Prof. E. H. Crane’s Manual of Instructions to Undertakers

CHAPTER IV. Directions to Observe in a still More Obstinate and Difficult Case.

Where the body is badly bloated, when you are first called, it is best, immediately after attending to the stomach (as before instructed) to let off the gas from the cavities of the body. This is best done with the Gas-trocar, if you have one, as with this instrument, and having a small rubber pipe attached to it, you can puncture the abdomen or cavity of the body with the point of the Gas-trocar, and by extending the rubber pipe out of the window, the gas (which has a very offensive odor), will pass out of the window through the pipe, thus saving any disagreeable smell, for the time being, in the room. Many however, puncture the abdomen in several places and let the gas off in the room, as the Preservative will soon deodorize and purify the room.

It is sometimes necessary to puncture the body in two or three places, in order to get rid of all the gasses, but seldom more than once, as in nine cases out of ten the gas will all escape in less than two minutes from one opening.

17Immediately after the gas has escaped, insert the point of the Syringe and inject one or two pints of the Excelsior Preservative into the cavity of the abdomen, which will pass all around the bowels and arrest any further decomposition or putrescence, and entirely prevent any further accumulation of gas or possibility of bloating. You can inject the Preservative through the Gas-trocar.

If you have found it necessary to make more than one incision with the Gas-trocar or knife, it is well to inject some of the Preservative into every opening made, even to the extent of three pints or more.

Whenever it is desirable for any reason to avoid leaving any external mark of the puncture, it should be made at the navel, first drawing the loose fold of skin at one side and puncturing through the navel; then, when the trocar is withdrawn the loose skin around the navel returns to its natural position. The trocar can be pointed downwards and to each side, injecting some of the Preservative in each place, thus accomplishing the thorough injection of the abdominal cavity from only one point of insertion.

In case it may be deemed necessary to inject the thorax (or cavity of the chest) raise or extend one of the arms and puncture and inject through the axilla or armpit.

The stomach may be reached from the point of insertion at the navel by pointing the Gas-trocar upwards at an acute angle, inclining it a little to the left in a line with the top of the left shoulder. The foregoing methods of injection have the advantage of leaving no visible trace of the operation.

18It is also important (and not to be forgotten) to puncture the bladder with the Gas-trocar and draw off the urine. This is easily done by placing a washbowl or chamber in a chair and, after puncturing the bladder, turn the body on its side, and the urine will escape through the instrument at once, but if in some cases it might not escape through the Gas-trocar readily in this position it certainly will by raising the body to a sitting posture.

The point for the insertion of the Trocar to reach the bladder is just at the top of the os pubes or pubic bone (the bone uniting the hips in front at the bottom of the abdominal cavity), making the puncture in a line with the navel as near the top of the bone as you can and inclining the point of the Trocar a little downwards behind the bone.

Remember, always after the urine has been taken away, to inject at least half a pint of the Preservative into the bladder. It is important that this part of the work should be well done, for unless this precaution is taken, the urine is certain to escape more or less in the natural way on the second or third day.

And whenever the bladder is not thus attended to, you must never omit the simple precaution of putting on a good heavy diaper; say, double up a large sheet and use plenty of cotton well saturated with the Preservative, and do up the parts as snugly as a mother would her child, remembering to saturate these cloths again the second, third and fourth day, by pouring Preservative from the bottle on the diapers, thus deodorizing any escape that may have taken place, in order that there may be no disagreeable 19smell arising from this source on the day of the funeral.

This part of the practice is not new to those well up in the profession, but I have thought best to call your attention to these facts in order that no important point should be overlooked by any one.

This done, in addition to the treatment according to the foregoing instructions, I term partial embalming, and the entire time consumed in thus taking care of a body will not exceed one hour. And if the Preservative is used freely and my instructions are carried out in this process of treating a case, there will never be a failure, and the body in every instance will be as effectually preserved for ten, twenty or thirty days, as it would under a treatment of full embalming for all time.

CHAPTER V. Cases Indicating Absence of Immediate Results.

In some cases the appearances of the body under treatment may indicate a want of immediate results from the application of the Preservative as the same case would from any kind of treatment. Which may be from the fact that from the nature of the disease or from circumstances connected with the death of the subject, decomposition sets in very rapidly, in some cases the blood and fluids of the body being in a state of rapid progress towards disintegration even before death, and although the Preservative permeates the tissues of the body very readily, the amount of actual contact of it is so limited in proportion to the whole mass of animal matter to be preserved, that some time must be allowed for sufficient saturation.

When such indications appear, do not be discouraged or allow the fears of the friends of the deceased of your ultimate failure deter you, but continue to persist in your work as you have been directed in these pages, neglecting or omitting no part of the process, allowing time enough for thorough saturation of the body with the Preservative, and the case will invariably come out all right, provided that the rules have all been carefully followed, and in fact a body under such careful and persistent treatment will present 21a better appearance after the third or fourth day than before.

I will here call your attention to the fact, if there are any disagreeable odors in the room when you are first called to attend the dead, a little of the Preservative sprayed about the room will effectually deodorize and disinfect it, rendering it at once pure and wholesome, remembering that the Excelsior Preservative will not stain or injure any clothing or fabric with which it may come in contact.

CHAPTER VI. Prevention of Contagious or Infectious Diseases.

Many of our customers sell large quantities of the Preservative to disinfect sick-rooms. If sprayed around the rooms it will purify and deodorize them in five minutes, thereby arresting contagion. The best way to deodorize a room or the house, is to suspend a good-sized sponge saturated with the Preservative, in each room, with a plate underneath to catch the drip, and when dry saturate again from the plate.

A little of the Preservative should be poured into the chamber utensils, and it should also be sprinkled or sprayed on articles coming into contact with the infectious matter, also on the clothing of those attending the sick before leaving the sick-room, in order to avoid carrying the infection outside.

Whenever the Preservative is used freely in sick-rooms or throughout the house, where there is a case of scarlet fever or diphtheria, there will be no further spread of those diseases in the family. In this respect the Preservative is invaluable, and the Undertaker who wishes to push its sale on the merits of its value as a disinfectant for sick-rooms, will find it called for in time by nearly every family in his community.

The Preservative has been successfully used in epidemics of scarlet fever in many instances in the past, preventing its further spread whenever it has 23been freely and faithfully applied; and although I have no personal knowledge of its application as a disinfectant and preventative in yellow fever epidemics, I have no doubt whatever of its great usefulness in confining that dread disease in narrow limits, knowing from actual experience its effectiveness in neutralizing and destroying septic matter and all germs of contagion of every nature and kind.

CHAPTER VII. Sale of the Preservative to Unprofessional Persons.

You will no doubt have customers who will only buy the casket and who will not require your attendance in laying out and caring for their dead, and we would suggest a source of profit and advantage to you in such cases in recommending the purchase of a bottle or two of the Preservative with directions for using on the face and exposed portions of the body, and such other uses as may be appropriate in each case. We can furnish the Preservative put up in bottles, labeled with directions for its use by unprofessional persons as a face application and as a disinfectant and deodorizer.

The greatly improved appearance of a body that has been even so partially treated with the Preservative, will not only make your customer’s investment in it entirely satisfactory to them, but it will be also an advertisement for and an aid to your business. It will be, in a professional point of view, entirely proper in such cases, and in cases of infectious diseases, to make the Preservative an article of merchandise, as it will aid in introducing and familiarizing the idea of embalming in your community; and will not at all interfere with, but will rather create a demand for your services as an Embalmer, for the use of the Preservative in such a limited way would only tend to make 25popular its more extended use, but as we furnish it only to the Undertaking Fraternity, it is for them and not for us to put it upon the market in that way or not, as they may choose.

CHAPTER VIII. Embalming by Arterial Injection.

If circumstances render it desirable that the body shall be fully embalmed and preserved for an indefinite length of time, the Arterial Circulation should be filled with the Excelsior Preservative.

It is essential that you should have a thorough knowledge of all of the details of the methods used for the preservation of the dead by partial embalming or cavity injection as it is sometimes called, and to have some experience in the care of the dead by the processes already described, or at least to fully understand them, as it is necessary for the very best results from Arterial injection that the entire process of preserving and partial embalming of a body should be carefully and faithfully performed, according to previous instructions, as it is equally as necessary as the injecting of the Arterial Circulation, and no part or portion of the previous instructions for preserving should ever be omitted in a case of full embalming.

You can very easily learn from any physician where to find the arteries, how to distinguish them 26from the veins and nerves, and how to take them up and inject them, and it will be only necessary for you to have one ocular demonstration by your family physician how the operation is performed which with the minute directions I will now give you, will be sufficient, in fact, quite a large number of our customers who are now proficient in the art, have become so without any teaching other than that they have gained by reading and studying over carefully my directions, and practicing, whenever there were opportunities, and if you will procure the proper instruments and practice by yourself alone (and you will find many opportunities to practice upon subjects not requiring full embalming) you can acquire the necessary skill without personal instructions from any one.

Either of the three great arteries, viz: The Carotid, Femoral or Brachial may be selected for the operation, as it makes no difference in its effectiveness, all of the arteries of the body inosculating or intercommunicating with each other as well as being connected at the heart as a central point.

The arteries after death are flattened or collapsed, which is due to the fact that the blood is congealed in the veins, leaving the arteries empty and pale. Every artery has its corresponding vein by its side from which it is easily distinguished, as the veins are of a bluish color, while the arteries are of a creamish white. There is usually a nerve in close proximity to the artery, and although nearly of the same color, it may be distinguished by its being rounder and not being hollow like the artery. Taken between the 27thumb and finger the artery has the feeling of a hollow tube, while the nerve feels more solid to the touch being filled with a fibrous substance, something of the consistency of marrow.

The Carotid or great Artery of the neck (see illustration) being the largest one of the whole body, is used for the injection by some Embalmers, but in many cases it is necessary to avoid having the marks of the incision show, as would be the case with children dressed low in the neck. The Femoral, or main artery of the thigh (see illustration) is also objectionable from the necessary exposure while performing the operation, and as the Arterial Circulation can be filled equally as well from the Brachial or large artery of the arm, I would advise its selection, and as a rule, the confining of your practice to that location, as it is best to be expert in performing the operation by the one method rather than to be awkward from lack of sufficient practice from trying too many ways unless your opportunities for practicing are greater than is ordinarily the case.

CHAPTER IX. Directions for Locating and Injecting the Carotid Artery.

The Carotid Artery lies nearer the surface, midway between the angle of the lower jaw and the top of the collar bone being deeper under the surface at the bottom of the neck. It is, however, desirable to make the incision as low in the neck as possible in order to avoid leaving the marks of it visible. Begin the incision on either side of the neck at a point half way between the thyroid cartilage (or Adam’s apple) and the top of the collar bone cutting downward. By reference to the plate illustrating the location and course of this artery you will note the place marked for the incision. The course of the Carotid Artery is in a line drawn from the angle or bend of the collar bone where it joins the Sternum or breast bone, upwards towards the ear, and it is at the side of and almost touching the windpipe at the top of the collar bone, but recedes backwards from the windpipe and comes nearer to the surface as it passes upwards. It is contained in a sheath which incloses also the internal jugular vein which lies close to and on the outer side of the artery.

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See dotted line for place for making the incision.

31Having taken up the artery, make a slit or cut in it lengthwise about three eights of an inch in length and insert the point of the syringe towards the body (never towards the head when you are injecting into the Carotid Artery), securing the artery to the syringe point with strong thread; also tie the artery above the syringe point, that nothing may run out from that end of the slit. Now proceed to inject the Preservative and continue to slowly force it into the artery as long as you can do so with moderate pressure of the syringe bulb, but discontinue when the veins in the forehead begin to show a slight distention. Then let it remain about two hours by which time the Capillary veins will have absorbed a portion of the Preservative already injected, when you will find it easy to inject about one-third as much more into the artery.

For most cases one injection is sufficient, but to keep a body for months it is well to repeat the injection the second day or the third day, the Preservative being largely absorbed by that time. After the injection is completed tie the artery below the point of the syringe securely, remove the syringe point, and sew up the cut.

CHAPTER X. Directions for Locating and Injecting the Brachial Artery.

