Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-12-09
CAN SUCH THINGS BE.

1he New L ork World OF last week
contained an account of the death of q
mother and child of starvation in
tenement house in that city, which for
lurid horror surpasses anything We have
seen in print since the days cf Poe. 1t
is hardly possible that any one. even in
such place as New York, should be
brought to face absolute starvation ex-
cept by process of voluntary self
sacrifice, for there are multitude. of
charities there, some of which would
certainly be open TO any applicant, yet
in this case .here were concurring cir
cumstances which rendered external aid
more than usually necessary. The wo-
man had seemingly repugnance to
beggary; she was in poor health and at
a most perilous moment entirely unfit
ed to struggle further; she was without
any one of the most ordinary comforts
of life. There was neither furniture,
fre nor food in her miserable room; her
baby came and died when but two days
old, fer the fount ofiife was dry. Then
the unhappy mother wasted away, and
in three days more followed the infant,
her attenuated frame but the shadow OF
a human being. Says the reporter
describing the place {:
The apartment was about nine feet
square, with perfectly bare walls, and
large holes in the plaster showed where
the rain of the past week had leaked
through. An air of dampness pervaded
the whole place. A small, unwashed
window dimly lighted the room, SO
that the remains OF straw bed could
be made out in one corner. the bed
stead having been appropriated by
some of the neighbors. Tie floor was
unswept, and two chairs composed The
furniture of the room. In one corner
stood a small cupboard, which contained
but few crumbs OF dry bread.
The city, of course, never refused TO
send the ''Black Maria" after the unfor
tunate dead, but to the credit of the
neighbors, some Of them hardly better
off than the starved woman, collection
was made for a plain box and decent
burial The account thus continues
The reporter stepped up TO the coffin,
and could not repress shudder at the
horrible sight he beheld. The dead
woman's face looked more like that Of 4
skeleton than that of person who had
but recently died. Her thin cheeks
were shrunk so that they almost met,
clearly showing every bone about the
mouth and forehead. The eyes were
sunken nearly out Of sight, and the thin
hands laying on her breast We're trans
parent A large brown Bible was placed
under her chin TO prevent her jaw from
falling. Her teeth could be plainly
counted through her thin lips, and the
bones about her shoulders seemed ready
to cut through the skin. Beside her,
with its tiny head resting peacefully, lay
the dead child. 1t was the merest skel-
eton of human being, and had turned
perfectly black. One little hand was
laid lovingly on its mother breast. while
its feet reached scarcely to the mother
elbow.
The husband Of the woman is a sailor,
and owing to the storm had been away
longer than expected, and the little
money he had left her had long been ex-
hausted. He was said TO be good and
kind, but there was very little goodness
or kindness that lowered around her
while he was away 1t is stated that a
DR.. Merrill called upon her before her
baby's death, but it is incredible that
any physician could have left human
being in her condition and take no steps
TO relieve her.