The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-05-20
Those EXPOSED BODIES
DR.. Varick Explains the
Law, and Father Ter
Woert the Circum-
stances.
INSPECTOR ALIENS VISIT
In One Section the Law is Vio-
lated-Jersey City Gene
terry All Right.

us OOaru was uolu& with relcrouco Z ouo
complaints against the condition of at.
fairs at the Catholic Cemetery
Inspector Alien was instructed last
Monday to Investigate the complaints
and report the result TO Mr.. Winfield.
| Counsel to the Board of HEALTH" said
President Varick. '.Mr. Winfield will
| take whatever action he thinks necessary
l have not seen Counsellor Winfield since.
He is out OF town to-day. bnt l think he
will be back tomorrow"
COMPLAINTS RECEIVED.
SHOW many CON plants has the board
received, Doctor" asked the reporter.
SWELL. two that 1 know of. I don't
know how nan more"
IF investigation proves tn 9 complaints
we'll founded and are vic ations Of the
law, will the board enforce It'll"
A.Most assuredly."
F'BuE whom will you hold responsible,
the Superintendent and his assistants,
or the trustees or directors of the Gem
erery."
"That's pretty hard to answer until the
result OF the investigation is reported.
Personally, l should judge the Superin-
teudent or sexton is simply the agent OF
the company. would not care to inter-
pref the law pertaining to the whole mat
ter. You had better see Mr.. Winfield"
LAWS PROVISIONS.
"What does the law say with regard to
the depth a body should be buried under
the earth and how long one may be Kept
above ground?"
"Here is the law" said the doctor,
| reaching for a copy or the county orIin-
ances.
Section 1913 of the Code reads:-sThst
no new cemetery, tomb. burying ground
| or vault for DEAF human bodies shall be
established, nor shall the remains of any
dead body be placed in any existing bury :
ing ground, vault, tomb or cemetery in
the county OF Hudson, nor any of said
| receptacles be opened. exposed or dis
turbed for the interment OIL removal of
any corpse except according to the terms
of the permit therefor given by this
board, ana everybody buried in any suca
place shall be buried so that the top of
| the outside coffin shall be at least four
feet, OF, in case of an infant, three and a
half feet under ground aud four feet be-
low any adjacent street. Any person or
| persons offending against the provisions
| of this section shall forfeit and pay a fine
of $l00.'"
RULES FOR BURIAL.
"As to your question, how long a body
may be kept above ground, Section 1872
reads:-'That no person shall be allowed
| to retain unburied the dead body of any
human being for a longer time than four
days, or, where death has been caused by
a contagious disease, for a longer time
than twenty-four hours after Inc death
| of such person."
..If any Of these bodies that are des-
| cribed as piled up in unburied cofhns
died of contagious diseases. the disease
germs have been disseminated" said the
physician.
Another section OF the code reads: "No
dead human body shall be permitted to
remain in any receiving vault 0etween
| Nav 1 and November longer than forty
| light hours unless said vault shall be five
feet or more below the natural surface OF
the ground, and shall be properly con-
structeu to prevent the escape of noxious
gases; and n person or persons violat-
ing the provisions OF this section shall
forfeit and pay a penalty OF $50"
There We're unusual signs OF activity
Yesterday at the cemetery with reference
to the burial of the bodies That have
been kent in the stable awaiting burial.
L FATHER E WOERT EXPLAINS.
Rev. Father Ter Woert, of St. Johns
| Church, who is Secretary of the Board Of
Trustees, is very sorry that the residents
of the neighborhood have been occa-
stoned any annoyance. In an interview
with a reporter for THE NEWS this morn
ing he gave several reasons for the pres
ent state of affairs. The recent heavy
rains that interfered in some Instances
with burial Of bodies. the rapid ii ling up
of the single grave sections of the amt
terv, the hardness of Engineer David
Young, of Newark. in grading a large
section, ordered in the new addition for
single sections, and the failure of under
takers and relatives of bodies that were
awaiting burial to come forward and
identify aud assist in the burial of such
in response to notices when the grounds
were in condition, were among the rea-
sons he enumerated.
"Blshop Wigger and the priests who
are associated with him in the manage
mant of the cemetery" he said, have
great responsible lities and trust resting
upon them en- tirely outside of cemetery
matters. But they hold nc trust more
sacred a the guardianship of the
dead"
While admitting that the management
may ave yielded slightly TO the wishes
of relatives of the dead, Father Ter
Woert declared that as soon rs the new,
and dry section of the cemetery was
ready, Superintendent Connors was in
structed to give relatives and under
takers a twenty-fouf hour notice to come
and bury their dead, otherwise their
ground, irrespective OF previous condi-
lions before death. whether they belong
ed to the rich or the poor.
A DRAIN ORDERED.
Father Ter Woert further said that he
anticipated trouble will the graves in
/ XIV ooht4CaobS4a - ~ .
and a drain was ordered to tap the water
at this point. Three thousand feet of
drain pipe were laid. according TO En-
gineer Moylan. He was o sure whether
the trouble about graves filling with
water was caused by the heavy storms
and thaws of last winter. or the sewer
becoming c!ogged. At any rate work
men had been engaged for some time fu
digging along the main for surface dra in
age to ascertain if 1t was clogged. It had
been found that IN this section where a
grave seven reeS deep was left open
for a few hours at least two
feet Of water would be found
In 1t. In cases where a mans wife was
already bnrled III a siugle plot and the
husband having died was to be buried in
the same grave because of strained hnan-
cial condition, yet when the grave was
ppened aud found filing with water, The
management had offered to incur the
extra expense OF t,ansplanung the first
buried corpse 70 Il plot IN the addition.
INSPECTOR Allen, of bhe County Board Of
Health, will make an fnvrstigAtiDp Of The