The course of the Brachial Artery is in a line drawn from the outer side of the armpit to the center of the bend of the elbow, and along the inner edge of the Biceps or largest muscle of the upper part of the arm (see illustration). This artery will be found just at the inner edge of the Biceps, at a point midway between the elbow and shoulder—sometimes a little under the edge of the muscle in very muscular subjects. Hold the arm out from the side of the body, twisting it a little outwards, and make the incision at the edge of the muscle. By reference to the plate illustrating the location of this artery, you will see the point marked for the incision. Having taken up the artery, make the slit and secure the syringe in it, the point directed towards the shoulder, and proceed according to the general directions already given for the Carotid Artery injection.

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CHAPTER XI. Directions for Locating and Injecting the Femoral Artery.

The course of the Femoral Artery is in a line drawn from the inner side of the knee upwards to a point midway between the outside of the hip-bone and inside of the thigh (see illustration). It is nearest the surface and is taken up and injected the most readily at a point about two inches below the lower edge or fold of the groin. By reference to the plate illustrating the course of this artery, the place for injection will be found marked. Having taken the artery up and made the slit, secure the syringe with the point directed upwards, i. e., towards the body, and proceed with the injection in the same manner as with the other arteries. The Femoral Artery is seldom used, however, the Brachial, and next to that the Carotid Artery, being usually preferred.

All bodies should be laid out upon an inclined plane (45 degrees is not too much), particularly during the process of embalming, as by thus inclining the body, the slight bloating of the face, caused by the filling of the arterial circulation with the Preservative, will soon pass off and a life-like expression remain.

CHAPTER XII. Precautions to observe for the Safety of the Operator in Embalming.

Should you cut or prick your hand or fingers in any way while handling the dead, be sure and apply the Preservative AT ONCE to the wound, as it will insure safety from the inoculation of the poison virus by which many undertakers have lost their lives. I would also say to the undertaker, in every instance where he is called upon to lay out the dead, to first bathe his hands with the Preservative; this insures perfect safety and should never be omitted, for you can not tell at just what point you will meet with this deadly virus; and as I have before stated, the Preservative in this respect is positively indispensable to the undertaker.

I have already spoken in the highest praise of the Excelsior Preservative, but the half has not been told. The undertaker who places any estimate on the value of his own life, can not afford to be without this all important antidote against the dangerous inoculation of the poison or deadly virus which he is liable to encounter at any moment in handling the dead.

It is a very dangerous thing in any contingency to handle the dead, notwithstanding it has been done thousands of times without injury to the undertaker, yet this is due to great precaution on his part, or from the fact of his hands being in perfect condition, having 37no scratch, cracks, hang-nails, or abrasion of the skin through which the poison could be inoculated into his system, whereas, others with a simple scratch or hang-nail that they were not aware of until too late, have thus been poisoned and lost their lives.

Cases of purging or sloughing of the skin are of the worst type, these juices being fearfully poisonous, and the longer the body lays without treatment the worse it grows, hence the more dangerous to handle; therefore I say, it matters not what the undertaker charges for his services, he is never half paid for the risk he runs of losing his own life while fulfilling the duties of his profession in handling and taking care of the dead.

There is no public servant that takes upon himself one-half the personal risk, or whose services should be better appreciated by the community than those of the professional undertaker, and when the customer complains of prices, or where the undertaker’s charges are brought in question, these facts should be fully explained.

A fatal case happened under my own personal observation in California where the undertaker laid out a Chinaman that was purging at the mouth. Some of the poisonous fluid got into a hang-nail, and in three days he died, although a council of physicians was called, but nothing devised or prescribed could help him, simply for the want of a perfect antidote like the Excelsior Preservative, which, if applied, as directed in this manual, is a certain preventative against the deadly ravages of this virus. And I will once more say to the undertaker, you must be on your guard at all times, and as self-preservation is 38paramount to all other considerations in matters of this kind, be sure to bathe your hands in the Preservative before commencing to handle or lay out the dead, and also bathing them with it thoroughly immediately afterwards.

CHAPTER XIII. Chemical Affinities.

I will here give a few of the reasons why the Excelsior Preservative will do all that I represent.

To those who are acquainted with chemical laws, hardly any discovery seems too strange to be true. Chemical laws and their affinities are truly wonderful, and if we are to produce a certain result on the dead human system, we must make use of chemicals that have affinities for the parts to be acted upon, and no affinity whatever for those parts that we desire to leave intact or undisturbed.

Careful study and experience have taught me that albumen and gluten are the principal if not the only putrescible substances with which we have to deal in the preservation of the dead.

Putrescent gases and odors which originate from the decomposition of those substances, partake largely of their nature, and even carry with them minute atoms of the corrupted mass into the air we breathe, and it matters not whether this putrid and offensive matter exist in the air or flesh, where the Excelsior 39Preservative comes in contact with it the air is at once cleansed and rendered wholesome, or the flesh preserved. My Preservative is made from chemicals that act directly upon the albumen and gluten, uniting with them to form a new compound, and the compound so formed becomes a new substance, and this has an affinity for the hitherto unaffected constituency of the flesh, which all combine to form a new, pure, and imputrescible whole; by this means changing the corruptible mass into a perfectly preserved body for all time. The Excelsior Preservative being infinitely superior and paramount to all other preparations known to man in either ancient or modern times for the preservation of the human body in its natural and life-like appearance.

CHAPTER XIV. Advantages to the Undertaker of Scientific Embalming.

With the aid of this Manual, the enterprising Undertaker will soon find himself master of the situation, and no case, however complicated or obstinate, will be able to baffle his skill, and as there is not a town or city in the land in which there is not an occasional death of some person whose remains are removed to a distant place for interment, and as a great many of Undertakers are not skilled in the art of partial or full embalming, many such cases are of necessity either sent in a putrid state or shipped in an ice-box, to the very great annoyance and inconvenience of the friends of the deceased, when if the local Undertaker had been properly skilled in the preservation and embalming of the dead, the friends could have been gratified by not only having a proper funeral at its destination, but they would have had the satisfaction of the remains presenting a perfect and life-like appearance. The Undertaker who will give this part of the profession a little careful study and attention, will find that nothing will pay him better, for as soon as the people find out that he is really a professional undertaker, they will gladly rely upon him, and his services will be more and more appreciated by the educated and refined portion of the people, who always want this class of 41work well done, and are willing to pay and do pay for it whenever the Undertaker can convince them that he really understands the requirements of his profession.

I have been told hundreds of times, by persons who have lost relatives or friends, that they would have given $50, $100 or $200, or even $300, if they could only have had them preserved or embalmed for even two or three weeks, and much more if they could have had them fully embalmed. Therefore I say that there is nothing that can possibly pay the Undertaker better than to educate himself up to a full knowledge of the requirements of his profession, and it certainly is a very great inducement for him to do so when it is so easily done with the aid of the Excelsior Preservative and the instructions which I have laid before you.

CHAPTER XV. Absorption by the Capillaries.

It is a well established fact that the capillaries or pores of the skin absorb liquids and many substances when in solution, as well as being channels of excretion of waste matter from the system.

“Draper’s Human Physiology” (a standard authority) says, page 241: “Besides exercising the functions of exhalation and perspiration, numerous facts demonstrate that the skin exerts an absorbent action. The endermic application of remedial agents establishes this in a satisfactory manner. That water can find access in this way is shown by the assuaging of the thirst which may occur on taking a bath; nor is the amount insignificant, since it may give rise to a considerable increase of weight.”

Salivation may be procured by the external application of mercurial preparations, the peculiar constitutional effects of cantharides (Spanish flies) on the urinary organs may occur from their external contact with the skin, and a multitude of such instances can be adduced to show the tendency to absorption through the pores of the skin.

From the above established facts, the risk in using poisonous substances for embalming purposes—more particularly solutions of arsenic—is greater than is generally realized. This deadly poison (arsenic) is so peculiarly diffusive and penetrating that it is even 43injurious to sleep in rooms papered with green wall-paper, the green coloring matter used in printing such colors on wall-paper being an arsenical preparation.

Contact of the naked skin with any arsenical solution is attended with risk in exact proportion to the extent and duration of such contact, the thickness of the skin, and some other modifications, as, for instance, this deadly poison (arsenic) will be absorbed more readily through the pores of the back of the hand than through the calloused palm, much more readily through the epithelial covering of the lips than other better protected parts of the body, and even if the Embalmer is careless of the consequences to himself from using such dangerous material for his work, he is in duty bound to take into consideration when using embalming preparations that the friends and relatives often take a parting kiss from the face of their dead after the application of such preparations, and he should use none that contain any such dangerous ingredients.

All such risks, both to the Embalmer himself and to all who come into contact in any manner with the dead, are entirely avoided when using the Excelsior Preservative. It is a perfect antidote, not only for septic poisoning from contact with infectious matter in handling dead bodies, but also a sure antidote to the dangerous effects arising from the use of any poisonous solutions that may be used for embalming purposes; and if for any reason such are used, or if there is any suspicion of danger of being inoculated with poisonous matter, I would urge for your own 44safety and protection that you freely use the Preservative, bathing your hands or any part that may be exposed to contact with the poison, as the free application of the Preservative will neutralize and destroy the poisonous matter and prevent any unpleasant or serious consequences.

The Preservative is not only perfectly harmless in its external contact with living flesh, but it is even remarkably curative in its effects when applied to chapped hands, sores, or even fresh cuts. This is, as a matter of course, outside of its legitimate use as an Embalming preparation, and I refer to it only as indicating the radical difference between the arsenical and other poisonous solutions (the so-called “fluids”) and the Excelsior Preservative, which last contains no such dangerous ingredients.

CHAPTER XVI. Embalming Instruments.

Much can be accomplished in restoring and retaining the natural appearance and color of the exposed portions of a dead body, and decomposition can be retarded for a time by using the Preservative freely externally and without the aid of instruments, wetting clothes with it and applying to the face, neck, and hands to restore and retain their natural color, and also over the bowels where decomposition first sets in, which application will delay its progress for a time, as the Preservative is very penetrating, but a good set of Embalming instruments are almost indispensable for every undertaker to be possessed of, as there will often be cases where there is a necessity for cavity injection to hold the body a number of days for the arrival of distant friends, and occasionally for Arterial Embalming for shipment to long distances.

It would be out of place for us to advertise our Instruments in a work of this kind, and we would simply say that we invite correspondence in regard to Instruments desirable for use. We would prefer to supply our customers with a good set of Instruments at a nominal price to cover the cost of manufacture rather than to have them remain without them or be using inferior ones, as the best results in Embalming are attained only with the best tools which rule holds good in every kind of work.

46We have on hand Instruments of every description for every kind of Embalming work, from sets consisting of those used only for partial embalming, up to complete sets in elegant Cabinets with every tool required for any purpose. Our syringe has a screw fitting turned on the suction end so that any of the tubes or the Gas-trocar can be fitted on and collections of fluid in the body pumped out with it.

All the tubes and the Gas-trocar are nickel plated and non-corrosive, and we would call especial attention to our improved Gas-trocar which is the most complete tool of its kind ever manufactured being superior to any other as it is so constructed that it will not clog.

Sets of Instruments will be sent to our customers on approval if desired.

CHAPTER XVII. Caution to be used in Storing and Keeping the Preservative.

It is of the greatest importance that the Preservative be kept entirely free from mixture with any other substance, as, owing to the peculiar combination of the chemicals used in the process of its manufacture, an addition of even a small portion of any foreign substances, especially any of the Arsenical Solutions sometimes used for embalming purposes, will completely change its character and destroy some of its most valuable properties.

We call particular attention to this matter as we have more than once traced up the cause for a complaint of the quality of some particular shipment of the Preservative to the fact that the customer has had one or more kinds of “fluid” on hand and in some careless moment has emptied back some little left over, into the package containing our Preservative to its very great injury. Even keeping the Preservative in wood totally destroys its efficiency as an Embalming preparation and therefore it should never under contingency be kept in wooden packages. It should always be kept in the glass packages in which it is shipped, or in some other glass vessel.

Every package that is sent out is exactly like every other package in regard to the quality of the Preservative it contains, and its contents will never deteriorate in any length of time it may be kept providing that no other substance be added.

