The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-10

nigh IFErs. OF those addicted 20 couLln4-
Gus wine drinking. are surcharged with
a peculiar kind OF blood or fluid which
has 10 be pumped out before the embalm-
ing process can be successful"
What do you consider the successful
requisites for The business OF an under
taker2'
Tact. a certain dignity. integrity. bus
mess ability. and above all. education,
was the answer I'VE have hod carriers.
coal beavers and al in the profession. A
man gets a job 10 sweep out church,
and the first thing you know his sign
is up as an undertaken. Education is as
necessary in this line OF business as In
any other; for an undertaken IS often
thrown with people who cannot tolerate
boor about them. Often he is called
in where, owing 10 distressful circum-
stances. all is chaos and confusion, and
he must so ahead and use his own judg-
ment, order the house, take charge OF
the servants and all"
Have you ever been called to a sup
posed corpse and found life not extinct"
mo, never. Old men In the profession
tell blOod-curdling tales about a foot
kicking out Unexpectedly, or a hand eX-
tended in a startling manner These
things do take place but they can all be ac-
counted for. As a sick person lies in bed
the body is somewhat in a semi-circular
position. The head up, the heavy part
sunken, the feet a little higher.
When the body is Strengthened
out on a fiat board IL IS natural that the
feet or head should In a measure rebound.
But 1t is only during the first hour and
a half that the muscles are apt to act
in this eccentric manner. All the ac-
counts that so frequently come out IN
newspapers about people NOT really being
dead who are treated as II defunct are
investigated separately by society who
make record of their information. In
variably the peculiar cases mentioned are
treated in some fictitious or out of the way
place where it is impossible to obtain ac-
curate Information. In other words, the
stories are utterly false"
When there is a death in New York the
undertaken is the first person informed.
He gets certificate from the attending
physician and applies to the board of
health for permit OF burial. The board
of health has only one oIiice In the city.
That office was formerly in Mott street.
1t g now in the criminal courts building,
at Center and Franklin streets The Of
fee is not convenient to either the ele-
waited, cable cars or any other cars. The
officers of the board Of health are only
to be seen during their office hours from
Z a. m. to p. m. on week days, and at
stipulated hours on Sundays. 1t is against
the law for an undertaken to remove a
body from the place where death oc-
CURED until the board Of health certih-
cate has been obtained. This arrange
ment, as things stand now and have stood
for some time gives rise to peculiar COM
plicauOns For instance, about two
weeks ago a woman, whom was in the
central portion OF the city, went up to a
street somewhere in the hundreds to
visit friends, with the view of being
present at an entertainment,
xrrh ri
give that night. Suddenly, with
out any symptoms of previous indisposi-
ton, the woman was seized with an at
tack of some kind which terminated fatal
~. The death took piece about
O'Clock in the afternoon. The occupants
of the house summoned the nearest un-
dertaker, explained that all arrangements
were made for their party-giving, and
begged that he remove the body imme-
diately, take 1t to the home Of the dead
woman down town. A physician had been
called when the woman was attacked
with the fatal stroke, but he had gone
away without making out a certificate
of death. The undertaken appreciated
the urgency of the case, but explained
that by the time he hunted up the at
tending physician, gotten his certificate
and made his way down town to the
board of health office, that place would be
closed for the day. He told the party
giver that there was no way Of having
that body removed before the next day
without breaking the law. Then break
the law" they urged. "a law so IN
reasonable ought to be broken" The
undertaken declined to yield to their en-
treaties, and they secured the services
of another undertaken, less scrupulous,
who removed the body of the woman and
got the board of health certificate this
following day.
The board of health has made this rule
prohibiting the removal of bodies without
a permit, for obvious reasons, in order to
prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
etc. Conscientious undertakers affirm
that although this regulation is often
infringed upon, the law breakers seldom
have to pay the penalty unless the de-
ceased was a person of such notoriety
that the minutest details of his death
become public, and naturally come to the
notice of the bureau of records. The fine
for removing a body without a permit Is
$3.50, but only once in five years has an
undertaken who dared to violate the law
paid for the offense. The case was that of
a well-known mind-reader who died un-
expectedly just after an entertainment
given by prominent social club in New
York The friends of the dead man natu-
rally desired his remains removed to sur
rounding more suitable than a banquet
hall, and the undertaken they employed
consented to forget the law. Not long
ago a woman died suddenly while enjoying
a play at the theater in company with
party of friends. Her. case came under
the law, so the body had to be left in an
ante-room of the theater during all the
performance, the grief-stricken friends
having to listen to the applause and laugh
ter, the music and gayety of a scene so
little in accord with their feelings.
The Undertakers' Association has had a
bill before the legislature for three years.
petitioning that a law be passed to pro.
hibit any man going into the undertaking
business who is not thoroughly acquainted
with sanitation. The advocates of the
bill say that through sheer Ignorance
an undertaken may do no end of mischief
perhaps carrying IN ice box used amid con-
tagious surrounding directly into a house
where no such dangerous conditions ex-
listed until transmitted IN some haphazard
way. The bill was thought commendab Bile.
and passed both houses twice. but was
vetoed by the governor. The association
congratulates itself that It has brought
one or two things to pass, through it's
earnest efforts that have directly benefited
the public. It was through its interces-
sion that the railroads were induced 70
carry dead bodies on their very fastest
trains instead of making them wait over.
as was the custom formerly, and its ap-