Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1868 — A Marvelous Adventure of three Body Snatchers of Louisville. [ARTICLE]

A Marvelous Adventure of three Body Snatchers of Louisville.

{Trots tho LootovUto »<**• *> ) The incident which wfi MAo give oto readers this morning is <hh*> BneriicdN students, who crossed tMPDhiA rltor Sag* urdey night, in adfciaj skiff, 1 aa» wjpl ■tom went for. and what they got. and what Jbafel tlein before they returned to Uni’'JthMbwm Stated repeatedly that the medical fraternity in Louisville, though a largt. wealthy anil powerful date, ero oftsn reduced to extremities for subjects for the fosecitog rest.- Often -they have Umu arrested and forced to pay heavy fines; not wntmquetiily (hey have been fired on; and it is s 01? prjetico to import bodies (torn Chicago. Onto Inst week we recorded a case in point. The present is cveaßtore startling. . „ Three student*. *M4* totoes »to.shall for the present ociuccal—«oa»e from Alabama aad taro from Tcnneaator n*»lved to aupply themselves with a sflbjecf, and obtaining information of the sudden death of an liTshmaa/ktely released (rate toe Indiana Stale Prison, who had just befcu interred Ijo ah old field outside of New 'Albany by faunie charitablo jversonh in whose faonao bo had died, they arranged tat n nocturnal oxen prion. ’ ,^11 ’ .Tile plan was simple. They bad onto to procure a boat, cross the river, proceed to the deßgualedyiace of burial, oxhumethe body, wrap it in a blanked, aad oonvey it to the dissecting room. They provided themselves mattocks and spades, secured a good yawl, and just after twelve o’clock set. from a pointn.*r the ferry, rcachiog theopposite shore in safety.

They were idl armed, of course, and ycre agreed to (Aake a fight if molested. Fortune scented to favor them. They were not obaervod ns they sj>ed a crons the sliming Ohio, rippling bright and cluar in the moonshine, and landed in nu obscure nook which they Imdoxplor d in the altsruoon. Thrice they took a by-path around the town, and were soon brought to the lonely, off-cast, uew-mado grave. Daring, as Well as eutorpriso, is a char nc teristio of medical students. One stood on gqord while his two companions (who had learned the art and practico ot digging during the famous campaign from Dalton to Atlanta) set to actively with the spades and very soon they struck the coffin. Having shoveled the dirt away, they placed this rude pine box upon terra firms, and were preparing to take off the lid, when a noise startled them. It was a very dreary {•lace, near a clump of trees, and not far from a brick-kiln, and a cluster of workpeople’s dwellings. The clocks had just struck two; but there was 4 g&i; pf ftpptmehmg fodiafcps beyond the grove, aud u« time was to be lost “Whft shall wp d“?” nnbt (lilwwir 1 ••Knock off the lid.” 1 “No, we haven't time. The noiso will betray us. Tick the tiling up, and let's be off” Hastily the three students lifted the coffin on their shoulders —luckily they were all strapping fellows who had carried many a pc*>r fellow to the rear on a stretcher—and made for the river as fast as possible. Just <l» thev turned tho angle of a hilljlity saw lights in the grove behind them. But they did not stop to reconnoitre or learn whether it was a party in pursuit. They hurried forward over uneven ground and up and down out-of-the-way lanes and alleys, and finally gained their boat, in "•hi’ch they deposited their loathsome burden. “Now for the other side, boys !” “All right! Pull away !” The yawl darted out from land into the channel, and was struggling up stream against the current, which is swift and turbulent at this point. It was the object of our students to land as far up us they could row their boat, and so they turned her head dirootly for the ferry, and were soon tossing among the waves. They were elate 1 with their success. To cross the river, elude defectives and police, secure a (tosh body, (which i* to a medical Student what a nosegay is to a lady, 1 and to find themselves so safely sped on their jonrney back was indeed a triumph. They had not, up to this time, paused for rest or recreation, and had quite neglected a flagon, of brandy which they had provided. This they now recollected.’ It was prfiduced, and lying on their oars they—as they have related to us—drank several toasts. They drank to the University, to their sweethearts, and to poor Pat, who lay unconscious in the coffin, flat on the bottom of the skiff. How it was they could not tell; but suddenly, as if impelled by a strong arm, the boat upset ana its contents were emptied into the river. Horrible!

As the skiff capsized, submerging onr three students for a moment, the coffin lid fell off, and the corpse was rudely, thrown. ’ into the water. The moon, thongh on the wane, waj shining bright uud clear. The waves of the river rising and falling ranged round white and weird as 'ghosts, as they danced from shore to shore. The church spires of the two cities glittered among the stars in the quiet sky. But away below, where tho cold, uncomfortable daylight dawned, fogs were stealing upward, and the houses along the banks showed like a fleet becalmed. This was a vagne outline of the situation as it appeared to our adventurers when their heads came to the surface; hut auother sight quickly arrested .Ihgir,attention., a ppnllingiu -asety-wense: - There before them in au upright position was tho corpse, half clad, as they hadfonnd it in the coffin, supported by the boat, over which, it being turned upside down, an arm was thrown, while from the side of she body a little stream of blood peeled off. The face was livid and stark. The eyes were wide open. The teeth seemed to chatter: and so it moved away with the current, a thing of life, yet dead; u corpse, yet floating with the stream, as erect as a human being! Our students were confounded. They were brave and hardy fellows, who had seen deAth on the battle-field and faced dead bodies in dissecting rooms.— But this was horrible! It floated away with their boat and they dared not pursue it; it floated away as if an angiy spirit possessed it, as if it took a grim, sardonic pleasure in their discomfiture. They turned their faces away from the ghastly sight and toward the Kentucky 6nore. It was not far distant and they * reached it uurnb and dazed, but perfectly sober. They then turned again to the stream; and the corps, dinging to the bottom of the boat, passed off into the mist and out of sight, still rigid and erect.

A SramrAL Pebfoenek Citohi'. —C. W. Jackson, who claims to be a spiritual medium, has created quite a sensation in St. Lonis in the • tyiug-up business. He was challenged to an exhibition ,of hie skill by Hartz, tbe magician, and On his first trial succeeded in freeing himself from bis bonds in a few moments, to tbe great delight of the spiritualists of that city. On Friday night last 'the trial was repeated, when the gentleman selected to tie him insisted upon searching him before commencing operations. They found a sharp penknife concealed in one shoe and a coil of rope wound round big body. Hie trick consisted (imply i» being tied with a rope similar to the one he had concealed, and then when confined in his “cabinet” cutting tbe one with which ho was tied and secreting the pieces, and substituting for it tbe one he had concealed on his body, which he exhibited to ius.andienoe aa having been Untied by spirits! When the knife and oord were taken from him the spirits failed to respond to his invocations, and he was released from his “cabinet” bound as securely an when be went in. 4. _ t. iJS: Boned TpsEEV. —This is a favorite dish at evspmg parties and may be Urns prepared: Boil a tufkey in as littje water as may be, until the bones can be easily separated from the meet. Remove all the akin; slice, mixing together the light and dark parts. Season with salt and peppur. Take the liquid in which the turkey was boiled, having kept it warm, pour it op the meat; mix It well. Shape it like a. loaf of breed, wrap it in cloth; and piece with a heavy weight for u few hours. When served up it is eat haUhin slices. Chickens can be prepared in the same way. —Bnpw is three feet deep at Collingwoed, Canada V