APPENDIX.

To our Customers:

We have appended to the foregoing treatise on Embalming some few of the letters we are constantly receiving from our customers, giving their unbiassed opinion of the merits of the Excelsior Preservative, entirely unsolicited on our part and without the least idea of publication on the part of the writers.

To such of our good friends and customers who find such an expression from themselves printed in this book, we ask pardon for the publicity given to their letters, trusting that the good company in which they will find themselves, among the leading members of their profession, will be our best excuse for the liberty we have ventured to take.

Want of space prevents us from printing but a very small portion of the thousands of commendatory letters we have in our hands, and for the same reason we print only such portions of the letters as will fairly give the opinions of the writers thereof.

Commendatory Letters and Extracts.

Crane & Allen:

Please duplicate the last bill of your Preservative sent to us—56 gallons I think. It has given us great satisfaction.

And again April 30, 1886.

Crane & Allen:

Please send us as soon as possible one hundred gallons of your Preservative. Let one carboy come by express at once. The Preservative gives perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

If you will please to duplicate the invoice of May 11th. (13 gallons) you may do so at your earliest convenience. We like the Preservative very much and will use no other as long as we can get as good from you.

Crane & Allen:

We have just commenced on the last two carboys you sent us. We listened to outside parties and let them unload 20 gallons of “Fluid” upon us that might answer for winter use. We have now done with experimenting and hereafter you may count on our sticking to the “C. & A.” Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative, knowing just what it will do, and have got all over experimenting with other preparations. Will let you know in ample season for another supply.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative better than any other, as it removes discoloration quicker and don’t stain clothing and I think it is much better in every particular.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with your Preservative, have got some other kinds also, but I like yours best. I find some difficulty sometimes in using fluid in place of ice, as some want ice anyway, but I have the best success with the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I must say that your Preservative is the only Embalming fluid that “fills the bill” in every respect.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using some other kinds for some time past, but I like your Preservative much the best.

Crane & Allen:

I had a funeral yesterday in a family which had a funeral about a year ago. They said the undertaker then used a preparation which was so poisonous that a daughter of the deceased was laid up, confined to her bed six weeks as a result, and has never fully recovered. This not from having drank or tasted the chemical, but simply from having made the applications of dampened clothes to the face, etc. They did not at first know what was the matter, but the doctors found arsenic in the raisings from the stomach, the result of inhalation and absorption. This undertaker, by the way, does not use your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We are not in need of fluid just now, but when we are will send you an order. We consider your Preservative the best Fluid in the market.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using other preparations, and having been in former years a druggist, have made and used largely my own preparations for embalming, but there are many things about your Preservative I like better than others used, and I intend to keep it in stock and use it.

Crane & Allen:

Refill and return carboy with your Preservative at once. It is the best embalming preparation that I ever used, and I feel safer with it than anything else of the kind.

Crane & Allen

Enclosed is draft on Chicago for amount of your bill. We have tried your Preservative and like it very much.

Crane & Allen:

What I have used of the Preservative has given the best of satisfaction. I do not think I shall need any more very soon, but I shall order of you, as I think it cannot be beat.

Crane & Allen:

I am very much pleased with the Preservative, and it has not only done its work well on ordinary cases, but on very difficult ones in the severest of hot weather.

Crane & Allen:

Send five gallons of the Preservative. Am offered Fluid very cheap, but prefer the Preservative, as I am always sure of getting a good article. I just had a case where I restored the color from black to marble white with it.

Crane & Allen:

I am glad to say that your Preservative has never failed to do its work yet. I have been using it for nearly five years and in some very bad cases.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative gives full satisfaction. I enclose draft for last bill.

Crane & Allen:

The people in this locality are prejudiced against embalming and I have had hard work to introduce it, but they begin to see it now differently. As an illustration, I will give you a case I had last season: A lady died and some of the family were in Florida, and they wished the body kept until their return. I embalmed the body with your Preservative and after it had laid in the house a week the neighbors began to make a fuss, and threatened to complain to the Board of Health, and annoyed the family so that they requested me to remove the body to my house; I did so, keeping it in the casket and kept it two weeks longer. When the friends arrived the body was shipped then 150 miles and buried, and it was in much better condition when buried than the day she died—no smell or signs of decay whatever.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed is money order for last bill of your Preservative. I am well satisfied with it and shall order more in a week or two.

And again, Dec. 12, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

Although I can buy Fluid here for less than your Preservative, I would rather give you more for yours.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find draft for $36.00 for bill of Sept. 7, ’86, and send us at once 12 gallons of Preservative. We are well pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

We have given the Preservative a fair trial and have found it to surpass any fluid that we have ever purchased. Please fill demijohn and return to us.

And again, Jan. 16, 1886:

Crane & Allen:

Please send us six gallons more of the Preservative. It is the best Fluid we can get.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative with great success and it has a grand reputation here. In one case I was not called upon to embalm until 48 hours after death, and the face and neck was black, yet it was kept five days in July and every one wanted to know how I managed to keep the body so well.

Crane & Allen:

I acknowledge the receipt of the demijohn of the Preservative, and should have ordered sooner, but last spring I bought out an Undertaker’s stock in Onarga with a quantity of “Embalming Fluid,” which supplied me for a time, but I like yours the best of any that I have used and shall in the future depend upon yours altogether when I can get it.

Crane & Allen:

Ship 20 gallons of Preservative by freight. I shall use more of it hereafter as I most assuredly like it.

Note.—The three following letters from N. Greenlund, of Warren, Pa., should be read in connection with each other:

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed please find check for $15.00, for last bill. You need not send any at present. Have no fault to find with your Preservative, has given good satisfaction, but have got some now that seems to do the work and for less money.

And again on August 28, 1887.

Crane & Allen:

Having lately been induced to buy some “Fluid” for less money than yours with guarantee “to be as good as yours”—maybe it is, but it does not give me the same satisfaction, therefore please send me a demijohn of the Excelsior Preservative and oblige,

And again on Sept. 12, 1887.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is received and commenced to use it, and will say in the language of some other undertaker’s when in convention some time since: “It is hard to keep house without Crane & Allen’s Fluid.”

Crane & Allen:

We enclose draft for am’t of last bill. We think your Preservative after a test of five years that we have given it, the best that we have ever used. It never fails to do the work.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is all you claim it to be, and I am satisfied it will do all you claim for it, and that it will do to rely upon for Embalming.

Crane & Allen:

We are still using the Preservative entirely and are very much pleased with it indeed and consider it perfect. We had a very hard case in a town 10 miles from here, of a man who died in almost perfect health, very fleshy, weight over 400 lbs. We were not called until he had been dead 12 hours and then we found him improperly laid out, but in spite of it all, we kept him a week by the use of the Preservative, and had a very large funeral (he being a very prominent man). The casket stood open and every one said it was the most life-like corpse they ever saw.

Crane & Allen:

I wish to thank you for the Preservative, as it has done all and more than you claimed for it. Our doctor used some of it and says he never saw anything to equal it for blood poisoning. Enclosed $15.00; give me credit for it.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find draft for your bill. I have not used all of the Preservative yet, but have used many kinds and have no hesitation in saying that yours is the best. Shall use no other in future.

Crane & Allen:

I have great faith in your Preservative and will always guarantee that I can hold a body in good shape by the use of it.

Crane & Allen:

We have now used your Preservative so long that we are satisfied. We have had such good results from it that it is best to continue its use. It is a great advantage to the Undertaker where the body is to be kept an exceedingly long time, to have something to rely upon, and we have always had good success with the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I had a good chance to test your Preservative. A woman died in another Undertaker’s territory, seven miles from here, and was put into an ice box with 250 or 300 lbs. of ice, and with all that the body got black and swollen, and people became alarmed and wanted to bury her at once, but the friends objected and sent for me. I took her out of the ice box, let off the gas and used your Preservative, and at the funeral she looked as natural as life. I could refer you to several other cases, but I suppose it is not necessary.

Crane & Allen:

I was not out when I wrote to you for the price in large quantities. Am using it a good deal and think it can’t be beat.

Crane & Allen:

I have begun to use your Preservative and think it is better than anything I have ever used. I had on hand 10 gallons of another kind when yours came, which is the reason why I had not used yours before. You will hear from me again soon.

Crane & Allen:

I send two empties, which you can fill with your Preservative and return to me. I have used no ice since using the Preservative, and have kept all kind of cases good.

Crane & Allen:

We have bought “Fluid” from other parties lately, as Mr. Fernald was away and I did not know at first where to order. Mr. F. has since spoken very highly of your Preservative, and we will give you the next order.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative very well. It does the work well, and I have given it a pretty good trial and am well satisfied that it is all you claim it to be.

Crane & Allen:

We are well pleased with the Preservative, and you can refer any of your customers to us.

Crane & Allen:

I would as soon be without coffins as to be without your Preservative. I have tried a number of kinds, but none equals yours.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given satisfaction, and we will send you an order for more this season.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best thing of the kind we have ever used.

Crane & Allen:

You will find enclosed draft for $21.00. Am not entirely out, but you may send me another carboy of the Preservative. I had a case last summer that proved the excellency of your fluid. The man died of lung fever and heart disease combined, and in about five or six hours after death he turned purple all over the body, not unlike a flesh blood-blister. I injected about half of a gallon of the Preservative into the Brachial Artery, and in less than 24 hours the discoloration had disappeared, and at the day of the funeral some of the friends wanted to put it off on account of his life-like appearance.

Crane & Allen:

We have never had a failure in the use of your Preservative, and have had a good many bad cases to handle. We kept one subject with it from Oct. 29th to the 1st of April following.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find draft for bill. Your Preservative is first-class; none better in the world.

Crane & Allen:

We return pkges. for refilling with the Preservative. We can buy what are considered “standard makes of Fluid” for about one-third less, but we have given yours the preference, as its workings have been so very satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

Please send us carboy of your Preservative right away, as we like it very well.

And again, July 1, 1885:—

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is giving us perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

I shall use no other kind of Embalming Fluid but yours, as it gives the best of satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

We are very much pleased with the Preservative, and we give you an order for ten gallons of it, which please ship at once.

Crane & Allen:

I have had a good opportunity to find out what fluid would stand the weather lately. I had some of two kinds, of what is called “Standard” makes of fluid by the side of some of your Preservative and all in bottles, and all froze and broke the bottles but Crane & Allen’s, and that did not. I shall use only yours hereafter.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best I ever used. I tell you I have done some nice work with it. Will use no other if I can get yours.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed please find New York draft to apply on account. We think your Preservative is the best we have ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative and have recommended it to other Undertakers in this city. It will never fail any one using it right, and it will take the lead if you keep it up to the present standard.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find check ($74.70) in settlement of account to date as per statement, and you may duplicate the last shipment. We do not hesitate to say that we are more than pleased with your Preservative, and it gives better satisfaction than any we ever used of any other make.

And again, on Feb. 11, 1886:—

Crane & Allen:

We are more than pleased with the results from the use of your Preservative, and wonder why so many use other preparations that we have tried and know do not equal yours.

Crane & Allen:

I have been offered “Fluid” that is called good for less than yours cost, but I have tried already several kinds of such and none give satisfaction equal to yours, the coldest weather last winter had no effect on it.

Crane & Allen:

Send me a carboy of the Excelsior Preservative. It is the best I ever used and is just splendid.

Crane & Allen:

We think a great deal of your Preservative and have had splendid success with it, in fact we have “been raised on” Crane & Allen’s Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We lately had a case that we considered a test of your Preservative. It was a case of death by accident, body mutilated. We shipped it and it arrived in good condition. We like the Preservative better every time we use it.

Crane & Allen:

I have had some severe cases lately. One a lady who died of an abdominal tumor from which over a wooden pail full of fetid matter was taken; the body was badly swollen and very offensive, the whole house tainted. At the time of the funeral the rooms and the body were perfectly sweet. Another case of a man killed by lightning, and it took four hours to work off the gasses and do the work; and another case of a child which was kept a week during the hottest weather of last month (August). I am very well pleased with the results from using your Preservative in all of the above cases and will order more of it.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is working splendidly.

