The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-28
CHASTITY GIFTS or HUMAN SKIN.
Medical students to Have Presents Made
From q Negro's Epidermis.

From q Negros Epidermfs.
Purses. belts. suspenders and other
articles of fashion from human skin are
affected in certain circles in Chicago
Just now. In fact II is asserted that
the owning Of some such article has be-
come a fad.
That such might be the case seems
utterly impossible. yet IL Is a fact that
the covering of human cadavers has
been carried to Goose island. there to be
TURNED into leather. After being thor
oughly tanned the leather so made Is
worked up into a number of articles
for personal wear or adornment. -Four
young students of Rush Medical coll
lege have been named as being engaged
in this work.
more than a year ago and was the out
growth of an accident, which resulted
in an amputation. One of the seniors
Is charged with having been the inspi-
ration-if such a term can be applied 10
such a fad-because of the fate OF a
child in whom he was deeply interested.
The little girl is the daughter of his
landlady. She met with an accident
which necessitated the amputation of
one leg. The senior assisted at the OPP
Grafton and soothed the child after II
had been successfully performed.
Then owing to his love for the child
he conceived the idea of using the cov-
eTlnR OF the ScNtTtu mtTlDtT III VI Didt-
tical manner. He took the limb. re-
moved the delicate skin, had 1t tanned
and then caused two pretty purses 10 be
made from the leather. One he present.
ed to the mutilated child; the other he
still has i'm his possession. The desire
to procure mementoes for themselves
and friends possessed the student body,
so IL is said. and the fad was the speedy
result. That the utilization of any Fart
of the human frame for such purposes
is against the rules of the college had
as little restraining effect as the posi-
BILE conflict with civil law had. The
work Is lone without the knowledge,
consent or approval of the authorities.
Subjects are always plentiful and
much of the work done in the dissecting
room is done when no one In authority
has q chance TO check the students IN
anything they may become disposed 10
do. So il is an easy matter to remove
the dermis from the bodies, convey II
to the tannery and have IL turned into
leather.
OF course all the work Is done in Sc
cret. Medical students are noted Tor
their daring when IL comes to matters
connected with the human body, but
few OF them would willingly face the
certain public condemnation OF a prac-
tice of his kind. That women should
covet and treasure such articles OF such
material is even more strange, yet II Is
asserted that the regard OF a fair one
for a student depends upon the offer OF
belt, purse or other article OF feminine
adornment made Of just such material.
1t is even said that leather made from
the covering of some dead unfortunate
has a rather high commercial value.
owing to the growth and extension OF
the fad for such things.
Recently-so the story goes-some 200
members of the student body were as
a 10 tho ton
hoor of the building on the corner or
Wood and Harrison streets. Tables were
placed all about the room for the re-
ception OF subjects that the students
might study anatomical demonstration
Many of the students were busily en-
gagged in the work of stripping of the
dermis from the subjects. Four men
were working over the body OF a negro.
In life this man was known as William
Ross, a man without home or friends,
who died at Dunning. The subject"
was pronounced a good one and the
skin was regarded as especially valu-
able. 1t was one-sixteenth OF an inch
thick and, according to the students,
could probably be fashioned into razor
strops.
Further discussion on the subject re-
suited in about a square yard or the
subjects hide being removed and taken
to the Goose island tannery. Accord
ing to Frederick H.. Slayton 1t was
taken there by himself n Frank w
I. Van Kirk. The two other young men
while they may ave had knowledge oi
, the affair, Slayton says, were not active
in IL. Student Slayton, a manly
straightforward young fellow. said:
Yes, / took the hide TO a tsnnery-
) Ross & Co.'S, | hin on Goose island
The others had nothing to do with u
J except thai Van Kirk accompanied me
I trust the names of no others VIII b,
mentioned in connection with 1t. L an
willing to bear the brunt of the who'll
: thing The tanners must have known
! what we brought them, but no questions
were asked. and no more charge wa
! made han would be asked for tannin,
= the skin of a sheep. COW or a dog. o
course. the skin belonged to the college
but the students often take away specl
mems. or parts of subjects. There !
no question of observation-disclosures abou
s this matter. We simply happened 4
: know that a practice of the kind pre-
vailed, more or less. in all medical col
leges: that some persons like to hav
o curios made of such material, and W
thought we would have some souvenir
made. We did not intend to make an,
4 demonstration over IL and certainly IN
z tended no disrespect for the dead
: Now that the affair has leaked out !
Is not probable that Ross hide, the tan
n hing of which Is 10 be finished mex
o Thursday. will be turned over TO arts
= ans TO be wrought into gifts. and If an
young women are really expecting sue
: CHASTITY presents they viii probably o
disappointed when they get through In
e v~estigating the contents of their Christ
mas stocklngs.-Chicago Chronicle.
Deafness Cannot BE Cured
Bv local spplie stiors. as they cannot reach u