The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-17
THE DBAD-HO7sE OF PARIS.

a correspondent Of the London Athenr,1l
gives these particulars about the famous Morgue
az Paris Zone OF the institutions of Paris has
been disturbed, demolished ia fact, and recon
stIuctCd on a scale worthy Of the new theatres
and other places Of amusement. Ire Old Morgue
was certainly one Of the lions of Paris; it was
not an agreeable or even an attractive place OF
exhibition to man of delicate sensibility, but it
had much OF the charm Of melo. drama for one
cIuss of men, and of women, too; and the sciCn-
tfc, The curious, and the Idle made up 4 long and
very mixed list of H,itOrs, The little low build
ing is gone from its old site on the bank OF the
fatal river which supplied il with tull tour-ilths
of ils gbasty tenants, and new aud much
Rrandcr one has risen up in the rear of the
Church Of Notre Dame, ut the eastern point Of
the lie de iq Citc. 10 is not, however, with the
new monument, but with the old chlrnel-h house
that we have to do at this moment.
SUICIDES.
"Paris, of course, is the capital of the civilized
wOrld-French writer tells us So once or twice u
week, and therefore we are bound 10 take nOta of
the fact-aud in some matters, such ms suicide for
instance, her pre-eminenCe is uuquestOned and
unquestionable. IL is curious fact that the
'gayesT and most Intellectual people on the face
Of the Garth should exhibit the greatest eagerness
20 cscapC-'Anywhere anywhere out of the
world : but such is The fact rs regards Paris, the
continental salon, even during the prosperous aud
leave the question OF suicide for a moment, and
look at the general statistics of the Old MOrgue,
which arc now made public. lt appears that
during the last ten years there were received
within those walls no less than 33A bodies, or
nearly one for each day in the year; of these i93
were those of children, a fact which gives rise,
especially in the minds Of those who have stud ed
the criminal statistics of France and plrticuiarlv
Of Paris, during the last few years, TO O train OF
thoughts Of the most terrible description. The
rest consisted Of 1881 bodies Of the male sex, and
j2O females.
lpENnFGCAT1oN.
at appears that about seven ont of eight
bodies are recognized by relatives and friends,
ard that, on the average, these are identified
within one day and fifty -four minutes, so eNSc5
are the records of this dead. house. This latter
fact is not in accordance with the mott )ns preva-
lent I'm the public mind on the subject, which
perhaps is Of little consequence; but when we
lind that the friends of the deceased persons are
naturally so anxious to claim, or, at least, to
recognize the bodies, that scarcely two days are
allowed TO elapse without this being done, and
that this average must certainly he immensely
increased by the fact Of some few COrps9s remain
ing without Identification for several days, We
may well ask, what is the object of bringing all
these bodice together TO make disgusting eXhi-
bitiOu IN the heart OF great city, to accustom
the yOung, the vicious, aud the ignorant to the
sight OF horrors, while the act of idcntif tatiOn
must often be delayed from the fact Of the re-
mains being in many cases, exhibited miles dis
taut from the spot where death occurred, or
from that Of the former home OF the deceased aud
his family or connections
THE DEAD.
"Ofthc 2S5l bodies of men and women received
at the old MUrgue during the past ten years, l76U
are set down as the result Of suicide; and con
celnug theSe some curious information is given
IL appears that self fdtstTuctOn is nt its maximum
| between the ages OF 30 and 40, that it commence
between 10 and 10, and dwindCs to almost nothing
after 20, which is not surprising, the suicides be
| tween 10 AID 20 being three times more numerous
| than those committed after the age OF 70 years
As regards the supposed CaIscs-iOr, in this case
| there must be u margin left for imperiecuOn O
! iudgmeDt-it appears that insanity and suicidI
| mOnOmania account fOrmOrthau one quarter of tn,
| whole; drunkenness and disgust of life, each
for about one tenth absolute poverty for nearly
the same proportion; misfortune and incurabI
| diseases, Cach for nearly as many next, anC
| close upon these come disappointed love, domestic
| misery and misconduct of the suicide himself
accusation ut theft stands tor about in 2i; tcye
| and derium tor | in 80; and ycNatiOn caused
! by the TemuusuanCes of Others about l ia o.
| This, however, applies only u the male sex; il
the case Of women insanity stands r't diSap
| pointed affection second, disgust of life third
drunkenness fourth, starvation fifth, domeJti
misery sixth, aud incur BILE disease seventh.
"As regards the mode adopted, out of the l76t
cases recorded az the MOrguc, lili had recourse
TO drowning, III to hanging, 9S u firearms, So Z
tie fumes nf charcoal 4 prec'pila.cd thcmselve
from buildings or other elevated places, l6 mad
use Of cutipg weap.ns or Instruments, II Onl,
had recourse 10 poison, threw themselves be
meath railway or other carriages, aud 4 killet
themselves hy swallowing alcohol. Anpthe
table informs us that more than one, third of IN
whole Of these suicides were committed betwee
the hours of siX IN the morning ald midday
while the inst two hours ia the at erlDOu cXhiD
| by lar tic smallest uumpcr, NOT one-tenth a
compared with the six preceding hours Of IN
! day
"Thcnumb r OF females who committed suicid
Is scarcely more than nth of ina Ot the NAL
sex. L. is as r king prof OF the influence q
misery on suic.dC-u4lc,s, indeed, IL be aa cy
dCnCc of q supcrsl ilus drr4G-lhlt Only abpu
one in six Of the suicides was uurild at the eX
pensc Of his family or friends"