The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-10-26
OUR CITY CHARITIES, :,

OUR CITY CHARITIES,
s~ -H: -=-.:-G 7,rz..i 4 III /:
A DAY AMONG THE UNFORTURATE.
scenes is, ssfters, sld-Ths HALT,
Lame and Hiind-The CITY Hospital
,Ats Condition and Inpasss-TAe DIFF
Observation-Disclosures OF Etne insane
.'U.nr.Pubiic:. Charity. be made Self
.cs,sssse.s':. s.s.s 80. /,
Among the many public institutions Of
Charleston-which, BY the way, Is one Of the
oss generous Of cities In her care Of the poor
there are probably nono with which the commu-
nifty are so little acquainted as with ''The Old
Folks Homen Perhaps It's situation Is untaVo'
rable. to q cheerful investigation Of charitable
subjects, for it happens to be located at the end
ofthat somewhat unpopular, drive known as 'Pot-
ter,s Fleld;n but once there you 1nd a not In
commodlous two-story wooden hortse, with COM
| Portable outbuIl6ings, an abundance OF foliage.
arStIa pretty q patch OF river scenery, up and
down the Ashley, as can be found IN South caro-
| lima The premises are familiar to the pubic oy
the name or 1.-THE Pest House." but tbeing fumi-
gated and thoroughly cleansed) they have since
| he war, Deen usedasa asylum for the debris
of humanity aged, blind, crazy, idiotic and
deformed colored peOple-whom the war emancl-
| pated from the kind care Of their masters, and
| made objects Of public charity.
Entering the gateway, you drive first through
three or four acres OF the dead, where graves are
so thickly planted that child can step from
mound to mound. There are no names, no marks,
nothing but rank underground. fertillzed by thou
sands Of corpses, to indicate the ghostly charac:
ter OF the spot, save that In one corner are per-
haps hundred fresh graves, bare and repulsive-
the work Of the Reaper during the last ninety
days-which are waiting for the grass TO grow.
Three or four are open, and little baby coffin,
holding what but day or two ago was mere
Spoonful OF life, Is laid BY one OF them wall
which has come there without mourner ana Will
be buried without tear. The grave-digger tells
us thu. he puts away from thirty to forty OF these
nameless beings every month, and receives his
part Of the ceremony one dollar and sixty-two
cents a head. - -
But we pass on--by. nelds thick with. vegetable
life; by clumps OF tall trees; by small enclosures
where lie dead sailors OF the naval and CONNER.
cIal marine, aud dead soldiers OF the army. We
arrive at the "Home." The grounds around 1t
are nicely swept, and externally there is an air
Of comfort. The old sheds which used to stand at
the end of the fish market In the city, have under
gone metamorphosis, and In their new dress
and cosy apartments we scarcely recognize our
old acquaintauces OF clam and oyster atmosphere.
Ancient negroes, the shades OF nearly. century,
are summing themselves IN the door.wsys. Here
Is a woman without hands or feet-the victim OF
frest bite BY her side Is q para'ytic; and yon-
der group OF incapables- -deformed and useless.
Now to the main building. There are twelve or
fifteen rooms, including the one occupied oE Mr..
S. O'Hare, the superintendent OF the place, q kind
and apparently excellent. executive of1cer, who
understands the management OF his people.
Some of the apartments seem. crowded; that
can't be helped. Look in here, for instance. Four
beds and rs many inmates. The latter are
women. One sits on How chair near her cot,
and has only slbrated between The two for the
hast ten months-a helpless and, hopeless cripple.
Another is blind; q third ep,leptic;. while the
fourth Ii a mere bundle Of humanity, rolled up on
her bed-g dlcEering ndexplring SNUFF OF LIES
brief candle. In the adjoining room are three blind
men. In the halfway half dozen are resting on
bench, decrepia, idioticlan harmless. One of
these is girl Of twenty, as brsiness and foolish
semolance Of the human form divine az you
eyer saw. There are ffry-hve all told-.a sad
sight and onlyendurable because you=feel that
these erpooreunfortunates' are under benefcent
care which supplies every want, and alleyiates,
as far rs is practicable, all suffering
As we prepare to re:enter the carriage acurious
object half man.. half animal with mlsshapen'
body. snriselied limbs, fingers and. nails like
claws, cunning, black eyes gltsteningr like basil
-isk's, a mouth like cavern and q voice Ike
hewl--a monstrous parody on human nature
crawls crab.fashlon towards rs, and In its silly,
incoherent way, tries 10 attract attention: me
superintendent, good naturedly, turns him this
way and that, to show his fearful condition, and
the creature responds with series Of yells which
sound as II sardonlc, laughter were ringing
through the woods from some demon dwelling In
the shapeless form: -, -,
It Is relief to turn to other scenes, and we
look with pleasure while Mr.. Geddngs, the acting
Mayor, and chairman 2of the committee on
public ipx:itutions,i who'll our ohaperoRe, points
to the broad fields near by, where such OF
these paupers as-Scan work. have produced
crop. Mr.. C. states that aged and disabled as
are many Of the inmates ofthe asylum, they have
raised their own vegetables, and. in this respect
supported themselves without dollars cost to the
| city. The thought occurs, just here-if a body o
crippled old skeletons can effect such results,
what may not be done with the large number o
healthy and vigorous persons who possess the
public institutions generally.
| SIT Is but little while ago since the city o
Charleston furnished daily food to more than
three thousand paupers. Ought they not to have
yielded some return for this. public charity? Il
we are correctly informed, the aims houses i1
several Of the Northern. and Western States are
made to yield an annual income to the treasury
OF from eight to twenty thousand dollars. We o.
Charleston, on the other hand, have paid out a.
much as forty thousand dollars year for ths
same purpose and the money, practically. ma:
been poured down hole. There is, uaquestion
ably, room for Improvement IN this respect, ant
certainly necessity for financial reform. W.
would not abate one jot or little OF the pub
charity, but we would make the capable pauper
earn at least their salt.
TIE CITY HOSPITAL.
Another OF the public institutions Of Charleston
decidedly worthy OF notice, is the City Hospital
situated on the corner Of Mazyck and Magazin
I | strpate and IN, the same souare with the Cit