GRAVEDIGGER’S STORY

Southland Times, Issue 17244, 15 January 1913, Page 5

GRAVEDIGGER’S STORY

REVOLTING DISCLOSURES. (By Telegraph.—Preps Association.—Copyright). HOBART. January 14. A revolting .slate of affairs lias been revealed at. Queenshorough cemetery. A grave-digger who had been dismissed made a statement to the Health Department ami the press, in which he alleged that it has been the practice for years past to remove coffins from graves in order to permit fresh burials. There was no room to replace the disinterred shells nor their gruesome contents, the result being that they were plied on one another on rubbish heaps, and In some instances burnt. On one occasion, in trying to find room for another coffin his pick pierced the lid of a shell and was embedded in a skull which it brought from the casket. Dr Sprolt, reporting to the Board of Health, says that he verified many of the grave-digger's statements, more particularly regarding his Inability to replace coffins after a fresh burial. He had no hesitation in saying that the methods of disposing of the dead filled him with horror and amazement. There was a real danger to public health.