SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 1959
HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS'OREfcON
pActi .TriREE
When The Body Snatchers Outfoxed The Irish Giant
LONDON (UPI) For all his
eigru leei, iwo incnes .01 neigm
Chafles Byrne, "The Irish Giant,"
cowered when he saw the gray
haired man in the throng of curi
ous come to view him.
He recognized the celebrated
surgeon. John Hunter, and he did
not like the look in his eye as
Byrne later told his friends.
That night, he called for quill
and pen and wrote a will in which
he instructed that his gigantic
body was to be buried at sea after
death.
The giant read Hunter's look cor
rectly, but underestimated his in
genuity. "
When. Byrne died, the tugboat
captain was well-paid to carry his
body to sea.
But someone else paid him bet
terand today, the Royal College
of Surgeons displays the mighty
skeleton of the Irish Giant as one
of the victims of the "body snatch
ing" practice to which even the
most reputable surgeons once had
to resort.
The giant towers above a grisly
collection of the skeletons of some
of the-most notorious malefactors
in British history, grinning out of
glass cases under the airy classi
fication: "The College Criminals."
The college revealed the skele
tons in its closets as part of its
first publicity campaign in a his
tory that goes back to the barbers
and surgeons of the Middle Ages.
It needs 3,000,000 sterling ($8,400,
000) to maintain itself as a teaching-arid
research body.
In the quest for . anatomical
knowledge one, two and three or
more centuries - ago, surgeons
sharpened their scalpels and
hewed where they might asking
no questions about where the
bodies came from. Next to 4he
Irish Giant is the tiny skeleton of
"The Sicilian Dwarf," who was
19 inches high and weighed only
nine pounds, a
But criminals, after hanging
were legitimate subjects and the
college got its share. Side by side
under glass, malevolent even in
death, are two "of the most notor
ious criminals spewed up by the
London . underworld Jonathan
Wild, "The Bow Street Runner."
and William Corder, whose mur
der of Maria Marten in a red
barn 131 years ago is still reen
acted on theater stages all over
Britain.
The account of Corder"s crimes
is in a book bound with leather
made from his own skin.
Wild, who operated more than
200 years ago. was the first real
ancestor of the modern gangland
overlord.
He was also the first real an
cestor of the private eye of pres
ent-day detective fiction
He master minded crime on
the one hand and simultaneously
operated a detective agency for
restoring stolen goods. He had a
payroll of rogues some of whom
he betrayed to the hangman from
time to time so that he could
maintain his pose as a law-abid
ing special investigator.
Naturally, the records of the
college and its preceding company
of barber-surgeons are studded
with the unusual. There is a note
that a reprieve arrived for a nimi
15 minutes after he was hanged
in 1705.
He was cut down, and to every
body's astonishment and the prob
able chagrin of the surgeons wait
ing to dissect him regained con
sciousness!
Mountainair, central New Mexi
co, is called the "bean capital of
the world."
ANOTHER VIEW of the Doherty Slide area on the Adel-Winnemucca short-cut. This
bass, when completed, will be the highest pass In -the Oregon highway system at 6,200
feet. Currently the record is held by Quartz Mountain at 5,308 feet. Both of which are
way up in the air come the snows of winter. '"
Photo by McKinney and Bennett
v-ll',irtevi
Iffy
THIS DESERT SKELETON lying .in the twisted sagebrush is all that remains of the horse
Val Harper was riding at the time of his death. The horse suffered a broken back in the
fall that claimed Harper's life and was shot at the time of the accident. It was pictured
t the scene by the party touring the Adel-Winnemucca short-cut highway recently.
Photo by McKinney and Bennett
ROOFING & SIDING
APPLICATION
Excellent Work
Reasonable Prices
Call TU 4-7894
TO SAVE INDIAN CHURCH
MASHPEE. Mass. UP1 A 275-
year-old Indian church, now in
dilapidated condition, may be
preserved as a historical shrine.
Civic leaders dnd Chief Flying
Eagle of the Mashpee Wampanoag
Indian tribe have joined in a
campaign to raise $20,000 to re
store the 27-pew church. The struc
ture was built in 1IU14 with lum
ber hauled through the Cape Cod
Wilderness from the Plymouth Colony.
Own alppn ?
Authorized parts, salei
and service for all
'Jeep' vehicles
BASIN MOTORS
424 So. 6th TU 4-7778
Ford Trucks
Last Longer
on the
FARM
., Sea your Farm
Truck Headquarter
BALSIGER
MOTOR CO
Mali .1 Ph. TU 4 1111
BEEForPORK
Out Uw Mt PcIcm WiH
Make II War Voyf
Whll. T Investigate
KOWl
BIG Y MARKET
Ph. TU 4-4(20 4710 U. ttfc
And Where
Will I Get
WINTER FEED
FOR Mr LIVESTOCK?
The Answer Is Simple . . .
Feed Them
ALDERS
Beefy 12
Albers "Beefy 12" is a complete ration at an
economical price! It gives that important
gain that will give a good margin for that '
extra profit. .
"Beefy 12" . . . A Complete Ration
Always Consistent . . . Economical!
Also Available With Terramycin mixed
right in the feed for control of winter
colds, etc.