The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1897-11-10
BODY is PETRiFIED.
Remains of n Man Dead Thirty Years
Turn to Stone.

Turn to Stone.
The elimination of the remains OF
John t. S~nodgrass, at Mount Healthy,
near Cincinnati, resulted in the discoy-
cry that the body had become petritied-
Mr.. Snodgrass died 80 years ago and
the exhumation was for the purpose
of transferring the remains to Spring
Grove cemetery, in Cincinnati. On be-
ing raised to the surface and examined,
they were found to lave been complete
ly transformed into a solid drab-colore6
stony substance.
So perfectly petrified was the body
and its furnishings that even the lapel
of the coat, the coat itself, the white
collar and cravat in which the dead
man was dressed for burial retained
their natural appearances, though
slightly soiled from the wear of time
and the wonderful change from fiex-
ible materials to that of the solid state
Of petrifaction. The striking, smooth
features of Mr.. Snodgrass, which were
a prominent characteristic of the de-
ceased, still preserved their full natu-
~ralness, the only Disagreement noted be-
ing the cavities of the eye sockets, in
dicating that the optics had escaped
the work of petrifaction, and had, pre-
sumably, separated into their constitu-
ent elements. An upper front set of
artificial teeth worn by Mr.. Snodgrass
were s~plendidly preserved, as were like
wise the delicate eyelashes, tending to-
show the fine extent of the marvellous
UnrE of fro nSfOrroafin Sold a rp1a-
tive of Mr.. Snodgrass, who was present
at the examinations:
After removing the ground we at
tempted to lift the casket, but soon
saw that our force of four men was in
sufficient. We sent for Val Gettle and
three other men, and, after considera-
BILE labor, succeeded in getting he
heavy casket to the surface. We at once
examined the grave to see whether il
was damp or wet, but found it in ex-
cellent condition, with not a drop OF
water around. The immense weight
of the coffin, which was a metallic case,
suggested to us that perhaps the SUI
perfuous weight might be caused by
water being in the casket. The cover
screwed on the lid of the casket had
become so rusted that we were unable
to work them off, and we had to knock
them off with a hammer, exposing the
| glass cover at the head of the casket.
Through the glass we saw that the cof-
fin was almost filled with water, which
completely hid the face of the dead
man. We tried to open the casket, but,
finding this impossible without seri-
ously damaging it and disturbing the
corpse, we decided to drill holes in the
side and bottom in order to let the
water out. AS 500 as the holes were
bored and the water drained out we
discovered that the remains were in
an almost perfect state of preserya-
ton, and as natural as the day we
buried them. 1t was thought at first
that the drilling of the holes, allowing
the air to pass into the casket, might
affect the body to the extent of caus-
ing it to collapse, as is often the result
when a casket long sealed is suddenly
opened. However, the drilling had no
noticeable effect, the body remaining
the same as when we first looked at it,
after letting out the water. On fur
ther examination we were astounded
to behold that the body was petritied,
being as hard as our ordinary building
rock and as weighty as the most solid
stone.-Chicago Chronicle.