Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-02-12
THE cADAVER TRAFFIC.
It is Much Larger and More Widely
Distributed Than Most Peo-
pie Imagine.
cAhTRELL'S SHAMELESS CONFESSION.
The Leader of the Indianapolis Ghoub
Talks Chilly of His Operations and OF
the Ever-Growing Demand for Dissect
Ing Material-Former Prices for Goot
Subjects Have Doubled.

ing Hiaterlal- fOrmer frlces TOT oOot
Subjects Have Doubled.
indianapolis, Ind, Feb. 9.-Cantrell,
the leader of the ghouls said to have
been in the employ of DR.. Joseph G.
Alexander, of this city, now on trial
as the man who employed and paid
them, on Saturday, for the first time.
made public the fact that throughout
bis operations he kept a record of all
the bodies stolen, the men who were
dispatched to secure the cadavers and
the doctors who attended the wound
ed ghouls when, OF several occasions
after midnight battles with grave
yard guards, they returned to the
city wounded. Although it was
known that the ghoul kept such q
book, he has until now protested that
it was destroyed. 1t not only de-
scribes the graves robbed, but shows
as well the disposition made of each
corpse, the college receiving it, the
doctor who paid for it, and, if it was
sent from the city, to what medical
college elsewhere it was shipped.
A Shameless Recital.
81 have robbed graves so long" Can.
trell declared, that | overcame any
scruples hat 1 felt long ago. 1t was
a matter of business. Each corpse
meant $50 or more. l never liked TIC
disturb a grave covered with flowers.
and graves well cared for Immediately
following the burial were avoided
generally by the ghouls. There was
no special reason for this. 1t was
merely inclination.
"If the people of the country at
large think that all the operations
of ghouls have been confined to the
vicinity of Indianapolis q wrong i'm.
preston exists. Graves have been de.
vastated by ghouls in Philadelphia,
Chicago, P%ittsburg, Louisville and st.
Louis to my own certain knowledge.
st. Louis, however, secures most OF
its dissecting material from Chicago.
| assisted at one time in shipping a
surgical case of exceptional value to
Philadelphia. The body came from
Ebenezer cemetery in Indianapolis.
GhOuls Always in Demand.
at was not necessary for me to
work too long in any one city. There
is a steady demand for ghouls all over
the country. | worked for short Pc
riods in Chicago, st. Louis, and in
Philadelphia. At Denver once l was
nearly killed in a grave that had been
loaded with chloroform. l wish l
had a dollar for every body that In
dianapolis and Chicago have shipped
to St. Louis and Kansas City.
"There are secrets in the grave
robbing business that only profess
sional ghouls with considerable OK
perience understand. 1t might be
supposed that we the entire
coffin when we wish to secure a body.
On the contrary, we only make a hole
at the head of the grave as square as
the grave is wide, and in this close
space dig through the soft dirt until
we reach the coffin lid. A black robe
or cover of some kind is then thrown
over the opening and a man goes
down with a light to drill through
tn, casket and make an opening large
enough to permit the body to be
drawn head first from the coffin. 1t
is then pulled in an upright position
to the surface. ....
"Medical colleges in Indiana, those
of Chicago and st. Louis, Cleveland,
T;,,n,,rat, ,,J 1,,ie,i1Io n1 1f ,,l.al,
are dependent to a great extent upon
the activity of the ghouls of Indiana
now offer $50 and $40 for suitable dis
secting material. The old prices have
been doubled"
A Great Sensation.
No criminal case in the history of
Indiana has occasioned a greater sen.
sation than the Alexander trial. Daily
the courtroom is thronged with half
a thousand spectators, and these, for
the most part, are women and girls.
Men can not force an entrance, the
women remaining until the session
adourns.
Rumors are thick about police head
quarters that the detectives sen to
Noblesville are hot on the trail of the
organization of ghouls who have been
operating as extensively in Hamilton
county as Cantrell's organization OPP
Grated in indianapolis.
Cantrell asserted that these men
have stolen at least 800 bodies, and
that, even with the example of the
Indianapolis arrests before them,
they are conducting the traffic on a
larger scale than ever.