A BODY SNATCHING ADVENTURE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1320, 6 March 1883, Page 2

A BODY SNATCHING ADVENTURE.

"You can bet that grave robbingis nothing new, even among students in this city," said' a young physician yesterday iu conversation, with a Press reporter. '.'"lgraduated in this city, you know, and, if you'd like to tar it, ,1 can telf'yqu a.yery anj'usjnjj'adventure of a'co'uple of my fellow students, Of course I' cannot mention; any names, but I can assure you that'the story: is strictly |rue. A body snatching expedition in tiibse ; days was regarded as abig < blow' out, I :but only the bolder'and ; : more reokless spirits took paft in It. One night two of ray' chums started off for a •' Stiff" (as, tbeyj used to call a corpse : in: the, dissecting .room) and selected an outof, town cemetoey as the .'scene of •their|operatjon& It was eleven 'o'clock when; they > secured-/the body, and ; a5 cold and cheerless a night as you evei* skwl' THey thQ.'corpse tip: in an overcoat, and to,'-' avfcrjb supsicion, :propped-him .up on .the, seat ; of;,their open waggon, so that he'looked as if he ■wereone of the' company; ■ Then-th'ey drove into town! , is I said, it was a stingingly cold and, as v ihey reached a tavern, they resolved to enter it to, warm 1 up; both outwardly 'and' inwardly. They left the wagoil sta^d-

;;jfftj^eiitf^tte!seat;j ';•' .c |j||" ' eiTand had 1 pen/qbtaipj- bjlothejrSj; and <; when i§ey I grave'robbers I warmed tbemselyfe arid returned to their wagon. -But in the meantime the other,:s|«dents had removed the corpse ;from|)^ stead one of their own.; number; This the robbers had -no suspicion' of,, and taking their seat, one on each side of the : copse, ithey; drove off. 'ln the. jolting of the'. Wagon, it; happened'that<| the; hand of one of the studenfe'came" iii-'contact.■ of that ipf the. supposed | corpse, 'By Jove, Smith, it's .warm 1' he exclaimed, 'Nonsense,' said Smith, and ;then,he-touched .whaUhould have, beeii a cold clammy hand/; 'My-Go'd!* J he exclaimed, 'so it is | latfidf,the..corpse,;'<if you'd,..;been in. h-—1 as long as I have you'd be warm J iooP .■'.-•■-.• /;^:: : :.

: .".The affrighted 1 students '■ stood - not upon the order of their going,but went atenca'^Mladelphjiafress,;.,,,'

HORSE-TAMING AT TATTER-''\v.-^^.sAM;y;l^::';;...; Rarey's humane and gentle system of breaking inia horse'toVthe j bit; and bridle, and making it a useful .animal to it3.owner,,-can\still hardly be said to. be the common''-'method 5 employed. Despite the strides we have made in our civilisation, there are,, little, places left for imprbvemeni yet, iii the treatment of dumb: animals,;,; Mr John Dewe's is the improved style of doing things, and his exhibition on M6nday..niust'have"been a'iesspn' .in humanity ttfmany people, .i Not; that there was anything rbysterioiis or unknown- in it jit was simply an.exam pie of that combination of patiehcej and gentleness which always leads to the best results in men's dealing withs tho brute creation, The conditions under which he undertook to reduce to docility an unbroken mare, and another, vicious one, belonging to Mr A. Kesley, were none of the. most favorable, -He; was surrounded by a far from courteous or reasonable crowd of people, occupying the seats around the well-known rostrum of Messrs Matson and Campbell;' whose ! match-striking, interruptions, noises,' and sallies of rude .wit, musthave had an effect the very reverse of soothing either on himself or on his horses. He was, however, very successful, in spite of theiii and the gaslight, which must also have.been against Mm,' Mr Wright having introduced Mr Dewe to the audience, which numbered some 250 people, by sayingthat Messrs Matson and Cq„ l)ad granted him the use of the place' without guaranteeing ; the merits of the. performance in any way, and stipulated .thai no cruelty should be used during it, proceedings began. After some preliminary operations on'a horse which was supposed to be broken in, Mr Dewe tackled a rakish looking piebald Chatham Island; mare, the property of Mr 'Russell, who had purchased her from Mr James. Gregg. The brute was evidently as wild. as. a hare and entered tlje ring snorting and evidently terrified.' ■ We.understand that Mr Dewe had never seen her be fore and that no one had boen on heiy back up to that time. How. ..wild; tho unbroken Mpriori was may be judged from the fact that it was just'a quarter of an hour before siie would allow the horse-tamer to lay a finger on her neck. , Rut by patience, deliberate movements, and- quietness,, before 50 minutes were up he had put. the halter on,, bridled her, .hobbled her, arid she was nearly as docile and tractable as a dog. "At each succeeding step of the process there was loud applause, for the stable-boys and grooms who had had to do with her were evidently looking for a war between, man and mare, and little expected the rapid education effected by the latter, for the brute was not conquered and cowed, but simply tamed and accustomed to handling..... Mr pewo finally after doing all that was imaginable in the way of standing up in ( the,saddle, vaulting on to the mare's back, cracking the whip all about her, (fee, <fec., with her fore-leg strapped up, repeated his; experiments with the animal at freedom.. She,, allowed him ..to stand and walk about on her as she lay on the ground, pull her legs, and,' in fact, do what he liked with her.' The whip was never used to hsh'the, hoi;se, but simply to accustqni it to the noise. A second trial', was made,-with a vicious little brown' Chatham .Island mare, the property of Mr Eelsey, who sent with her the following letter ! "Opawa,'Fob. 21,1883.

" Dear Sir,—The following is a list of vices practised by my pony before you took her in hand';— She is a Chatham Island filly, > risiijg''l) yews old. The has a very, vicious temper, whichhas been increased by •ill-treat-ment before I had her. She is very dangerous to approach, and has chased two or three people out of the stable and round a good sized'yard;' She is very fond of bucking when you first get in the saddle, having sent' me; arid others over her head, She is'very .fidgety while harnessing,her, and also while you are taking the sarnie off.; It took all the afternoon to get the front shoes on. Trusting.you will be able to cure her.—l am,.&C, -'. ; "A. E Kelsey." In a few minutes the.same style of treatment had proved edacious, .The little brown mare, which had com; menced by lashing out once or twice when Dewe approached her; allowing herself to be saddled and ridden in the meekest'manner/possible,; ' ' L ''■ Mr Dewe gives' another exhibition of his method in a short time, when promises of any immbev of wild \w handled colts have,been .made to him to operate ohVV -' •■■'