Six Married Men and a Corset.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 915, 13 September 1889, Page 4

Six Married Men and a Corset.

At this juncture the coroner desired to show the jury the direction taken by the ball, and for this purpose produced the corset worn by Mrs Burkhart at the time of the tragedy. ‘ You see ’ said he—and here he drew the corset around his waist with the lace in front—'the ball must have gone in from behind. No, that can t be, either, for the doctor says the ball went in in front. Confound it, I've got it on wrong. Ah ! this way.’ (Here the coroner puts the corset on upside down.) ‘ Now, you see (pointing to the hole in the garment, which rested over his hip), the ball must have gone in here. No, that can’t be, either, for— ’

Here Mr Mather, the handsome man on the jury, broke in. ‘Dr. Stillman,’ said he, ‘you’ve got that corset on wrong.’

Here Dr. Stillman blushed like a peony. * Well,’ said he, * I have been married twice, and I ought to know how to rig a corset. ‘ Yes,’ said Mr Mather, but you don’t. You had it right at first. The strings go in front and the ladies clasp them together at the back. Don’t I know ? I think I ought to. I have been married. If you doubt it, look here (pointing to the fullness at the top). How do you suppose that’s a going to be filled up unless you put it on as I suggest ? « That V said Dr. Stillman, ‘ why, that goes over the hips.’ ‘No, it don’t,’ said Mr Mather, ‘ that fullness goes somewhere else—this woj,’ and Mr Mather indicated where ho thought the fullness ought to go. Here another juryman discovered that Dr. Stillman had the corset on bottom side up. ‘ Doctor,’ said he, ‘ put it on the other way.’ Then the doctor put it on in reverse order, with the lacea in front. __ This brought the bullet holes directly over the tail of his coat. ‘ I don’t think,’ said Mr Mather, * that the bullet went in there, doctor.’ ‘I don’t think it did,’ was the reply. ‘ Confound it, it’s mighty funny—six married men in this room and not one that knows how to put on a woman’s corset.’ — N. Y. Sun.