The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-04-13

= O.
persons are aware
" THAT, when they speak
Of "burhng an in.
qniry phrase more,
commonly used In
England than In Amerlca7they recall
pne 81 the most bloodthirsty and cal,
Ious rnHians that ever stretched a
hempen cord
William Burke shares the distinc.
ltIon, with Boycott and Mcintosh, OF
having given word to the English
language. The atrocities o. which
this dlabollcal murderer was guilty,
with his confederate, Hare, in the
early part, q the last century, stirred
All Great Britain. Devoid of all sense
OF humanity, he committed almost In
|numerable murders, for which his
only reward was the paltry fee paid
by the medical schools for the bodies
81 his victims. At first one eof the
i,ResIrrection Men, : 50 called because
.ttaes1 obtained their subjects from the
grave Burkeintrodu murder as an
accessory Of this fendish trade.
The scene Of Burke;s exploits was
Edinhurgfa (which had long been stir
real III the mystic Dds disappearance
OF pefsons III the lowest ranks OF life,
Of whose whereabouts nothing could
be subsequently learned. Tramps
vanished, Irish laborers who had come
over for tie harvesting, and in one
case an idiot, known as DAFT jamie.
4 local celebrity on account OF his
inoffensiye good.nature, passed from
the ken OF his associates Before the
crimes 81 Burke were brought to light
Edinburghfwas already aroused, and
SUSPICION was universal that some
gang Of murderers was at work,
Enough the poverty of their victims
made the motive Of robbery appear
Improbable. r.
At this time the art Of surgery had
g I'M to make great advances, ! put
tIie law contained no provision with
regard to the method whereby sur
eeors were to be provided with sub
iects for the study Of anatomy. The
occasional execution Of a criminal
whose remains were ordered by the
term Of dissent to be given over
10 The surgeons for dissection, attord
ed. no suficient supply to meet the
constantly Increasing demand, and
the stealing Of bodies was a practice
openly encouraged by othe professors
az anatomy, although 1t excited I'M,
yersal disgust and hatred Durln(
81 the long war with France the periot
sof time required for the completion
Of the education Of medical students
q 80 as to qualify them for service II
the army and navy, was very short
and then the highest price paid fol
t.slbjects" was four guineas; but al
the number Of students increased ant
the period Of study was heightened
the price rose rapidly, until u variet
between eight and sixteen guineas, o.
from forty 10 eighty dollars
The method adopted by Burke ant
Hare was to entice poor persons int'
a humble lodging house which tn.
former rented, to stupefy them viii
drink and laudanum, and then. haV
ing rendered them unconscious, to sui
focate them, a method Of procedur
left no tell.tale marks t
arouse the suspIcientof(th the too easil
u satisfied surgeons Hare was "a rud
}rufian, with all the outward ,aaspecct
I Of his nature HMte Burke q " htftaattnpt
II plausible fellow, went out to pro-"
for his victims and to decoy them I
their destruction. They had, tW
n. women accomplices: Mrs. McDo9pggfal
" Who nassed as the wife Of Burke, an
I Mrs Laird who stood in the same IT
Iationship to Hare. Their lodgin
was notorious for the drunken Draw
81 which frequently occurred within an
It was aiterward discovered tha
these we're got up designedly by tn
confederates in order to drown Tn
cries Of their victims.
The occurrence which mmediatel
led to the discovery OF these crime
was the unaccountable Disappearance
Of a mendicant named Mary CAM
bell, an Irshwoman, who, after ha
ing been seen to frequent the SAN
district Of Edinburgh for a lengthy p
riod, suddenly disappeared. the poi
woman happened to have friends, WI
requested the police to investigal
q the circumstances that had led to hi
disappearance The idea vas sugges
al that her body might possibly !
( found at one of tile medical schoo
!; for which Edinburgh was then
NOUS. and the remains we're disco
( cred at the dlssecting room OF Z
Knox q distinguished anatomist, bea
ing marks perfectly conclusive OF n
identity. The medical msdisby who
the body was examined gave 1t
their opinion that suifocation hi
been the cause of death, and an
curry was at once set on foot as
the identity of the individual fro
a whom the subject had been purcha
ed.
A man named Paterson, who ac''
as porter at Dr. Knox's museum, nc
came forward and mentioned U
G. ~, IA purl.a and Hare and he