And again June 8, 1887.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is a No. 1. article and I have given it some extra good tests.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative works to perfection and I believe I could keep a body as long as I had a mind to with it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is all right, and we shall want more of it. We have used others some of the time, but yours does the best work.

Crane & Allen:

Please send me another shipment of your Preservative. I could not do without it now, as I find it superior to anything I have seen.

Crane & Allen:

I dare not use some of the “fluids,” once having lost four finger nails in using one kind, and others harden the skin and benumbs the fingers so that the touch is not as delicate as desired. I will now stick by your Preservative as it is just as nice for the undertakers hands as can be, softens and cleanses so nicely that it is a pleasure to use it and it has never failed us in embalming. I like it again from the fact that when a gallon of it is injected into the arteries the face and other surfaces are whitened which others I have tried does not do, therefore the friends can better see the effect of your work.

And again on June 14, 1887.

Crane & Allen:

I ordered 10 gallons of “fluid” because the party of whom I ordered was such a nice “demonstrator” and although I gave my hands only one light wash of it; it was bidding fair to be as bad for them as ever any of the “fluids” were, and I will use it up with gloves, but gentlemen, I find on account of my hands and the satisfaction that the C. & A. Preservative gives me, that I will have no other, when through with the 10 gallons referred to.

Crane & Allen:

I shall want more of your Preservative on the approach of warm weather as I like it very much, shall not need any before April or May.

Crane & Allen:

Please send another pkge. of the Preservative. Am not quite out and don’t want to be. It does just what you claim for it, and is the best preparation I ever used.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given splendid satisfaction and I have had the best kind of success with it, and I have no trouble in keeping a body any length of time with it.

Crane & Allen:

Send some more of the Preservative to me at this place, where I have removed to from Dansville. Your Preservative works like a charm.

Crane & Allen:

The instruments are received, and are just what we wanted and are even nicer than I expected. I can assure you that no other “Fluid” but Crane & Allen’s Preservative will ever fill an artery that they open while I handle them. We like the Preservative very much.

Crane & Allen:

I have sold out my undertaking business, but I shall take pleasure in recommending your Preservative to anyone, as I know what it is, and you may refer anyone to me if you want to.

Crane & Allen:

An Undertaker came over to see me from Newburyport yesterday, to ascertain how I managed to keep bodies so nice that were under my care. He being an Undertaker of some note, I took some pride in letting him see me embalm a body with your Preservative, and he was so well pleased that he will order some of you at once.

Crane & Allen:

I have used other Fluids in the same way as yours, and for arterial embalming I prefer your Preservative. Have used about 30 gallons since June last.

Crane & Allen:

Send me a pkge. of the Preservative. I can buy “Fluids” cheaper, but I know yours is good and don’t want to take chances on something that might go back on me.

Crane & Allen:

We had considerable of other Fluids on hand when we got your Preservative, and have some yet. We like yours the best, and won’t use any other after this.

Crane & Allen:

I return carboy, which please fill with the Preservative and return to me. It has given first-class satisfaction and I am well pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

I have not had occasion to open the last pkge. of the Preservative, as there is but little embalming to do here just now, unless I should attempt to preserve the earth, which I think your Preservative would do.

Crane & Allen:

I have sold out my business to D. G. Mulford & Co., and have urged them to use your Preservative as being the best there is. They think it is rather expensive, but I tell them that it is cheaper than any, considering the work it will do. You write them, and I think they will try it.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using your Preservative for some time, and prefer it to any other kind of Embalming Fluid. It gives perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

We have been trying other kinds of “Fluid” lately, but find your Preservative to be the best. We have thoroughly demonstrated that the Preservative will give better satisfaction in all cases than any kind yet made.

Crane & Allen:

We have decided never to use any “Fluid” but yours. It is the best we ever saw. About a month ago we gave it a good test, and kept a man who died very sudden—weighed 225 lbs. We kept him five days in his parlor, and he looked better than he did the day he died. We then placed him in the vault and ten days afterwards we took his wife and family to see him, and he looked as well as ever. It was the largest funeral we have had in 20 years, in this city. We now know just what to count upon to keep a corpse, and that is Crane & Allen’s Preservative.

And again, Jan. 4, 1888:

Crane & Allen:

We enter the New Year without any of your Preservative, and as we feel as though we could not prosper in our business without it, please send us ten gallons. We have a little cheap stuff that was forced upon us, which we might get along with if it keeps cold, but you may send us ten gallons of the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I must say of your Preservative that it is the best for removing discoloration that I have ever used, and the best for deodorizing a room. You may send me another carboy of it if you please.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is first-class and we like it very much, and as soon as we want to buy any more Fluid we will send you an order.

Crane & Allen:

Send me about 15 gallons of the Preservative and don’t delay as I am out and don’t want to use any other.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed draft to balance account. I have sold out to Geo. E. Diggins, who will return pkgs. with an order. I could give you a strong recommend, not only from myself but from J. W. Caseby, Undertaker for many years. The last job he had without your Preservative has convinced us of the great merits of it over others.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is giving me entire satisfaction. I had a body shipped to me from Columbus, which had all the appearance of having been in an ice-box for a time, then hastily jammed into a casket and shipped—the abdomen being fearfully swollen. I kept the body over two days, by drawing off the gas and filling the abdomen and lungs with the Preservative, and from all appearances it would have been all right for some time to come.

Crane & Allen:

When at our convention in Cincinnati, in June, the representatives of one of the so-called “Standard Fluids” wanted me to take a gallon of it free, on trial, but I am satisfied with your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We enclose draft which you can give us credit for. Would say that your Preservative is the stuff to tie to.

And again, March 26, 1887:

Rest assured that we have no occasion to try any fluid other than yours, as it has never disappointed us and so long as it remains as it is we have no thought of changing.

Crane & Allen:

I still have some of your Preservative on hand but had it not been for some so-called first-class funeral directors using very inferior preparations (presumably because cheaper) and thereby losing their cases and thus putting a temporary “black eye” on embalming, I would have used that all up and considerable more. You may rest assured that when I want anything of the kind I will order of you.

Crane & Allen:

Your Excelsior Preservative is the best embalming fluid in America. It has always done just what we wanted it to do.

Crane & Allen:

While other parties are offering “fluids” at a much reduced price, we do not want to buy elsewhere as long as you still continue to furnish us as good a fluid as your Preservative has proved to be, as it has never failed to do just what a fluid should do.

Crane & Allen:

I have some of your Preservative yet and we do not use very much at this time of the year. I do not use it in all cases as I have some that cost much less which I use some, but when I have a bad case on hand I always use the Excelsior Preservative, and I can recommend it to the profession as always giving satisfactory results.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative you send us has given good satisfaction and we are well pleased with it. It has done all you claim for it and we shall continue to handle it in preference to all others as it is a pleasure to use something you can depend upon and that is the Crane & Allen Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative we can say is all that you recommend it to be. We had the care of the body of a young man who committed suicide by hanging and when we took the body it was in bad condition, bloated and black in the face. We embalmed him with your Preservative and shipped him to Toledo, O., and the undertaker there said that the body came to him in the best shape of any corpse he ever handled and wanted to know what kind of “fluid” was used.

Crane & Allen:

I am more than satisfied with the C. & A. Preservative and shall continue to use it.

Crane & Allen:

Please send us a package of the Preservative and oblige, as we are out of it. Have been trying two other kinds, but they don’t do the work like yours and we do not think we will experiment on any other fluid soon.

Crane & Allen:

Please send by express at once, a large carboy of the Preservative. I would say that after using all kinds of embalming fluids in the market, I am obliged to write you that your Preservative has proved the most satisfactory and I have had the best results from its use.

And again, Oct. 5, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

I cannot speak too much in praise of your Preservative. It is the best I have ever used and I have used a great many kinds.

Crane & Allen:

Please send us six or eight gallons of the Preservative; we have but little left, and would like it sent promptly. A loud noise is made by the blowing of horns for other preparations, but our Mr. Siling says he has the grand confidence in both the Preservative and the men who manufacture it.

And again, on Aug. 29, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best stock in the world, we think.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative very much.

Crane & Allen:

Your Excelsior Preservative is the “boss,” and we intend in the future to use it altogether.

Crane & Allen:

We are very much pleased in the use of your Preservative. The results are very satisfactory to us.

Crane & Allen:

I have just used the Preservative in two cases, and it gave better satisfaction than any I ever used. One was a lady who died of inflammation and when I was called she was discolored badly and bloated and very offensive; and at the time of the funeral she was looking entirely natural, and with not the least offensive odor. The other was a dropsical case, and when I went to take care of it the stench was so bad I could hardly stand it; but when I was done with it the odor was entirely destroyed and body as natural as in life.

Crane & Allen:

We must say that your Preservative has given perfect satisfaction, and we intend to let well enough alone and use nothing else.

Crane & Allen:

We had good success with the case, using your Preservative, last week, with four as hot days as we have had this summer, and the body looked A 1.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using your Preservative the last six or seven years, and as long as I can get it I do not intend to use any other, as I have had the very best success with it.

Crane & Allen:

I have all the Preservative I shall need this season. I shall be pleased to recommend it to anyone, as I can do with a clear conscience, as I have used it for several years and have never lost a case where I have done my work as well as I knew how. I always use, in an adult, three quarts to a gallon, as I do not care for a little Fluid if I keep the case in good shape. Can make a better charge and get it easier.

Crane & Allen:

I have found your Preservative entirely satisfactory, and it will be our pleasure to continue our orders from time to time as wanted.

And again, August 5, 1884:

Crane & Allen:

We enclose money order for last bill. We think your Preservative the best of anything in the market.

Crane & Allen:

Having made some business arrangements I cannot order any of your Fluid, yet your Fluid I cannot but say is one of the best, in my opinion, in the market.

Crane & Allen:

Received your Preservative and determined to give it a fair trial. I procured a body from the City Hospital and injected Brachial Artery, using five quarts, and also filled cavities through the throat and through Trocar. I placed body in inclined position and kept face bathed with the Preservative as directed, for several days. This is the sixth week, and the body is in good condition, no smell or odor from it—it has been exposed to the air most of the time. I am very much pleased with your Preservative, and place great confidence in it.

Crane & Allen:

Please send me five gallons of the Excelsior Preservative at once. I am out of it and cannot get along without it.

Crane & Allen:

I consider your Preservative the “Ne Plus Ultra” of embalming preparations and intend using it as long as it gives such satisfaction as it has in past cases.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative in several cases and find it excellent.

And again, on Feb. 20, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

You may send me another supply of the Preservative about May 1st. It is a first-class article.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative with very good success and think it cannot be surpassed in any particular. I manufacture an article which is cheap and although not quite as safe and reliable as yours, it seems to answer ordinary purposes, but in difficult cases I use yours.

And again, June 3, 1884:

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative came this morning. I had such good success with that I had before of you that I did not dare to be without it. Have just received intelligence from the South of the condition of a body I sent there a short time since and embalmed with your Preservative. By some mistake things were not in readiness for the burial of the body on arrival and funeral had to be postponed. What surprised every one was that there was not the least indication of dissolution in odor or color, but a natural and healthful appearance of a gentle sleep at the time of the funeral.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is perfectly satisfactory and we will need some more of it.

Crane & Allen:

I have never failed to give entire satisfaction with your Preservative in every case.

Crane & Allen:

What is the price of your Preservative? I have been recommended to get it by Robt. R. Bringhurst of Philadelphia, as being the best fluid of any in his estimation.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed please find draft to cover last bill. The Preservative has given me good satisfaction.

And again, Dec. 31, 1886:

Crane & Allen:

I make my own fluid for all ordinary use, and use only your Preservative when I have to ship a body or keep it for a considerable time. Shall want some more next season.

Crane & Allen:

Please express me a medium size package of the Preservative. I can’t get along without it.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative very much, and as soon as we get nearly out of it will return the carboy for more of it.

Crane & Allen:

Send us a supply of the Preservative at once as we have only a little left having used a good deal of it lately. If you want any references in regard to the Preservative you can just refer them to us. Our Mr. Hansen has used it with success for some years and knows what it will do; we like it first rate.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has done all we wish it to do, and we would not be without it for anything, as it is so pleasant and safe to work with.

