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HOW “OLD CUNNY” ‘OBTAINED “STIFFS.” The Coroner Making a Neat Thing Out of the Bodies. Where Obtained and Where They Go To. Cincinnati Enquirer. During a tete-a-tete yesterday between an Enquirer reporter and a very knowing ac quaintance the conversation somehow or other drifted upon ghoulish subjects. The characteristic peculiarities of the Oriental ghoul as described by D’Herbelot were free ly commented upon, as were also the sinful habits and eccentric tastes indulged in by those long-nosed and interesting ghouls who loved the negro waiting maids in “Vathek”’ after so ardent a fashion. This pleasant discussion naturally formed the introduction to a chat about modern ghoul dom, and the manner and customs of emi nent Cincinnati ghouls. Then the reporter ventured to ask his acquaintance whether he had ever been acquainted with the An cient Cunny of blessed memory. “Did I know Cunny ?” exclaimed the En quirer man’s friend in accents of gentle reproach ; “‘well, I should rather think I j did. “You have seen Cunny yourself, of ‘course ?” “No, I never had that honor,’ answered the reporter, , ‘Well, I’m surprised at that, Old Dunny was a most eccentric looking personage, and I thought he was known by sight to almost everybody in Cincinnati. Why, the very children playing in the street knew him, and would run away screaming sometimes when the saw him coming along. He was a great giant Irishman, and an immensely powerful fellow, muscled like Hercules. His wife was a great, bony, branzy, alliga tor-looking woman; and they both drank like fishes. When they were both about half-shot, a cat and ag performance would begin in earnest; and such swearing you never heard. I don’t think Danny ever beat her though; in fact he appeared to be a pretty good kind of a fellow for a ghoul.” “Did he do anything else for a living but that?” . ‘No. Bless you, he could make a good living at resurrecting and enough to buy whisky into the bargain. I’ve seen that old fellow more than once driving some old stiff home in his wagon. One night, I remem ber, I met Danny driving into the city with a stiff; and, horrible as the sight was, there was something grotesquely ludicrous about it. He had placed the corpse in a a tiny posture on the seat beside him, and ha d dressed it in an old coat and vest and a played-out hat. Well, he kept his arm around the waist of the corpse to steady it from the jolting of the vehicle. But every now and then the horrid thing would double up on the seat, and its head kept bobbing up and down in the ghastliest way you ever saw. Then Old Dunny would give the stiff a slap in the face and say: ‘Set up; this is the last time, by Go d, I’d ever take you home when you get drunk. You ought to be ashamed of yourself—drunker’n a biled ow!—with a wife and children to sup port.” “It must be slow work opening a grave to steal a body,” said the reporter interroga tively. “Not it. I’ve been out with resurrection men and seen the thing done. Bless you! they don’t really open the grave. They simply dig a hole about two feet square right over the head of the coffin. When they get to that, they break out the coffin head and fasten big hooks, to which strong ropes are attached, under the arms of the corpse, and haul it out by main force.” “How did you happen to go on a resurrec tion expedition in the society of ghouls?” “Well, I was a medical student then, and on pretty good terms with Old Cunny’s suc cessor. I went just out of curiosity, and I pulled at the ropes just as eagerly as any of the ghouls, I can tell you.” “Who is Old Cunny’s successor now ?”’ “A negro, and a mighty good darkey, too. I quite forget his name just now, but I'll introduce you to him some day if you like, and get him to let you go on a ghoulish ex pedition with him if you are not afraid to go. You could make a splendid sensation for the Enquirer out of such trip.” “Well, I should like nothing better, and I will consider the introduction, etc., a great favor on your part. By the way, where do they get the bodies generally?” “Well, different cemeteries. Old Cunny used to go to Spring Grove, but I don’t sup pose his successor dare follow his example. Tell you, it’s a mighty risky business. Why, the resurrectionist is liable to get shot at. Old Cunny was peppered with buck shot more than once, I believe.” “But the medical colleges don’t get all their bodies from the cemeteries, do they.’ “Not exactly. Some they get from the hospitals. I'll tell you what it is, my friend; more than half—age two-thirds—of the sub jects for dissection are procured for the med ical colleges through a private understanding with the Coroner.” : “What! the County Coroner—Coroner Maley?” ‘*Yes. Coroner Maley is no more superla tively virtuous than his predecessors. He is quite as willing to take twenty-five dol lars for a ‘stiff’ as any veteran ghoul.” “And is that what becomes of all the corpses upon which post-mortem examina tions have been made?” “Certainly, at least that is where most of them go—to the dissecting room. Of course the form of burial has to be gone through, and the remains are generally interred in the Potter’s Field; but they are removed privately at night with the consent of the Coroner, and by ghouls in his employ.” .“Why, you don’t mean to say that Coro ner Maley employs a special force of pro fessional ghouls?” “Well, I don’t know whether they have last finished their apprenticeship as ghouls, but I do know that they are employed in the ghoul business by Coroner Maley. He turns a handsome penny by such little transactions, I can tell you.” “How much do you believe he makes in this way?” “Oh, about two thousand dollars a year?” “Then you think that the Coroner has monopolized the ‘stiff’ trade?” “Not at all. He could not furnish suffi cient subjects to the Medical College from among the number of corpses upon which he is called to hold inquests during the year. The cemeteries must make up the deficiency.” “Do you object to my publishing some of your statements in the shape of an inter view?” . “Not at all, providing you keep my name out. I don’t believe the matter is much known, and it might interest a good many.. But don’t forget to remind me about that promised introduction to an Ethiopian ghoul,”
Newspaper Details
Indianapolis People
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Sun, Mar 08, 1874
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Leah G.
USA 08 Feb 2026
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