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Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 190, 17 August 1901, Page 4

The supposed corpse gave an ;roan and a comprehensive -kick^ 50th legs. Oar two friends made imultanopua spring outofthe gig,i;onJH| on ea,ch side, and tlio corpse quietly picked up thereins and drofre away. ~ It may be safely left to th o tion of my readers to "fill in tbe 6equei9E of that story. i:: (flip Here is a little bit that bears on thJHI subject, which Mr Charles Dickens' uaiß||| earthed from the chronicles of the Pickißp wick Club : . -‘BPI Two medical student's Mr Bob SawyaJß and Mr Benjamin Allen (or as Mr SamSp Weller irreverently called themV twißp young sawbones) are seated at the break<K| fast table at Mr Wardle’s. “ Peg aw*y, Bob,” said Mr Allen trß| his companion encouragingly. BaP "So I do,” replied Bob Sawyer, 9k| And so, to do him justice, he did. B|ps " Nothing like dissecting to give onußpf a .^ppaCtte, 1 ’ said Mr Bob Sawyer iog ;ft>uhfc 'tb%_ table. Mr -Pickwidtßf slightly shuddereß,' .*SS| the bye. Bob,” said Mr, AJlen,»| “ have you finished that leg yet.” "Nearly,” replie 1 Sawyer, h himself to half afc wl as bespoke, a very muscular one for a pbild’s.” Bp " Is it,?’’ enquired. Mr Alien caie'essly. ‘•Very,” said Bob Sawyer with mouthful!. ■»!>’ “ I’ve pat my name down for ai artft at our place,” said Mr Allen, " We’ kßf slabbing for a subject, and the list nearly full, only we can’t get hold riy fellow that wants a head, I - wishßp you’d tike it.” B|| "No,” replied Bob Sawyer; “ can*h■g-' afford expensive luxuries.” 'li " Nonsense,” slid Alien. -mm “ Can’t 1 indeed,” rejoined Boh Sawyer, lßj| '• I wouldn’t mind a brain, but 1 couldn’t dand a whole head.” ' SI “ Hush, hush, gentlemen, pray,” said Bi ; Mr Pickwick, " I hear the ladies.” B||

About the year 1830 the esO'tetnsnt| md indi|natioa reached its height when J it was found that two notorious scourf* “ Irels, not content with robbing the grave | if dead bodies, were deliberately murdering their victims and Selling the bodies to tie doctots. It is a"gruesome j object to write about, and I do not i ntend to give a history of the case's | only a mere outline to show the state of j natters about the time my story refes to ; and as my story has more of the lumorous than the griiisome about it, ti ’iope you will forgive me it I cannot dtogelher separate therm

The two scoundrels I have referred to were the notorious Burke and Hare. H ire and bis wife kept a low lodgii house in Edinburgh, Burke a.id a woman who Jived with him, lodged with j Hare, An old man, I think a pensioner,] was also a lodger. He fell behind with his j payments to the extent of about £4. He | lied; hedtad some friends who arrangt d i hr his funeral. It struck Hare that lie : might recoup his loss by selling his boly i to the doctors. He and Burke removed i the body from the coffin, friod it up with : can bate, and allowed the funeral to gd | on. They got about JB7 for the body. h| - That was theft first start, and Peeing how easy it was to get money that way,, | they fell on the plan of enticing pojt J unfortunates into 'the lodging house on ; one pretext or another, doeoing them with drink ; then one jumped on his chest while the other held, the nose and mouth till life was extinct. They got-as high ; n£9 for t'.e bodies. Hera is an extract , from a case I real lately. “The exact: number of murders committed by' these ; miscreants was never known. When Burke was interviewed in prison after; his conviction fie was asked the number of his victims, and though he would nob admit that these amounted to thirty it was supposed that they were not' much under that figure. At least sixteen murders could be traced to the two men.” When they werefound ou* - , the wholefour were arrested, Burke, Hare and th 6 two women. Hare and his wife were admitted as Bung’s evidence, although it was afterwards believed ha was the of the two Burke was convicted (tod h mged, the other woman g-.tling clear. I asked an old gentleman lately if he ‘remembered hearing about Burke and Hare. He said •* fine that.” “ Burke and Hare went up the stair With soihething in a box; Said Burke to Hare, this is not fair, We’ll give it-to DrKaox.” He told me he heard that repeated by ah old man in Dunedin, who lived in Edinburgh when these things happened. The time-ftf my story would be a few years before the Burke and Hare tra 1 gedjes. Very few know the whole story ; it was kept very, quiet- at the time it happened, As the principal party threatened proceedings for defamation of character, but never got beyond a tbre'at. My friend the exciseman travel!' d ever a wide district, picking up a bit here and a bit there, and perhaps wbcie there was a bit wanting, supplying it himeelf, he got together ihec-mpkte story, which in the mam facts is true.