Crane & Allen:

You can ship me six or eight gallons of the Preservative at once. I would have ordered some sooner, but had some on hand. After five years use of your Preservative that I have had, I can recommend it and you can refer any one to me if you want to.

Crane & Allen:

I have plenty of the Preservative on hand at present, the last shipment seems to hold out like the “widow’s cruse of oil.” Am satisfied with your Preservative, although I can buy “fluids” cheaper.

Crane & Allen:

We highly appreciate the Preservative, knowing as we do its value by having heretofore weighed it in the test balance and found nothing wanting. We would find it hard to dispense with.

Crane & Allen:

We still have some of the Preservative left, as the art of embalming is not practiced much here with us. We wish to say however, that we understand the business and every case we have had with your Preservative has been successful.

Crane & Allen:

We are well suited with your Preservative, for it has never failed us when we have used it, and shall feel perfectly safe in recommending it hereafter as a sure preventative and deodorizer as well as a preservative.

And again, Dec. 14, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

I have sold out to C. F. Brown and have recommended him to use your Preservative, as I have all faith in it, and had I continued in the business I never should change it for anything else. You may count on me as one that can recommend the Preservative, as it has never gone back on me.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is certainly everything that it is recommended to be. We have used it in cases that were as bad as could be with the most gratifying results. One case of a lady who died from the effects of child-birth, and we considered it a very bad case; we used the Preservative and kept her five days and shipped her to Parkersburg, W. Va.—weather very warm and rainy. Disinterested parties reported to us that the body was as natural as life when buried.

Crane & Allen:

Please send me ten gallons of Preservative, such as I had before. If as good as that I can ask nothing better. I like it the best of anything that I have ever tried.

And again, on Sept. 28, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative still continues to give perfect satisfaction in all cases and I have no wish to change, although I am often urged to try others claiming to be as good and cheaper; but I prefer yours, as I know just what we can do with it and always have good success. Have a body now embalmed with it that was in very bad condition when I took it, and the friends thought it impossible to keep it, but it is keeping splendidly.

Crane & Allen:

I can say that I have had better success with your Preservative than with any preparation I have ever used. Have thoroughly tested it in the last two weeks, with the thermometer at 98 and 100. One case of heart disease, very fleshy, another of a lady who died of cancer,—the first body was kept a week and the other five days, and the results could not have been better. I like the Preservative, also, because it does not make the hands rough and harsh, as other preparations do, and because it will drive out all the bad smell in a short time. Send me at once another supply, as I cannot do without it.

Crane & Allen:

Please send another supply of Preservative. I think I could not do business without it; I have all confidence in it and consider it No. 1.

Crane & Allen:

I had a case in July last of a young lady whom I embalmed with your Preservative and shipped to Edgerton, and the enclosed extract from the Milwaukee Sentinel of July 25th is in regard to the appearance of the body:

“On Wednesday last, a young lady died suddenly at Oconto, and her remains where brought home to Edgerton for interment. A most singular thing, however, is that the remains were not buried on the day of the funeral. Although apparently dead, the usual evidences of dissolution are not present and there are no signs of it visible. The young lady before her death exacted a promise from her mother that she should not be buried until she was satisfied she was really dead. The remains will not be interred until her death is established beyond all question of dispute.”

It seems they were not satisfied that she was dead until the seventh day afterwards. There could have been no question, however, of her death, as she was regularly embalmed by me, and the life-like appearance was due to the Preservative used.

Crane & Allen:

We have always had the very best of results since using your Preservative. We used it on a case only about a week ago, and shipped a lady to Illinois and have just received word that the remains arrived and looked as well as when it left here.

Crane & Allen:

We would not be without your Preservative, as it gives perfect satisfaction and we regard it as indispensable in the burial of the dead, both as a deodorizer and as a Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We are using your Preservative and think there is nothing better in the market. We are using it now in every case of death.

Crane & Allen:

Send two carboys of the Preservative. I like it; have done some good work with it; in fact, have astonished some people by the change it will make in the appearance of a dead body.

Crane & Allen:

We received last month from you the package of the Preservative, and last week I had my first case of embalming—an old man who died from dysentery, and the friends wanted the body kept until relatives arrived from Kansas. I had never used any Fluid or seen any embalming done, but had got posted from your Manual by reading it over. The doctors said that it would be of no use to try to keep the body without ice, as it would be “as black as your hat” in 24 hours, in such weather; but I told them it could be kept all right if I could have my way, and after a while the friends consented to it, but procured some ice so as to have it ready. I followed out your instructions exactly, using about a gallon of the Preservative, and at the time of the funeral the body looked as natural as life.

And again, Dec. 17, 1883:

Crane & Allen:

Please find enclosed draft to balance account. When we have used the Preservative all up, we will want some more of it, as we would not want to be without it now.

Crane & Allen:

We have about half of the last shipment of the Preservative, but you can ship us another. We have never had it fail us and have given it some severe tests. We embalmed two bodies last summer in the hottest weather, that went into Nebraska and Colorado, and they were received in splendid shape, after being transported for days in hot cars.

Crane & Allen:

I am very much pleased with your Excelsior Preservative. When I need any more will bear you in mind.

Crane & Allen:

We have used your Preservative since May, 1880, and it gives us entire satisfaction, being far better than anything else that we have ever tried.

Crane & Allen:

I have bought out the concern of Pancoast & Co., and they had a good deal of Fluid from other parties, but I don’t like it near as well as I do your Preservative. Just as soon as I am wanting any more will order from you. I have used nothing that has given such satisfaction as that manufactured by you.

Crane & Allen:

I find the Preservative to give the best satisfaction of anything of the kind in the market.

Crane & Allen:

The package of Preservative I had is just empty. Is the price the same as before, and how shall I return the carboy? I write you because I was pleased with the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is unquestionably the best embalming preparation we have ever used.

And again, Aug. 19, 1887:

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has always been entirely satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative answers every purpose, and I have done some very fine work with it.

Crane & Allen:

A “Practical Embalmer and Demonstrator” called on me a while ago and kindly informed me that his “Fluid” was the only kind worthy of the name. I heard him through and then gave him some of my personal experience, which was altogether different. I tell you when they come around and malign our friends, we want to look out for them, and the Excelsior Preservative has helped us through too many tough places to be counted out now. When we want some more you may be assured you will hear from us, as there is nothing to equal the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

The Excelsior Preservative is the best I ever used, having been in the Undertaking business 16 years and tried almost all kinds of “Fluids” made; and must say that the Preservative takes the cakes—yes, the “whole baking.”

Crane & Allen:

I have just shipped to New York the body of J. A. Tyler (son of President Tyler). I embalmed him with your Excelsior Preservative, using two gallons of it. The body arrived in New York in first-class condition, and everything was satisfactory.

And again, Aug. 18, 1884:

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative and think it the best. Have had good success with it, and it is truly “Excelsior.”

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with the Preservative. I took up a body the other day that I embalmed the middle of last August, and it had not changed in appearance at all, which is a sufficient guarantee to me of the excellence of your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has done my work all right, and I have from one to 500 pressing the claims of the different “Fluids” during the year, but it is a safe rule to “let well enough alone,” so I shall continue to use yours only.

Crane & Allen:

We have a supply of “Fluid” on hand at present, but we confess that it is not as good as yours. In fact, from our experience, we think your Preservative is the best in the market.

Crane & Allen:

Please find P. O. order to balance account. I am well pleased with your Preservative. I kept a body three days and then sent it to Rochester, N. Y., and the friends that saw it there said that it looked fresh and life-like; and I also kept a body with it and sent it to Fowler, Ind., the fourth day after death, and the friends there said they did not believe her dead, as she looked so life-like and natural. I can recommend it as a Preservative and deodorizer.

Crane & Allen:

We highly appreciate the worth and merit of your Preservative. It has done wonders for us.

And again, Nov. 22, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

As we gain more experience with your Preservative, we find it more and more satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

We have some of your Preservative yet, and also some that we bought of another party, but do not like it as well as yours. When we get out again we will order of you.

Crane & Allen:

Please find check for your bill. The Preservative has proved to be what it was recommended. I have had a number of bad cases, and have treated them successfully with your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given us entire satisfaction, and we are very much pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

Send me a package of the Preservative by express. I have found it all right, and it has never went back on me yet.

Crane & Allen:

I want to write you about our first case of embalming. It was the wife of a prominent citizen, and it was desired to keep the body until the arrival of friends from Virginia. She died of a heart difficulty, and at the time of her death was so black her own relatives would not have known her. We went to work with the Preservative and followed the instructions of your Manual, and the appearance of the body improved every day, and at the end of five days many people said it was the handsomest corpse that they had ever seen. We were a little anxious ourselves about the results, it being our first case, but we are receiving congratulations from everybody. We now see that there should be no difficulty in any person taking your Manual of Instructions and the Preservative and doing a good job of embalming just as well the first time as any.

Crane & Allen:

We are well pleased with your Preservative; in fact, we prefer it to all other embalming preparations.

Crane & Allen:

What will you charge us for a full set of instruments? We could get a set free by buying ten gallons of Fluid, but we don’t think there is anything equal to your Preservative, and the instruments might be too dear even if free, if we had to buy ten gallons of Fluid of some one else to get them.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find check for $102.00, the amount due you for Preservative. We are using it fast now, and like it very much.

Crane & Allen:

Send me one carboy of the Preservative. It has given me good satisfaction and I shall use no other, although have had inducements from various other parties to try some of their Fluids. Yours suits me very well, and I have no desire to change. Ship as soon as you receive this.

Crane & Allen:

I have plenty of the Preservative on hand for the present. Will handle no other, as it does the work O. K. You can look for my order when in need of any Fluid.

Crane & Allen:

I have used several other kinds of Fluids, and I think your Preservative the best in use. It has in all cases given the best satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

When in want of any more “Fluid” you will hear from me, as your Preservative has proven very satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has always given perfect satisfaction, and I want nothing better. When I need another supply will surely order.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find check for last bill, and send another package of the Preservative. I used the last I had last Sunday on a very large body, over 300 lbs. weight—a very bad dropsical case. The body was considerably turned when I was called, as the death occurred the day before, but it kept nicely. The Preservative never went back on me in a single case.

Crane & Allen:

You will please send me another package of the Excelsior Preservative by express, as I want it soon. I believe it is the best that I ever used. I had been using another kind, but I like yours much better and intend to use it as long as I can get it.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative both as a disinfectant and as a deodorizer, and in every instance it has given satisfactory results, while for restoring the faces of bodies to natural color it is not equalled by any Fluid known to me. In short, it is the very best of the many Fluids which I have tried.

Crane & Allen:

I would not be without your Preservative for anything. I have now a body that was drowned on May 15th, and it was in the water for full nine days. I have got it in good shape with the Preservative, and it is keeping good.

Crane & Allen:

Please find draft enclosed, which credit me on account. Your Preservative is as good as I want.

Crane & Allen:

I preserved a body with your Preservative, and kept it from June 22d to July 12th in good condition.

Crane & Allen:

I am pleased with your Preservative, and will agree with you that it will not pay to save a few dollars and get a poor article.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative very well; have had good success with it, and never a single failure. We have been trying several kinds, so that we know for ourselves which is the best. We have a quantity of other kinds on hand now, but shall not use any but yours.

Crane & Allen:

I have had good success with your Preservative. Last September I embalmed a large body and had to wait until relatives came from the west, so I kept the body a week and then received a dispatch that they could not get here as soon as expected, so the body was kept two days more and was in perfect condition at the time of the funeral.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative can turn a black man white.

Crane & Allen:

I have been buying some other kinds and have been using them, but will not buy any more of them, as I have found none as reliable as your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative very well; in fact, it is the best of any that I have used.

Crane & Allen:

You need not be afraid that we shall not buy of you, for we have used your Preservative a great many years and have never had a failure with it yet. We would be glad to recommend it to any Undertaker, if you want to refer anyone to us.

Crane & Allen:

I have given your Excelsior Preservative a good trial and am fully satisfied with it. I would suggest that you correspond with Colman & Morris, of Chippawa Falls, as one of the firm was here and saw me use the Preservative in very warm weather.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with the Preservative, and have built up quite a reputation as an Embalmer with it, as I never have had a failure when using it, and I have been using it now a good many years. I want nothing better.

