Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-09-04
A CREWSOME TALE.
The Dead Robbed of Clothes and
Jewels.
OPENED THE CoFFINS AT NIGHT
Horrible Story OF Early Times In Salt
Lake and the Robbers Terrible
Expiation.

The public cemetery of Salt Lake
City is situated upon the beautiful
plateau traversed by the thoroughfare
leading to FIT. Douglas, the United
States military post, about three miles
from the city. 1t was just subsequent
to the completion of the transcontinen-
tai railway-the Union and Pacific
and after the city had attained to a
population of perhaps 30,0 that the
"city of the dead" tenanted by people
of every nation, and every place,
many of them persons of wealth,
who had sought the restorations
of their health, but many of whom
were so far exhausted when they
reached there that the lfe-giving ozone
of the Rockies and the flowery valley
of the inland salt sea failed to restore
to them the boon they craved, that the
incident we record here transpired.
1t is natural to assume that popu-
lation made up as the Mormons were,
whose religion is of the essence of
superstition, We're of the most impress
sible class of people, and easily moved
by the weird rumors which began about
that time to circulate. to the effect that
the graveyard was "haunted, super
natural bodies = "spirits " - were
almost nightly seen in the cemetery,
moving about often robed in white
A light was frequently seen for
moment, and then to disappear in
such manner as to dispute all argu-
ment i'll favor of natural phenomena
"fox fire." as the Southern negroes
called the luminous vapors arising
from marsby places 1t was the theme
of discussion of all, and source of
dread apprehension of the many. and
no solution of the great mystery was
attained to for two or three years. but
when it came it was confusion worse
oonfounded, . causing such revulsion
and CONSERVATION among all the peo-
pie that business was entirely sus-
pended. and the people gave way to
paroxysm of wrath.
The unusual scenes of the cemetery
which had held the people SO long in
wonder and superstitious awe were
caused by the persistent robbery of the
dead bodies therein by the sexton,
man of small stature and of mean and
evil countenance, who subsequently
made fnll confession. in which he
said that he had confederate located
at San Francisco to whom he regulai ~
shipped the grave clothes stripped from
all the dead. Unfortunately. that had
been buried under his auspices. from
the time he had become sexton, nearly
three years before.
Captain King, a commander of an
ocean vessel. accompanied his wife to
Salt Lake City for the benefit of his
health. The Captain died there. and
his wife, for some reason, caused his
body to be buried in the cemetery until
a convenient time to remove it to San
Francisco. When the remains were
disinterred, preparatory to their trans
fer, it was discovered that the grave
had been violated; indeed. the body
was utterly naked. and the lid Of the
burial case had been so carelessly re-
placed that it fell off when exhumed.
The friends of nearly all who had
been buried there at once instituted an
investigation of their condition, and in
every instance the graves were found
to have been similarly despoiled.
The sexton was Immediately seized
and carried to the city, where it was
with great difficulty that the law abid
ing-the more temperate element of
the population-could save the wretch
from instant torture and death; the
main plea to save him being urged
was, that death was too good for
him." and, indeed, he was reserved for
worse fate.
While in custody he confessed that
for nearly three years he had been en-
gagged in the awful traffic in dead peo-
ple's clothes that he regularly shipped
consignments to his correspondent on
the Pacific Coast, who sold them at
his store. 1t was the peculiar and un-
iversal custom of the Mormons to
clothe their dead in linen winding
sheets; these were, he said, converted
into window curtains, etc., and thus
disposed of. He described his methods
how he entered the grave and stripped
the bodies, lifting them into sitting
posture, the difficulty often attending
his monstrous work. He carried with
him dark lantern, and it was this
which gave the occasional light seen in
the cemetery by night. He also
carried with him a white sheet, il
which he would wrap himself should
any person approach him.
His story was a most grewsome
narrative, awful in its hideousness
Often. he said, he had encounters will
coyotes-a species of small prairie
wolf-that were attracted by the deat
bodies. He related an instance of
combat with these beasts. which wer'
drawn in unusual numbers when h
exhumed the body of a young lady
whose finger he cut off in order t.