Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-12-15
RECOGNIZING THE DEAD.

AT three O'Clock in the morning there
were at the morgue seventy-liine bodies,
mostly those of young men. la front Of
the morgue, even at that early hour, were
gathered q large number of people, many
women being noticeable among the crowd.
Every room in the morgue was filed with
bodies, and even the dead-house attached
to the city hospital was used to hold part
Of the charred mass OF humanity. The
bodies were ranged around the sides of the
different rooms, and persons who had lost
friends CROPPED among them, e%ndeavoring
to find ones who were missing. Here a
man could be seen scanning rings on the
charred fingers OF a man, and at his side
a woman, the tears streaming from her
eyes, gazing ~intently upon a face unrecog
nizab.e because of the fire it had gone
through. A majority of the dead had
their right hands lifted over their heads,
as if to ward off some danger. Altogether
there were about fifteen women in the
morgue. Some had lost a. husband, Others
a father, and d few had lost their only son.
On each body was a candle stuck in a piece
of white turnip, which served for a candle
stick. The same rule was observed in the
Brooklyn market, only that in the market
yellow turnipS were used, while those In
the morgue were white. The heads of two
bodies were half torn away where they
had been struck by ONE falling beam, the
blood and brains in a Sickly mass lying *
posed and dripping slowly on the tiled floor.
One woman recognized a charred corpse as
the body of her husband, and before she
could be prevented by an officer lifted the
head into her lap and kissed the lips, which
were burned almost to a crisp. Through
the blackened lips and teeth OF the corpse
quite a considerable portion of the tongue
protruded. One man., though burned al
most beyond recognition, in his vest pocket
was found a roll of bills amounting to
SILT untouched by the fire. The remnants
of clothing which chung to the bodies were
saturated with water, and the effluvia
arising from this and the roasted flesh was
sickenirg. A very noticeable thing about
the bodies at the mOrgue was that III many
cases the lower extremities were but slight
ly scorched, while the heads and faces were
SO badly burned as to defy recognition. In
all cases the upper portion OF the body was
badly burned.
THE TWO DEAD ACTORs.
Harry Murdoch was comparatively In
known to New York audiences, but Clara
Morris, whose sympathies have been pro-
foundly stirred by this calamity, and who
stands ready to show this in a substantial
manner. has pronounced him the best Ar.
mand that eyer played to her Camille. He
i~npers6nated this chsracter in Chicago
during her engagement, and won distinct
calls for the scenes.
Murdoch also acted much in Boston,
whsye he was a favorite. He only acted
one BART ia New York, ana at any other
season and IN any oGher play than August
and Tie Two Men Of Sandy Bar. his touch
ing i~mpersonation Of Sandy Morton would
.age Established his reputation at once.
x s aas, it earned him grea at5 praise is fro 3
all who Witnessed it,. Since then ne acted
many roles with credit to himself, although
he never had any great opportunity for the |