Crane & Allen:

I must say that I do like your Preservative better than any I ever used before, and as long as I can get an article as good as that is, don’t want any better.

Crane & Allen:

I find the Preservative all right, and it does not go back on me when I use it; it is sure every time.

Crane & Allen:

I am out of the business now, but I will recommend your Preservative above anything I ever used; and I have been the means of having orders sent in to you by others, as I wanted my friends in the business to have something they could rely upon.

Crane & Allen:

The instruments are received, and would say that a set of more neatness and compactness I have not seen, and I consider them a perfect set. The needle and sprayer are needed improvements, and the extra long rubber hose with which to carry off escaping gas from a dead body through a window, so that none can make its escape into the room, is just the thing.

Crane & Allen:

I have had always good results from the use of the Preservative, one particularly, lately, of a lady who died with cancer in the face, but I made it presentable and without any odor by the use of the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We have not found anything we like as well as your Preservative. We have just had a case where the body was just as sweet six days after death as at first, indeed, much sweeter, as froth was issuing from mouth when we took it under our care and commenced using your Preservative on it. The man died almost instantly in full blood and full health, and was a hard case to keep.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has proved very satisfactory. Have used it in over 150 cases, and not a single failure. We are much pleased with it. Several of the other Undertakers of our city are very anxious to find out what we are using.

Crane & Allen:

I only use your Preservative in cases where I need first-class results, for I make a Fluid for common use that costs less money; but your Preservative has done splendid work for me and is perfection.

Crane & Allen:

I send the empties back to-day; please fill and return one of them with the Preservative. I also send a jug that has some of another kind. I have no use for it and don’t wish any more of it if it is cheaper. Therefore you can make use of it if you can. I am satisfied now that yours is the best.

Crane & Allen:

I will say about your Preservative, that it is the best thing I ever used in my life, and I have used almost everything of the kind in the market, but find yours the best of any.

Crane & Allen:

We shall want some more of the Preservative soon. We think that there is nothing equal to it. You may send ten gallons.

Crane & Allen:

We shall order more of your Preservative as soon as we have used up what we have of it, as it gives perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

We shall need some more of the Preservative and will order when out. We have had very good luck with it and it is the best of anything of the kind.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed is money order to balance account. Your Preservative has secured to us great favor with the people.

Crane & Allen:

I have tried a number of kinds and I find your embalming preparation to be the best of all, and as soon as I am in want shall order some from you.

And again, Aug. 25, 1883:

Crane & Allen:

I am highly pleased with your Preservative. A lady died here on Sunday morning, and they were anxious to send her to Providence, R. I., and I embalmed her with the Preservative and kept her here until the next Wednesday, put her into casket and sent her by express. They had the funeral there the next Sunday, seven days after, in those extremely hot days, and they write me she looked just the same as when she left, as natural as in life, and no odor from the body whatever.

Send at once fourteen gallons Preservative.

Also letter, June 20, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

Please find herewith check for $168.75, amount in full to date. Please send another shipment of the Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

Please to send me, as soon as you can, five gallons of the Preservative. I consider it the best Fluid made, as I have used it on some very difficult cases and it proved a success in every particular, when other kinds have failed. Hoping that you may still keep up the reputation for making the best Embalming Fluid in the world, I remain,

Crane & Allen:

Send quick a carboy of the Preservative, same as last. It is the best of all we have experimented with, which has been quite a number of kinds.

Crane & Allen:

We received the Preservative in due time and are happy to say it has given satisfaction so far. The longest we kept a corpse with it was four days, and those who saw the body the day of the funeral said it looked better than while alive. Had no occasion so far to keep any bodies longer than that.

Crane & Allen:

I think more of your Preservative the more I use it. Have not used a bit of ice this season, and have kept bodies for a week in the hot season without the least inconvenience.

Crane & Allen:

It will not be long before I will need some more of the Preservative. I would not use any other preparation as long as I can get yours.

Crane & Allen:

You will please send another carboy of your Preservative at once. I embalmed Gov. McGoffin last Saturday, and he is still in a perfect state. The Preservative is always good.

Crane & Allen:

When you sent me the Preservative I had six gallons of another kind, but when I am out again I shall order more of you, as it is the best I ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I had some other kinds of Fluid when I got your Preservative, and I have waited until I could give it a good trial before writing to you about it. Well, I had some bad cases a short time ago, and after using the Preservative on them I am satisfied it is all right in every respect, and I want some more of it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative acts like a charm, and I am also well pleased with the instruments.

Crane & Allen:

We are using the Preservative you sent last, and you had better send some more at once. We like your Preservative in preference to all others.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given most excellent satisfaction in every case where I have used it, and I will send an order for another supply soon.

Crane & Allen:

We have been using your Preservative with perfect satisfaction. Will call on you for more when we are out.

Crane & Allen:

Please send me another carboy of your Excelsior Preservative, and send as soon as possible. It is a first-class article, and I don’t want to be without it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best we have ever seen, and it has given perfect satisfaction in every case.

Crane & Allen:

I used your Preservative on a subject that had turned black in the face and brought it out as natural as life, to the astonishment of all who saw the case.

Crane & Allen:

We received the package of the Preservative and would say that you need not be afraid of our using any other kind, as we tried some of another kind as we could buy it cheaper, and it did not do its work as well as yours; so have concluded to stick to what we know by experience is all right.

Crane & Allen:

Please send me by first express a package of the Preservative. I am telling people that with your Preservative I can keep their dead until the friends can come from Germany. I don’t want to be without it at any time of the year.

Crane & Allen:

Send us another invoice and it shall receive our prompt attention. Our success with the Preservative has been first-class, and in no instance have we made a failure in its use.

Crane & Allen:

We have been using the Preservative and find it “fills the bill” every time. We like it the best of anything of the kind we have ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I find your Excelsior Preservative to be grand for the purpose and would be glad to recommend it to anyone in the trade as being the best in the world. I have tried other Fluids, but they cannot compete with yours.

Crane & Allen:

We have used none other but your Preservative but once, and we had all we wanted of it. Other parties are sending samples of Fluid, but we set them one side, as yours suits us.

Crane & Allen:

I would have no other Fluid than yours as long as I can get it, for I have had splendid success with it.

Crane & Allen:

Refill and return the carboy immediately, as I unexpectedly found myself out. Your Preservative has given entire satisfaction and I am well pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given grand satisfaction wherever I have used it. I gave it a good test last week, when we had those hottest days, and the results could not have been better.

Crane & Allen:

I did not try your Preservative until last week, when I had a very bad case. The case was death from inflammation of the bowels. Was not called until 28 hours after he died; found the body full of gas, escaping from the mouth and nose. After two hours work with the Preservative I had him in good condition and kept him until the third day afterwards, and he looked as natural as life. I am satisfied that your Preservative will do all you claim for it.

Crane & Allen:

We are never without a package of your Preservative, which we consider really the only reliable Fluid in the market.

Crane & Allen:

We think your Preservative the best of anything of the kind we have ever used, and it gives the best of satisfaction.

And again, on April 15, 1884:

Crane & Allen:

As far as your Preservative is concerned, we have used it six or eight years and have found no equal to it, and shall continue to use it.

Crane & Allen:

I was at the Wisconsin State Convention of Undertakers, and I find that your Preservative is used by a majority of the Undertakers of the State. I find it myself to be the best of all.

Crane & Allen:

I must say that your Preservative has done the work it was represented to do and makes the subjects look as natural as life, and I would vouch for Crane & Allen’s Fluid above any other in market.

Crane & Allen:

I want to tell you what I have done with your Preservative. I kept a body this week four days, extremely hot—100 deg. in the shade most of the time—and when I closed the casket, the body, which was a case of blood poisoning, looked better than when she died. Another case, of a very fleshy man: I was called some time after death and found body bloated and smelling very bad, also turning dark. I treated it with your Preservative, and at the funeral he looked as white as in life—no smell, and bloating all gone down. I am better pleased with the Preservative than I ever expected to be.

Crane & Allen:

We would cheerfully recommend your Preservative to Undertakers. By “we” I mean Mr. Ladd and myself, as he has been the one to use it, and with perfect success.

Crane & Allen:

We will order again soon. We have been testing your Preservative by the side of other Fluids; that is, using yours first on a case, and another Fluid on the next, and so on alternately, and we find that your Preservative is all right. We would rather have it than any Fluid that we know of.

Crane & Allen:

I had a large quantity of Fluid on hand when your Preservative was received, but I have been using yours lately and am very well pleased with it and shall order more when out.

Crane & Allen:

We have been trying some other kinds of Fluids, but do not find any that give as good satisfaction as yours, and we shall confine ourselves to its use after this.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative first-rate and shall use it altogether when we need anything of the kind.

Crane & Allen:

When in need of any Fluid I will gladly send you an order, as I believe that your Preservative is just the thing. I have been using it now for a number of years, and cannot find anything as good.

Crane & Allen:

We bought out Messrs. Schoonover & Sage some time ago, and have been using your Preservative got of them and we are satisfied it is the best we ever saw or used. It works charmingly, and has not failed to give satisfaction in any case. No trouble to keep a body any length of time. Please send us a carboy of it at once.

Crane & Allen:

Please forward to me immediately another carboy of the Preservative just like that you sent me before, as I am very well pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

I have had excellent success with your Preservative, and think it the best there is and am much pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

I have tested four different kinds of Fluids within the last year, and I find upon comparing them all together that your Preservative is the most reliable. You may send me a package of it.

Crane & Allen:

We are perfectly satisfied with your Preservative. We have tried several kinds and find yours is unsurpassed in doing the work complete, and it justifies the merits attributed to it.

Crane & Allen:

In regard to the Preservative, I would say that it is a good Embalming Fluid, and I have had good success with it and can recommend it to be first-class.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is a good one and I will use no other as I have never found anything to equal it.

Crane & Allen:

I received the two set of instruments and like them very much, everything about them being in all respects handy and compact and in every way first-class. I have had very satisfactory and flattering results with your Preservative, and have found it to be all you claim for it.

Crane & Allen:

We have been using the Preservative, and it has proved successful in every case.

And again, Sept. 26, 1886:

Crane & Allen:

We are well pleased with your Preservative, and will continue to use it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative gives us satisfaction and for preparing bodies for long shipment it is the best of any fluid in the market. We commenced using it in 1877, and occasionally since then we have tried a number of other fluids, but our experience is that we can find nothing to equal the Excelsior Preservative for any embalming purposes, and mean to use it exclusively hereafter.

Crane & Allen:

We have used the Preservative with Excellent success and we shall be pleased to give you an order for more as soon as our stock of it runs out, as it is entirely satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using your Preservative for some time and find it gives perfect satisfaction in every respect and shall want more of it soon.

Crane & Allen:

We enclose check for amount to balance. We have been using the Preservative and are very much pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

I will say this, having tried a number of fluids, I find your Preservative the best of any in the market. This is only my opinion, but I believe it all the same.

Crane & Allen:

Please send us a large carboy of your Preservative at once.

Send me a pkge. of the Preservative.

And again, Jan. 10, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

Send at once two pkges. Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

We have had good success with your Preservative as you will see by the enclosed newspaper clipping:

“The bodies of Mrs. Rose Stern and Frank Malloy when brought to the city were given in charge of Mr. Weir, undertaker, and by him prepared for burial. That of Frank Malloy was taken to South Bend, and there kept until Sunday afternoon. Although held so long and moved so many times, so perfect was the preservation and so natural the expression that it was remarked: ‘He is not dead, but sleeping.’ Every one who beheld Mrs. Stern’s countenance will bear testimony to its perfectly life-like appearance, and that she lay as if asleep in her casket on the morning of the funeral. Taking into consideration the extremely hot weather; the manner of death and the length of time before burial, the perfect state of preservation the bodies were in was remarkable and a credit to Mr. Weir, who has both skill and good taste as an undertaker.”

We shall continue to use your Preservative, having had such remarkable success with it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative proved entirely satisfactory, but while using it I was persuaded to try another kind of which I have a large supply on hand. When used I will if I buy any, get yours as I think it far superior to any I have yet used, and I have tried nearly all.

