New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-12-27
THr i:aArEs OF TIE ELpEIDeE-ST. PRIso
-h-s,r lori, 18th December. ISL,
Tru,i, More Terrible than Fiction.

involved II them Dut ptpIcty y, oSCui iSu iiot
DAYS since in hfayylebono Il was an inveshga-
non ieoIe Coroaer,s Jary, concerning the dsath
of poor neeGlewosnan named Mary AlloHays,
gho DESTROYED hersslf under the circumstances
here detailed:
Ann Jones said SIZE lived in the house tAsrket
row, O-firl street, in which deceased lodged She
last saw her alive OF Tuesday evening, about ten
o clock Ga Wednesday morning witness iound
her lying OF the bed quite dead. There was cup
which had Confined some liquid, by tiie ~lodoH.-
Or the table was elter which had been written 10y
the wrelched WOMEN just before her death. Ii pro-
duced many tears amongst he jJ.ymcn and specta-
| tors. Tire following is copy Ut the Letter
Der Fead have spent mag nSos days and i
and have preserved M watch a, me o CITY
means BE- qys b p M nd Tue cost more than s to lay
me N the grave IN \ humble way The life now live IS
tn ca:e fr me- me- Heaven IS mercn Yet ire while and
this leycri,h and unquet spirit most sincerely hope WI, De
sure init should leave the world without The easi regret
must chance what many great people hqve eI an KIND
to me. Aly nend hope will let some one follow
me to hs F.ae p S% 9 o leave You will a.
with my clothes am sorry say that owe Mrs White
the world IN Debt If my clothes and cntch will not pay the
ny funeral ard es a1 T u tho he s a ;s'
Alden God bless you ell Ny pen : 50 bad iea[ you i
make out what have written. md my ninu Is ugaleu
Mrs. WHITE, IL tle.s!reet, Uxiord-stest.
"The poor creature lodged in the back attic oil
the house. Size rad made no complaint OF illness
on the day THAI she was last seen alive, ana ae e1
tent of her distress moi known IN the mousse
Mr. JONES' the witness. said deceased was an e1-
tr.meIy wel-beiayed somNu, aud had been highly
educated. They always imagined she had some
lrlng income that helped 10 support her, but since
her -ah hey had found such was not the case, but
that she supported herself by the needle oiie mac
lately appeared very despondng, which she stated
arose from her inability 10 procure work, and The
cb.av ttai - bp
advcrted lately The double suicide at kilmarnock,
and said she would rather follow that example IMAM
apply Ter relief. She had come ifiends who occa
sionay gave her food, but she seldom nad any
other meals but her breakfast ard tea. MI. Fox
staff, OH examining The stomach, and the dregs OF
The cup alluded TO- found that both contaiord oxaiic
acid, of which posoDs she had Jiud. The decoased
had all The appearance oi having been completely
starved The jury returned verdict, nat The
deceased desto! ed herself by taking o1alic acid,
5at that thrfo evidence ui ttio slate OF hef
mind"
The letter when perusei produced many tears
but it is impossible TO read this poor creatures
siory without admiration as well as pity. In the
character of the victim, it mas a far deeper lnto
rest than is commonly 10 be found in these dis
l,cssing narratives; though in the occurrence
itself there Is, unhapGily, nothing nsw. The
Cofoaer, Mr Wakey, SAID at the time that he
had within few days investigated seven cases OF
deploratlc dssttution, two o. them IN the parish
where tbs occurred.
What there Is most remarkable in the present
example relates to The conduct and sentiments OF
The unhappy suicide. Human nature, pethlps
seldom exhlpis greater beauty and dignity of
'eelng tnan IS seen III tbs prutrected, hopeless
struggle with degradation and famine. The
scaniy work, wreehedly paid for, failed at length
10 supply tnc bare necessarios Of existence, not
10 speak Of those little sacred deconeies OF ap-
pearancc which 10 such natgre as this poor
high.in.nded woman's, were as essential as the
bodily ament, the bread and the tea. She was
Therefore dying CT famine, and Inc Coroner STA
led tnat the Dcdy was almost skeleton Sire
anticipated, perhaps, Dat by few days or weebsa
certain death by starvation, self destruction has
tening TO accomplish the sentence OF society,
which had no food or shelter for her.
1t is to be noted that but Tor this remarkable
letter, written Jew hours before her death, The
distress that had been borne would never have
been known, Her neighbors thought she had
little income; they would have found the treas.
ured watch after death, and wondered why one
who had nothing 10 suffer should have DESTROYED
herself. Her confession in the presence of death
tells sad secret; and makes it fearful to think,
while the system that crushed her is still in full
work, how many thousands may be silently sui
fsring underit. The police officersand tho poor
houses show comparatively but little of its hor-
rors. Che saddest and most pitiabls victims are
these perhaps of whom we are less likely to hear,
and whose condition is figured in the lot of the
unhappy Mary AlIoways
That cases OF extreme physical debility, and
deaths from destitutlon preceded by the most
dreadful mental fortunes, are rapidly increasing,
IS distinctly as .erted: and what greatly aug.
ments The horror of this reflection is the fact that
so much of the evil gees surely on to It's last aw-
lul accomplishment, the death by famine, the
death by poison, in perfect secresy. 1t goes on
for months under the eyes of employers, neigh. |
bors, ellow-lodgers; and nobody is the wiser IN
til the coroner is summoned. A starved creature
is seen walking into the grave as Enthusiastically
as though The grave was dug in The pathway she
walks IN, and size is looked upon only as doing
that which is done daily, and which NOBODY can
prevent.
TO what a mockcry do such examples Of the
condition Of society turn the sll-applauded, rot
the all adopted maxim OF Live and let 1--we"
The practice seems 10 be, Live and let die'
The contributors to the wealth of trade are ii
lowed to perish al their task at their EMPLOYERS
doors. The hands that create it are powerless
With want, or tuned into Instruments Of self.
destruction.
Employers who pay Tor work at the famine
priee may quiet their consciences individually |
when death takes place, by saying that theirs
is the price paid b. all the trgd.. This Only
proves how Tar the evil spreads. Nobody con-
tends that il is the fault OF one, but Of all-oi
pernicous system. But each employer for him.
self knows that when ne has given as much for
the work dooe as others give, he has still paid |
cniy starving wages. lie knows how many
hours the necdlewoman has worked upon the cr
ticles for which he pays in pence; he knows, ss
we'll as i! he stsod over her, how long the task |
she takes home to execute wilt occupy her; he |
knows, therefore, the utmost limit OF her cam
lnss: and even if they were regular, instead of
pfecanous, he IS aware Of their inadequacy. Can
ne pretend 10 he ignorant that exhaustion must |
succeed TO debility, and that despair must follow
dsstiiution
The heroism and delicacy of such victim as
the one under notice, when thus seen, show the