The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-02-13
THE PAUPER DEAD.


burial OF the unknown dead OF New YORK has
cansed no small wonderment among that class o.
people VINO, never having the interest ia the pOoI
winch they should have, know little OF the
doings and sunerings OF the lower classes For
after all. the Potter's Field Ia really the place q
burial for those too poor to pay for decent inter
ment In cemetery. To be sure, the Pottery
Field Is also made the receptacle for the corpsas OF
all those who have not been Identified nv sr,end,
or relatives. But these are only a percentage a
the vast number Of those who are buried in th,s
desc ate pauper cemetery. The poorbouse,
OF the city and the Almshouse on BLACK
wells island, as well as the Bellevue and Charts
hospitals give the largest quota OF dead bodies tc
the Potter's Field For want OF better place the
bodies which are found dead In our streets iron
hunger or starvation; the pustulent corpses found
floating IN our rivers the wretched tenants OF the
poor hove,s OF the lower wards, whom NOBODY
knows and whose life nickers out without sigh
from friend or relation these also hnd their last
earthly home In the POtter's Field; but great
majority OF the bodies inferred there belong ia
people whose whole fortune would not pay 0rs
grave even In the cheapest OF our burying grounds
and whom the city must. therefore. inter. These
free cemeteries are public needs around all largs
cities where congregate large Numbers OF TIT
poverty stricken and the wretched who exc 0utl
scanty livelihood Heaven knows how and Heaven
knows where.
THE PoTTsR's FIELD.
The original Potter's Field for the city Of New
YORK was situated in what is now Washington
square, and which was afterwards transferred into
a parade or ound. having before been the public
place OF execution. No doubt the bones OF many
farmer and long ago forgotten pauper might be
found beneath the green grass OF that populas
park. But as the needs Of the city grew greater
and the Inhabitants pushed up town 1t was found
necessary to put the panper burying ground In
some more retired location. Wards Island wa
then chosen, and up to the latter part OF 1858 OF
the beginning Of 1869 served that purpose. The
necessity for the establishment OF more public
buildings on that island caused the transferra'
OF the Potter's Field once more to its pres
ent location on Harris Island, which. being
some distance up the Sound, away from
the city is probably better chosen than any other
location could have been. The island during the
war had been used for encampment, but had not
been put to any use since that time, we believe.
until it was bought from the United States for the
purpose spoken OF by the Commissioners OF Chart
ties and Correction OF this city. Steaming up tai
Sound the barracks where the soldiers were quar-.
tered may be seen very readily, but
THE LOCATION
OF the Potter's Field Is as 1t were hidden behin(
them, though even were these barracks absent
there would De nothing on the WnOle lSanu 10 ar
rest the attention OF the passerby, as there Is NJ
chapel where services might be performed, No
tombstone not even grass-grown mound, &c
Doss winch che sHds Msrs Island is
dead boat from Bellevue Hospital and tn.
eas ws sna t seam a@p ap ssn9s a.
tnstincuveiy anxious to get awaytfrom tnts aoodt
OF death Lan.ing at the dock one walks up Z
down, the Potter's Field lies before you All around
is desOate and sad-no kind hand to decorate
brance, not even headstOne to show where IL
inferred what was once human being. The bodle:
away as If they had never existed. And yet all
those fostering, rotng corpses which lie below
here once mad hopes, ambitions, likes and dis.
that IS not even now remembrance. There "a
usually in q visit to cemetery something consol
those objects OF love which are strews
ABOUT the graves OF lost friends. Death
less. But burial IN this horrible dreary spot in.
deed makes death fearful. Better to be thrown
somebody remember the dead here 1T would be im-
possible to know where they lay, and all that tells
OF the presence OF the dead is the decayinR, ietd.
pungent stencil which on some OCCASIONS perVadea
the air for q great distance around.
The Potter's Field probably covers some six OF
1t Is, Tor on all sides 1t Is bounded by e.sllvery
waters Of the Sound, which wash up against the
banks and within "a few ieet OF the nearest graves
HOW CORPSEs ARE CONVEYED.
The marts which mainly supply the dead OF thu
POtter's FIELD are the Bellevue Hospital and the
Charity Hospital on Blackwells Island. The pau.
pers on the various Islands OF course are mainly
buried here, but they generally make a short stay
at the Charity Hospital first Not all OF these
however, 20 to the Potter's Field, Tor the most
likely and good looking corpses are selected IOI
the dissectng rooms In this city and Brooklyn and
as shown on the investigation, many Of the re-
mains claimed Dy friends VINO have not been no
titled OF the deaths Of those IN the hospitals, and
which are represented TO have been sent to the
Potter's Field have In reality been surreptitiously
carted on to the dissecting rooms, where they be.
come the prey OF medical students. only the fesh
in this case ever receiving burial, the bones being
taken possession OF as legitimate property by these
young men VINO pay $40 each Tor the subjects"
POtter's Field unless there be an unusual gut Of
them, are those which have been mutilated OF
which are emaclated and too old to be oil any use
for dIssectIng purposes. When found in the rivera
or streets they are always II recognizable, placed
upon the sIaos for some three or four DAYS and
then taken to the dead house. photographs being
taken OF them for the purpose OF identification,
in one of the hospitals the CORPSE is immediateIv
sent to the dead house without passing through
the Morgue. and is there Immediately boxed up IN
rough deal box, painted red, on which number
is chaiked corresponding to the number in the
books OF the hospital, where corresponding
the number being chalked upon the box tag II
used. In all these details the authorities are as
the death Of poor Couson the HERALD reporter
who having papers upon his body to prove hi
identify, barely escaped being sent to the Potterr
Field through the carelessness OF one Of the COrO-
ners and the singular and almost criminal hurry
the authorities were IN to get rid OF the corpse
But this carelessness is characteristic the who'd
world over OF this service. The constant presence
OF death makes men british and unieeling. and
there 49, probably, little help Tor it. The Alder
manic Committee will probably censure this, but
It Win be repeated short time after, as 1t always
has been. Once boxed up the remainder Of ths
process Is very simple. The dead boat, the Fide-
ity formerly the Hope did the service but she was
sunk, Is at the dock at nine O'Clock In the morn
ing and receives ner cargo OF dead bodies, and
away she goes.
HOW THE BURrALs ARE DONE.
II anything the burials are more atroci0usly
Simple than the first disposition Of the bodies
Directly upon the arrival OF the dead boat
(Which has called in the meantime to pick up any
stray corpses at the various islands) at Hartl
Island, the red deal boxes are speedily transferred
on shore and are wheeled TO the burial place.
These are not separate graves az Is the In some
pauper burial grounds but the thing Is done on the
principle OF the French r0sSe commune. Large
trenches are dug, some ten feet deep, and In these
the boxes are piled up one above the other In in-
ternlnabIe rows, lew Inches Of earth separating
the layers OF corpses The plan, IL would appear
according to the representation OF those who have