The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-01

Just then some one suggested a little bran
dy. One of Jimmys eyes opened inn
mediately. "No-whisly," he family
murmured. pint was poured into him,
when the other eye opened, and after he
had quart more or less. poured down
he began to talk with his usual volu-
bility.
stn those are not the most curious
cases that have come to the notice of
Mr.. White. Frequently persons afflicted
with tumors or goitre go TO the charnel
house and beg to be permitted to rub the
hand of a dead person over the afflicted
spot. They have such faith that they
really believe such contact with dead
hands win cure them. Their prayers
and pleadings for the uncanny privilege
are always of the most amusing kind.
One woman. who is a constant visitor,
has large swelling in her neck, and
every time she visits the morgue for the
laying on of dead hands she amuses those
who see her by her Munchausen tales,
which she claims are true, of wonderful
cures which have been effected In this way.
A popular undertaken, whose place of
business is right opposite, was for years
the official death messenger of Bellevue
hospital and his duties called him fire.
quently to the morgue.
In conversation with the writer he said
There is more fun to the square inch in
| the daily routine Of the morgue than there
is to be found in many of those continuous
| performance theaters. / remember one
case while 1 was there where firm of
/ Tenth avenue undertakers called for the
1 body of a man whose relatives had identi-
fled him, and who ordered that the corpse
/ should be sent to Forty-eighth street and
| Tenth avenue. l forget the name. How
| ever, when the undertaken laid the body
| out there he was nearly mobbed. He had
taken away the wrong body, and the
] fFfa aIaF faFnu nf "a cd
thought he was trying TO play joke on
them by ringing" in a gray-haired old
dereict instead of the handsome corpse
which belonged to them. He came back
10 the morgue with every living relative
of the right dead man riding with him
and they all took a hand in loading the
proper body in the wagon.
ut frequently occurs that some person
comes here, Identifies body as that of
dear friend, bursts forth into the loudest
kind of wailing, and then returns few
hours later laughing with joy. to say a
mistake had been made, and that the man
or woman thought to be dead had come
home only a little the worse for mixed
ale or some other deadly beverage.
"But would you believe that there are
persons whose sense of humor is so per-
verted that they play tricks on the dead?'
| he asked.
well, hardly"
There are some They come here reg
ularly, identify bodies, and order them
sent TO an address. Upon arrival there 1t
is found that no one knows them, and they
were trunded back here. No one wanted
the body alive, and no one wanted it af-
/ terward," he concluded.
A few weeks ago the body Of a man
was brought to the morgue whose clench-
ed right hand held FIVE playing cards,
three trays and two aces. There was such
a look of satisfaction in the mans eyes
that no one who has ever played the
great American game could resist a smile.
The stake which that hand won was
death, and the laugh at the pleased ex-
preston of the fioater's face was hushed
as soon as 1t left the lips.
Il shan't forget the seven days that
came just after the explosion Of the bomb
in Russell Sages Office a few years ago. :"
said Keeper White, few days ago. be-
tween the visits of sad-eyed mother
who was looking for her boy and a nerv-
Gus young man who had read of the ind
! ing Of a body which he was afraid might
! be his fathers THAT week was the
/ hardest 1 ever passed through. / wish
we had kept a record OF the number and
kind Of folks who came here to look at
the bomb throwers bend, which, you
remember, was all that was left OF
him. There were literally thousands
| Of callers who wanted to see that head.