The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-06
NEW YORKISMS.
From our o,On Correspondent.
=,
NEW YORK, July 4, 1868.
The MoFRuo.

uthsastern quarter OF that large three-walled
enclosure in which Bellevue Hospital is located.
stands that public temporary resting place for
the dead, known in New York as the Norgue.
IL consists of three departments, the Exhibi.
tion Hall, the Coroner's Post Mortem Exami'
EIae.on Room, and the Coroner's Inquest Room.
sn the first Of these let us enter and stand Tor
few minutes
II is certainly not q spot to make one feel in
love with death. Half the space Is taken up
with glass compartment, terminating on the
one hand with the wall, and on the other with
q large glass window, whose breadth Is just
equal to the compartments width, and which
allows those standing outside full view OF the
line OF oorpses stretched within. This line never
COL sists of more than four corpses at once, for
as yet only four marble slabs have been erected.
Upon the average four slabs have been suffi-
Client, aud the evils OF over crowding have not
been felt thus far this summer. Last summer,
however, the number Of drowned" and sun
strokes" was SO great that q nth, or even
sixth slab was felt to be necessary. On your
visit OF inspection or curiosity you can scarcely
ever feel sure Of being alone. The observers at
the broad window never swell into crowd, bat
three or four, or half a-dozen are pretty sure to
be there, either crtticiZing with the noncha-
lance OF amateurs, or silently telegraphiug to
one another their Impressions. by the dumb
picturesque horror expressed in eye and mouth
and clenohed uplifted hands
Ifyou had entered with your back toward the
appalling contents OF that glass compartment,
and oecupiers of those marble beds, you might
have thought this exhibition hall one OF the
ante-ohambers OF some Eastern palace, the red
Rnd-white tesselated floor and the constant
sound OF running water and tountain-like cool
ness OF the air, so exactly correspond with the
tout ensemble Eastern travellers give OF the
small courtyard of some ancient pile. Tne
sonnd of the running water, though, comes
from the waterjets suspended over each body,
showering heavy circles OF spray on the face or
bosom, or more particularly above such por-
tions of the body as may have been wounded.
These marbe-beds are three feet wide and six
feet long, are raised four feet from the ground,
and decline by an inclination of several inches
from the head toward the feet. Bodies re-
ceived at all hours of the day and night,
some attendant being perpetually on
hand. He is not allowed however
to receive any but such as are either
brought by a policeman or are accompanied
with Coroners permit. When q policeman
brings them, his number, and the number of
the precinct ne represents are carefully regis.
tered. The body Is then stripped and washed,
placed ON one Of the slabs in the Exhibition
Hall, and covered up to the shoulders with an
India-rubber cloth. Any money, papers, or
Yaluables that may have been found in the
w
Bellevue Hospital, and the clothes are hung up
Immediately over the dead ones body,
and conspicuousIy numbered. This num-
ber corresponds with the Morgue num-
ter placed opposite to the descrp-
tion of the dead one in the Coroner's
minutes, an inspection of which Is not without
interest. They extend from June %, 1865, the
approximate date of the establishment of the
Morgue, to the present time, and give all rea.
sonable particulars In regard to the bodies
brought thither They are entitled the "Regster
of Recognized and Unrecognized Bodies
Those lately kept must have been found INSULT
Client, for new ones are now in use. The details
at present sought to be registered are the dead
ones number Qhe consecutive Morgue number
since the institution was established) the name
the date of reception, the hour of reception, in
whose charge, the date of the Coroner's
inquest the name of the Coroner, the
verdict the time elapsed between
the death and the verdict; the place where
found; the date and place of burial; the age,
sex, and color; the color of the hair; and a de-
cription of the clothes. Some OF these details
1T is impossible to register, because they are not
known. The name, for instance, Is not known
in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, and
the suggestive words Unknown man" stare
the Investigator out Of countenance, as his eye
and finger travel up and down the sad columns
of the Warden's ledger. The details recorded In
the ledger formerly used were not near so
complete They limited themselves to register
ing the Morgue number, the sex, age, color. and
mode of death, the place where found, O
description OF the body and description OF the
clothes Some little slips of entry sometimes
occur even In the most complete register Tue
exact date of the Coroner's inquest is no
always given, the month only being mentioned
and sometimes even the date and place O.
burial are not mentioned at all. found the
Registers lying on small table often used by
reporters, in the Coroner's 1nquestroom. They
are not presumed to be generally open TO public
inspection, and whether that or the attendants
room is their proper place becomes matter Of
conjecture.
The rules and regulations for the government
of the Morgue were adopted by the Commis
1866 They provide that the Exhibition Hall
shall be open perpetually for the reception OF
bodies, and from sunrise to sunset for visitors.
1t is in charge of the Warden of the Hospital,
DIR. owen w. Brennan, who details Two attend
ants, one or other ofwhom is always on hand
All corpses. as 1 before remarked, must be
brought either by policeman or Coroner's
order ALI details are Immediately registered
by the attendant, and any money, papers, or
valuables delivered TO the Warden, and the
same number placed opposite to the registration
in the book as that hung up with the dead ones
clothes over the body IN the Exhibition
Hall. All unrecognized bodies remain
for seventy-two hours in the Hall
of exhibition, and are then buried at the city's
expense. Their clothes remain on exhibition
for twenty days longer, and If at the end OF that