THE HUN CORPSE FACTORY.
FAT IN THE HUMAN BODY. Further detuils of the Hun corpse factory are given by a Belgian fac-tory-owner of Hainault, who recently escaped from the occupied country, “People/* he said, “suggest that (he facts concerning the chemical treatment of dead bodies by I lie Huns should be published in (Icimany, but I am convinced Ilia I I hi-, would provoke no feeling of horror there. Worshippers of organised Kultur would even boast of it, and say ‘This is war.’ We knew in Belgium for a long time that most of the corpses of Gorman soldiers were sent to sumo unknown destination. At the beginning of the occupation it was not difficult, by giving a few marks to the sentry, to peep inside the waggons where the corpses were packed together. “I have done so myself when their corpse trains sloppeo •■.!■ sidings, The bodies, .-tripped of all clot lies, were lied in Immdm-, four, the heads and feel bc;ng fastened witlf Arong wire, A. mi wmii-d-r in England that they do not re.--pect iheir dead, lad if they treat "'the living a- they have treated our deportees, how could they have feeling for (he dead?’’ The Lancet says: “The recovery of fat by what may appear to ho a, gruesome policy means, of eoui'se, a source of materials for the making of glycerine and its nitro-deri-valive. The total amount of fat in the human body varies immensely, hut it may lie said to range from 2.5 to 5 per cent, of the body weight. It is easy to see that in a period of heavy casualties this method for the disposal of the dead will yield a very material amount of glycerine. “Thus 1,000 bodies at an average weight of lOst (IdOlhs.) would yield on an average of a 3 per cent, basis of fat per body weight about two tons of fat capable of being turned into a tenth of its weight of glycerine—i.e., 4 cwt. “As the published number of killed far exceeds this, the output of glycerine may have been increased proportionally, not to mention the soap incidentally produced. The dividends of the enterprising company may, according to this calculation, he quite satisfactory to the directors and shareholders.”
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Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1723, 9 June 1917, Page 4
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374THE HUN CORPSE FACTORY. Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1723, 9 June 1917, Page 4
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