Crane & Allen:

I have just opened a branch undertaking establishment at Milledgeville, Ill., and I shall need another outfit of instruments and a pkge. of the Preservative. Although it costs more than some other Fluids, I consider it as cheap as the cheapest, and I know just what it will do.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is a good one, but I got onto another kind, I think after using both I would prefer yours for several reasons and am not going to use the other any more.

Crane & Allen:

I had a bad case a few days ago in which I used your Preservative to my full satisfaction and hereafter I shall always use it. Send me the price of your Embalming Instruments.

Crane & Allen:

I have found your Preservative to be all you claimed for it as it has given perfect satisfaction wherever I have used it. Send another supply, same as I got before.

Crane & Allen:

Ship another carboy of the Preservative. I would have given the order before, but had some other fluid I wanted to dispose of first. I like the preservative best of any I have yet used.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find money order, which please credit me on account, I have used your Preservative as long ago as in 1878 and it gives the best satisfaction of anything I ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using some other fluid lately, but it does not restore the color as nice as your Preservative and I shall hereafter use yours.

Crane & Allen:

I expect to use your Preservative right along as it gives the best satisfaction. I never had it fail me yet.

Crane & Allen:

Please send us by express a carboy of the Preservative, same as last. It gave us very good satisfaction, and we do not want to change for anything else if we can help it.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed is draft for last bill, and we will send to you for more of the Preservative before we are out, as we consider it the best.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given me perfect satisfaction in every instance, and I consider it to be No. 1.

Crane & Allen:

Insomuch as your Preservative has always filled the bill, we shall continue using it in preference to any other.

Crane & Allen:

I can say that your Preservative is the best Embalming Fluid I have ever tried and will do all that you claim for it, and I will order some more soon.

Crane & Allen:

We have used your Preservative with very satisfactory results. It does all you claim for it, and we would take pleasure in recommending it to any Undertaker.

Crane & Allen:

We are in receipt of the Preservative, and I will say as the Undertaker of Michigan City that there is no use for any other Fluid for me. I have one case that I have kept several days now, through this hot, rainy weather, full of thunder showers, that is just like wax. Although a comparatively young man—of only 43 summers—I have been an Undertaker for 20 years, and say without fear or favor to any one that the Excelsior Preservative is the “stuff that knocks.”

Crane & Allen:

When in want of any more Fluid you will surely hear from me. I have not used any except your Preservative for the last five years, and as long as it proves as good as it has in the past, I will not chance any other kind. I have tried it in all kinds of cases and find it all O. K.

Crane & Allen:

We are well pleased with your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has given good satisfaction, and when I am in need of more will order of you.

Crane & Allen:

Please find enclosed draft to cancel bill of instruments. The outfit is far superior to what I expected, and I am well pleased with it.

Crane & Allen:

When we get out of the Preservative we certainly will order, as it has given us perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative very well, and will order more when what we have of it is used.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best article for embalming purposes that I have ever seen or heard of, and you may rest assured that when I get out of it will send you an order for more, as I don’t want to be without it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Excelsior Preservative is all that can be desired, and works A No. 1 in every case. I never had a failure or anything like poor success with it in all the years I have used it. It is the boss.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative works very well indeed, so that when we are out we shall want more of you.

Crane & Allen:

Find enclosed draft for $60.00, invoice of April 16th. We appreciate the good qualities of your Preservative, and it has in every instance given us entire satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has always given the best of satisfaction, and I would use no other.

Crane & Allen:

We have given your Preservative a thorough trial, and find it all that you claim it to be.

Crane & Allen:

I have used the Preservative with entire satisfaction, and I consider that it has been of great value to me.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative with the very best of success in every case and with the best of satisfaction to my customers, and I would recommend it to anyone in the profession if they want something they can rely upon.

Crane & Allen:

I will say that in our opinion there is no better Embalming Fluid in the market than the Excelsior Preservative. Were it not for the fact that we manufacture and sell our own Fluid, we should most assuredly place our order with you.

Crane & Allen:

As soon as I use up all of the Preservative I have now, I shall certainly order more, because I cannot get along without it; I must have it.

Crane & Allen:

I like the Preservative very much, and have recommended it to other parties. I think Currey & Dabney, of Dyersburg, Tenn., sent for some by my recommendation.

Crane & Allen:

Please send another package of the Preservative at once. I kept the body of a man who was killed while in perfect health, while the weather was very warm and foggy. I consider your Preservative an A No. 1 article.

Crane & Allen:

We have been using your Preservative and are pleased with it, and shall place another order with you.

Crane & Allen:

Will return carboy to have it refilled with the Preservative, as it is all that is desired and gives perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

I have given your Preservative a good trial lately. I had a case of a man who died in good health, and I kept the body four days and four nights, while the weather was very warm and soft, and the body was kept in good condition by bathing with your Preservative and using saturated cloths, without injecting the cavities. It was certainly a surprise to me, and I am satisfied I could keep a body with the Preservative any length of time by full embalming with it.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with the results from using your Preservative, and I have found nothing that answers the purpose as well.

Crane & Allen:

We are very well satisfied with your Preservative, and know of no reason why we should try any other Fluid, as there could not be anything better.

Crane & Allen:

I am very well satisfied with the Preservative, and shall continue to use it.

Crane & Allen:

Send me a carboy of your Preservative. I have a number of gallons of other Fluid, but I prefer yours.

Crane & Allen:

I am acquainted with D. C. Whitten & Co., of Utica, N. Y., and they recommend your Excelsior Preservative for preserving bodies, very highly. I have used a number of kinds, and of course I want the best.

Crane & Allen:

I have met with complete success by using your Preservative the past season, and I like it very much; it proved a success in every case.

Crane & Allen:

We have used your Preservative for seven years now, and have had good success. It is the best that we ever tried.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative for years, and always with the very best results; and I have recommended my friend, Wm. Peacock, of Gowanda, N. Y., to use it, and he will send you an order.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given us good satisfaction, and we think it splendid.

And again, from Summitville, Ind., Jan., 1888:

Crane & Allen:

Have removed here from Red Key and are in the Undertaking business. We used your Preservative formerly and liked it very much. What are your terms now? We want some of it.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed check for amount of bill. We find the Preservative to be very good indeed.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative still gives the best of satisfaction. We have used it constantly a number of years—our first purchase of it from you was in July, 1877—and we never had a failure with it yet.

Crane & Allen:

I have use your Preservative a long time, and always found it to give perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given good satisfaction, and I shall want more of it in the near future.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative very much, and must have some more of it soon.

Crane & Allen:

Allow me to say that the Excelsior Preservative is the best Embalming Fluid I ever used. I have got a corpse on hand now, and have had it since the 20th, and it is keeping splendidly with your Preservative.

And again, from Los Angeles, Cal., Sept. 28, 1885:

Crane & Allen:

I have sold out to E. Mendenhall, and there was in stock a package of the old elegant juice (the Preservative), which I recommended to Mr. M. as being the best thing he could use, and I have no doubt you will have his order for more of it.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using the Preservative for some time, and am very well pleased with it. I shall send for another supply soon.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed is draft for last bill. We are offered “Fluids” for a song in comparison to price of yours, but yours has not left us disappointed when relied on for embalming, and we have had a number of bad cases which it has kept all right, and longer if it had been necessary. We shall continue with your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is all right, and I saved some hard cases with it last summer. I like it and will use no other as long as I can get it of you. It does away with the ice-box entirely.

Crane & Allen:

Please ship ten gallons of your Preservative by express at once. I go out a considerable to embalm for other Undertakers, but use a preparation for some of the work that I make myself, on account of the cost, but must have your Preservative for certain purposes.

Crane & Allen:

We have had splendid success with your Preservative, and it is the thing to be depended upon.

Crane & Allen:

We have been using your Preservative, and so far we are fully satisfied and will send another order in due time.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is very good, and I have had good results from its use, and I can recommend it to anyone as first-class and always reliable.

Crane & Allen:

I have used about all of the different kinds of Fluid there is made, and I give the preference to your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I shall use none but your Preservative, as it has never failed me yet, and I have used it a good many years, the first I got of you being in 1877.

Crane & Allen:

I have some of the Preservative yet, but when I get out of it I will surely order more, for I would not know how to get along without it.

Crane & Allen:

Send us some more of your Preservative, and oblige. We think it the best there is. Have been trying another kind but do not like it as well, and we will stick to yours hereafter, as we are satisfied now that it is the best of any.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed you will find check for amount of bill of Jan. 14th. I like the Preservative very much.

Crane & Allen:

We consider your Preservative to have no superior in market, at least any that we have seen. We have some poor stuff to get rid of and will then order.

Crane & Allen:

I had some of another kind when your Preservative came, but yours is the one I will use hereafter, as I consider it the best.

Crane & Allen:

I had a good job of embalming to do May 1st, and kept the body until to-day by using your Preservative, and with first-rate success (16 days).

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is first-rate, and does its work well.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has always given me good satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

I am still using your Preservative with success, and I expect to continue as long as it does the business as well as it has in the past.

Crane & Allen:

I sold out my business in Brockport, N. Y., to A. D. Dailey and recommended him to use your Preservative as being the best, and he was to send you an order. I am in the same business here and using some Fluid that was here when I bought the business, but not as good. Your Preservative gave me very good satisfaction in York State, and I will order some of you soon.

Crane & Allen:

I cannot be without your Preservative, for it is reliable every time; and I just sent some off to-day 30 miles away to use as a face application, the parties having heard of my having a wonderful article for that purpose. I have kept bodies with the Preservative a long time in the hottest weather, and they would be in just as perfect state as could be.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative came to hand all right, and we have been using it, and like it very much indeed.

Crane & Allen:

I have had splendid success with your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I am very much pleased with the Preservative, and believe it to be the best thing of the kind in the market.

Crane & Allen:

We are nearly out of Preservative, and while many are pressing their claim to superiority of other Fluids we shall still give yours the preference, and you may send us a package of it, as we like it the best of all we have tried; especially for cleansing a tainted and offensive room we have never found anything to equal your Preservative. A lady remarked after using it about the house for a few minutes, “It has done wonders.”

Crane & Allen:

I have been using the Preservative, and in all cases I have been well satisfied with the result.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative very much, and am satisfied with it.

Crane & Allen:

We have been very successful in using your Preservative, and think it most excellent.

Crane & Allen:

We are well satisfied with the results in using your Preservative. Have used our ice boxes but very little since using the Preservative, and only in cases when insisted upon. Had a body which was embalmed with the Preservative, disinterred after being buried eight months, and found it in excellent condition and very satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

I have been offered “Fluid” for less than you charge me for the Preservative, but I have not bought any, as I know your Preservative is reliable and I don’t want to change.

Crane & Allen:

Of all the different embalming preparations we have used, we like your Preservative the best.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative, and expect to always continue to use it, as we believe there is no preparation as good as it is.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using the Preservative for years constantly, with the best possible results.

Crane & Allen:

I am perfectly satisfied with your Preservative and would have no other Fluid, and you will hear from me with an order in due time.

Crane & Allen:

We like the Preservative very much, and use it wherever we can and when the prejudices of the people in regard to embalming will admit.

Crane & Allen:

Send me another carboy of the Preservative. It is first-class in every respect.

Crane & Allen:

I embalmed a body with your Preservative by filling the cavities and not the arteries, and kept it nine days in perfect condition, and that case has brought me a good deal of business.

Crane & Allen:

We are very well pleased with the qualities of your Preservative, and shall use no other.

Crane & Allen:

I think that your Preservative is the best of anything of the kind in market. I have tried them all, nearly, and yours is the best, not only for preserving the body but for restoring and retaining the color also.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is a good article, and gives good satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

We have always found your Preservative to do good work and do it well.

Crane & Allen:

I have used your Preservative in a great many cases and find it to do good work and give good satisfaction.

