several shelves in the room.
and on each OF these was a line of jars.
To a casual observer-that is. 10 say, to
casual observer who didn't have
nose-the place looked very much as II It
might have been an establishment for
the manufacture of mixed pickles. hut
horror Of horrors. when | read the labels
on those jars my hair stood on ends.
One was rked-HEARTS-anoth
BRAINS and SPINAL CORD, and q
third LIGAMENTS NERTABRAE.
Chris didn't seem in the least worried
at his surroundings, and chatted ana
Duffed away at his pipe without cessa-
zion. Finally, with the hospitality Of a
trlle host. he cordially invited me into
the dissecting-rocm. and in we marched.
There were nine corpses stretched out on
the tables. but I'm thankful to say they
were all covered up by oil-cloth and no
thing. but portions Of their heads were
visible. In and out among the dead
skipped the CHEEKY little janitor. forever
putting his pipe and busily examining
the new gas-jets that hung over the
tables.
While we were inspecting the place "a
student came in and took look at one
of the cadavers The skin had worn or
the body in several places, and the young
man said to the darky: "Gracious'C 'Chris,
what a poor subject!
Now the nineteenth-century ghoul sVi-
IDENTITY believes in the motto DE Mortuis
Mi Nisi Bonum," for he promptly re-
sponded: Get out. san, de insides that
'stin' all yer looking for
With THIS remark he gave pun OF his
pipe. and approvingly chunked the de-
ceased IN the ribs.
asked Chris II he believed in ghosts
and II he feared them.
His reply had good deal OF phiioso-
phy In IL. for he remarked:"Ise feared OF
living ghosts, but the dead ones can't
skeer me"
He meant 10 imply by this. l suppose.
that he was ever suspicious OF some at
tempt on the part OF his colored brethren
TO waylay and annihilatc him. At any
rate. Chris isn't afraid OF ghosts anc /
can recall an instance that put his cour-
age 10 n pretty severe test Down in the
basement OF the College there is a pick
ling vat" in which the cadavers are put
when first brought to the institution.
Certain chemicals are used 10 preserve
the remains ard after the "stlffs" are
taken out lime is put In the place for dis
injecting purposes. One night q drunken
fellow. who was roaming about the premi-
ses broke through the basement windows
and tumbled into the vat He reali sed
where he had landed and thinking that
he was IN the presence OF the dead, he
raised n mighty howl. which aroused the
slumbering Chris and stirred up things
generally.
HE DIDN'T SCARE.
The resurrection OF the drunk didn't
alarm chris In the least. although the
bacchanalian looked as spooklIke as pos
sible. He was covered with lime. end
was as fine-looking a ghost as ever sal
on a tombstone. or wiped his feet on
cemetery turf. This was plainly a case
where neither live nor dead spooks fright
ened the darky. for he had the fellow ar
rested and then retired just as II nothing
had happened.