THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 625 



HOW THE BODIES WERE PREPARED. 



WHEN the dead bodies were brought on board the Thetis, they 

 were all, at first, laid out in the forecastle, and a screen was 

 placed in front of them, to prevent a close examination being 

 made by the sailors. They were left in this position for twenty- 

 four hours, when half of them were transferred to the Bear 

 after dark. Under ordinary circumstances the disagreeable task 

 of packing away the bodies would have been considered unfit for 

 officers and left to the seamen, but on this occasion, in order 

 to obtain greater secrecy, commissioned officers were specially 

 detailed for this duty. On the Thetis they were Surgeon Green, 

 Ensign Harlow, and Chief Engineer Melville, and on the Bear, 

 Dr. Ames and Lieut. Cross. They cut off all the clothing and 

 sewed the corpses up in sheets. Then the limbs and bodies were 

 tightly enveloped in muslin bandages, which were also sewn up, 

 and the heads and faces were all concealed in like manner. The 

 only article of clothing which was not removed was a woollen 

 skull-cap worn by each. They left that on because they were 

 afraid to remove it. After being thus prepared, the bodies were 

 placed in iron tanks and covered with alcohol. The bodies were 

 removed from the tanks and placed in the iron caskets by officers 

 also, and no others saw them. Thus prepared, they were brought 

 to St. Johns, and there Capt. Schley ordered iron caskets to be 

 made for their reception. He therefore sent the following tele- 

 gram : 



" ST. JOHNS, July 18. To Hon. Wni. Chandler, Secretary of 

 the Navy : Iron caskets for the dead will be delivered July 25. 

 As soon as remains are transferred to them I will sail for New 

 York, advising you when ready. A week's rest for officers and 

 men, after the incessant labor and perils of the past sixty days, 

 is most grateful to them. Your telegram and that of the Acting 

 Secretary, Admiral Nichols, gave us great satisfaction. Please 

 accept our thanks for them. In respect to the memory of the 

 dead on board, flags of the ships will fly at malf-mast during my 

 stay. 



(Signed) " W. S. SCHLEY, Commander." 

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