And again, Ashland, Aug. 30, 1887:

Crane & Allen:

I have removed, as you see, to this town, and with my son, W. H. Young. I have had the “—— Fluid” to use here and find I cannot do the work and have the desired effect with it that I could with your Preservative, and have concluded to advise my son to use the Preservative, as I have more confidence in it than any other Fluid, as I know its virtues.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is all right as to its qualities for keeping the dead, and after having prepared a body with it we never feel at all uneasy as to the probabilities of its keeping nicely.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative better than anything I have ever used, because of its good qualities and its deodorizing properties.

Crane & Allen:

The cabinet of instruments is received, and we would say that it is the most complete and elegant outfit for Embalmers’ use that we have yet seen.

Crane & Allen:

I am a great deal better satisfied when using your Preservative than formerly, when having to depend upon ice; and I have preserved and buried about 200 bodies since I received the first quantity of your Preservative. About the 1st of last February I embalmed with it one of our prominent men and the remains laid in the receiving tomb at Woodlawn Cemetery until last Saturday afternoon, when I opened the casket and found him in as good condition as when first put in, and he was seen by about 20 persons, including some of the cemetery officials, who can vouch for the facts as I have stated them. I also embalmed a body with the Preservative and shipped it to Troy, N. Y., which was buried three weeks after, in a perfect state of preservation. The casket was opened then by the Undertaker, and the remains were kissed by the widow. This I have from her own statement.

Crane & Allen:

I have had splendid success with your Preservative and as soon as I can use any more will order.

Crane & Allen:

I use your Excelsior Preservative in preference to anything else of the kind, and believe it to be first-class.

Crane & Allen:

Enclosed find draft in full of account. Your Preservative has given us good satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative gives good satisfaction in the most difficult cases.

And again, Aug. 7, 1886:

Crane & Allen:

We are using the Preservative quite freely and with great success, as we have had some bad cases of late, from deaths by dropsy, heart disease, and cancer of the bowels, in all of which we have been complimented for the manner we have handled the cases, and Crane & Allen’s Preservative was our reliance in all.

Crane & Allen:

I have this much to say in regard to your Preservative, that I do not expect to use any other, as I have been successful in the use of it.

Crane & Allen:

We have used your Preservative altogether the past year (except a short time when we got out of it and that shipment of it was delayed on the way), and we are much pleased with it. We have kept bodies with it for 10 or 12 days and sent them to distant places for interment, and in the most perfect condition.

Crane & Allen:

Part of the Preservative was burned up at the time my store was burned, so I shall have to have some more, and yours suits me so well you can send me another supply, as I am satisfied I cannot do better.

Crane & Allen:

I am having the very best success with your Preservative, and do not have to take out my ice box any more.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative does all you claim for it, and we are perfectly satisfied with it.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with the Preservative, and will order soon.

Crane & Allen:

As soon as we are out of the Preservative, we shall want some more, as we consider it the best there is.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is perfect, and I have been very successful with it. I have kept bodies ten days with it, with only partial embalming.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with your Preservative, and shall order more in due time.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with the results in using your Preservative, which I have been using since 1882. Have just given it a good test in shipping a body embalmed with it to California, which reached there in a perfect state of preservation, after being on the railroad one week.

Crane & Allen:

I take pleasure in saying in regard to your Excelsior Preservative that it will do all you say it will. The longer I keep a corpse with it, the more life-like it looks.

Crane & Allen:

We have sold our business, which accounts for our not ordering your Preservative. We regard your preparation as perfectly reliable, and we have recommended it to our successor, J. W. Kelly, and believe he has already ordered from you.

Crane & Allen:

I have some of the Preservative yet, but I will not let it run too low before ordering more, as I would not be without it.

Crane & Allen:

I am using the Excelsior Preservative, and find it excellent for embalming and for removing discoloration.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given perfect satisfaction. One case of a very corpulent man in the very warmest weather, and the physicians present at the time of death said it would be impossible to keep the body 24 hours, but with the Preservative it was kept in first-rate condition and from all appearances it would have kept for weeks longer.

Crane & Allen:

We have gained a good reputation in caring for the dead by using your Preservative, and have had the very best success with it. One lady told us that by our preparing the dead for burial we had taken all the fear and horror from her mind, as they lay as though they were in sleep and at rest, looking really pleasant and lovely even in death.

And again, June 6, 1887:

Crane & Allen:

Your Excelsior Preservative is the best of any we have yet tried.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative gives perfect satisfaction. We have given it some severe tests and find it does its work splendid, and therefore we cannot dispense with its use.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has given very good satisfaction and has never failed yet, and I have used it in a great many cases.

Crane & Allen:

I consider that I have had a good test of the merits of your Preservative. I embalmed a body with it and kept it here four days, and then the friends started with it to Massachusetts, and it arrived at its destination in perfect condition. I only filled the cavities and did not inject the arteries, and of course with full embalming it could have been carried anywhere and kept as long as wanted, at least that is my experience of your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with your Preservative, and you may send me another package by express right away.

Crane & Allen:

I have been very successful with the Preservative, and consider it is all you claim it to be.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has worked like a charm, and when what we have is used will order more.

Crane & Allen:

I have had good success with the Preservative, and shall order more before I am quite out. In every case it has worked satisfactory.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is received in good order. I would say that I have used it for the last four or five years with perfect satisfaction in every case. I can take a corpse that is badly discolored and with the Preservative can make it as white as marble in a few hours and remove all the bad smell.

Crane & Allen:

I am well satisfied of the merits of your Preservative and will use none other. Will want more of it soon.

Crane & Allen:

I now return carboy to have it refilled with the Preservative and shipped back to me. Have had very good success with it. One case I had last June, for which I was called on the 20th, and kept the body until the 28th with the Preservative, and it looked more natural and better then than at the time of death. The friends of the deceased were all very well satisfied.

Crane & Allen:

I have no use for any other Fluid than yours, as it is not cheap Fluid that I want. The best is the cheapest, and I have always found your Preservative to be the best.

Crane & Allen:

We have given your Preservative some very severe tests, and have found it to work splendidly.

We use your Preservative in preference to anything else of the kind, as we have had splendid results with it and it works like a charm in every instance. In one case a body was taken to Lima, Ohio, in charge of other parties, who undertook to keep it by the use of another preparation, and were finally obliged to come to us and get some of the Preservative to keep it in good condition.

Crane & Allen:

I will say this about your Preservative, that I prefer it to any other Fluid I ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I have sold out my Undertaking here to H. K. Burket and turned over to him the stock I had of your Preservative, and have urged him to use none but the best, and yours I know is the best there is.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is all that could be desired, and wherever I have used it it has given perfect satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

Ship me two carboys of Excelsior Preservative. We have used nearly all of the last and it is giving good satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

I congratulate you upon having such an excellent embalming preparation as your Preservative proves to be.

Crane & Allen:

I like your Preservative very well, and when I want any intend to order of you.

Crane & Allen:

We are well suited with your Preservative, and would have no other.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the boss, and I will want some more of it when out.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative better than any Fluid that we know of.

Crane & Allen:

We have tried the Preservative and find it all right and to do good work. We just used it on a very difficult case, and we feel entirely satisfied with it.

Crane & Allen:

While I was in partnership with C. M. Richards at Wellston, O., we used your Preservative and liked it very much, and you may send me a carboy of it here, as I have located at this place in the Undertaking business. I can buy Fluids for less than yours, but I prefer yours because I can always rely upon it.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative is all right and is the best thing of the kind I have ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I have been using the Preservative this summer, and found it to be an excellent article. Send me another carboy about Oct. 1st.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has given me the best of satisfaction, and I would not be without it.

Crane & Allen:

I am very well satisfied with your Preservative.

Crane & Allen:

As soon as we are out we will give you an order for some more of your Preservative, because we think you have the best thing out.

Crane & Allen:

We are well pleased with your Preservative and shall continue to use it exclusively hereafter, as we have seen enough of the results from using it to convince us that it is the best we have ever used.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best I ever saw, and I shall send in an order for some more before long.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is giving good satisfaction, and I expect to keep it on hand hereafter.

Crane & Allen:

I enclose draft for last bill. The Preservative is the best thing of the kind I have ever used.

Crane & Allen:

I will send in for some more of the Preservative soon, as I like it tip-top.

Crane & Allen:

We like your Preservative, from its having been recommended to us and spoken of very highly, and we will use it.

Crane & Allen:

I have started in business here, having been formerly in Jordan, N. Y., of Stewart & Laird. Send me a package of the Preservative, and also the price of your instruments. The Preservative I had always found to be the best.

Crane & Allen:

I sold out in Michigan City to A. F. Earl, and recommended the Preservative to him as being the best there is, and you can count on one more customer. We shall use it here also.

Crane & Allen:

I bought out S. A. Argabrite and am doing the Undertaking business here. Mr. A. says that I can rely upon the Preservative as being the best, and what I have used of it so far has proved it.

Crane & Allen:

The Preservative has given such good satisfaction that you may expect an order from us for more, as soon as we use up the last.

Crane & Allen:

In regard to your Preservative, I would say that it is giving entire satisfaction.

Crane & Allen:

I am well pleased with your Preservative, and will send for more before I am entirely out.

Crane & Allen:

I have removed to this city and opened up in the Undertaking business again, and as I have formerly used your Preservative and found it to prove satisfactory in every case I want it again, and you may ship me a carboy of it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative is the best I ever used. It does its work perfect in every way.

Crane & Allen:

Send me another carboy of the Preservative March 1st; have enough until then. I used some other kinds last summer, but shall use more of yours hereafter, as I like it better.

Crane & Allen:

I just emptied the last carboy and returned to you by freight four empty ones, and brought down from the freight house the four full ones of last shipment. I find that the Preservative stood the test of the last cold weather all right, and think that it will stand the severest test of cold.

Crane & Allen:

We have had good success with the Preservative, and shall use nothing else, as we like it the best.

Crane & Allen:

Send me a set of your instruments. Your Preservative is the best I ever used, and I will give you a call for more as soon as I am out of it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative still gives good satisfaction, and I am using no other.

Crane & Allen:

I shall send you an order for some more of the Preservative in the near future. Am having grand success with it.

Crane & Allen:

Please fill and return to me the carboy I send. The Preservative does its work nicely.

Crane & Allen:

I have never had a failure with your Preservative. I embalmed two bodies with it, and only gave them cavity embalming, and sent them to New York and they kept seven days very fine.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative has always proven entirely satisfactory, and I have had excellent success with it.

Crane & Allen:

Your Preservative gives good satisfaction. Last winter I had some of it in bottles, setting by the side of another kind, and that froze and bursted the bottles, but yours did not.

Crane & Allen:

I find your Preservative is just the thing I want, and it bears out the reports of others, who told me they have used it with good success.

NOTE.

We would more particularly urge upon your attention the care that should be taken in keeping this Manual of Instruction from the observation of any person other than yourself, for reasons which we trust will appear plain to you; that, as it contains all of the practical knowledge of the present day on the subject of Embalming, so plainly demonstrated in the Manual as to be easily acquired by any person who might have the opportunity of studying the book; therefore it is clearly in your interest to keep it in such a safe place that no one but yourself can have access to it, otherwise it might be the very means of educating and qualifying some person who might sooner or later come into competition with you, to the great injury of your business.

We endeavor to protect our customers by refusing to fill all orders for the Preservative from any persons who are not regularly engaged in the Undertaking business, and we would not furnish the Manual to any other than our customers under any circumstances. See card pasted on inside of the front cover.

TO OUR CUSTOMERS.

A few of our customers have, from time to time, called us to order (as it were) by reason of the cost of the Excelsior Preservative, and to such we would say that the first cost to manufacture the Preservative is from five to eight times more than any of the poison water “Fluids” that have ever come under our observation, and among all classes of merchandise, we know of nothing that is put on the market at so small a margin of profit as the Excelsior Preservative. We are now down to bed rock, with only a very small margin above actual cost. Nevertheless, we are sticking to it by reason of the continued increase of trade, which we trust in time will enable us to say that large sales and small profits are sure to win in the long run.

We trust that this explanation will be satisfactory to those of our customers who have written us, and will only say in conclusion that a small reduction in price would now drive us out of the market, which we feel sure you would regret.

We ask your patronage and support in order that we can continue to float the only honest and reliable article of its kind that has ever been put on the market, at the smallest possible margin of profits.

Index to Letters.