The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-03-29
NUMBER 81.
The Dying and the Dead-Where the
Lost OF q Great City Drift.

Celia Logans New York Letter to the Baltimore
News
Twenty-sixth Street, on its last block
next the East River, has gloomy and
suggestive surroundings. Where broad
gateway pierces the long, high stone
wall upon the northern side one gets
view of the enormous Bellevue Hospital
Building, charmingly surrounded in the
genial summer time by green grass and
trees, but itself gigantic monument to
pain and death. All the year round
hundreds of poor wretches groan and
writhe in those long wards; not day
passes that the death-rattle is not heard
from the throat of some sufferer not
night that men do not bear away from
its gloomy doorway, on the ground floor,
shapeless forms carelessly draped, ex-
tended upon biers. On opposite sides
of the street, near that gateway, stands
two medical colleges.
Just back of this college building
stands smaller one. 1t is the Morgue.
Behind it and at its sides are outlying
dependencies and contingent reminders
in the shape of strangely connected
rooms and various sheds. Here the men
bring those CHASTITY shapes after night
fall from the hospital. Entering one of
these sheds we find thirty or forty cheap
coffins of pine wood, stained or painted
dull brick red. Several, of which we
raise the lids, are empty. Others have
inmates. In one we discover the face of
a woman, horribly emaciated, and OF
bluish-white, skim milk color. The nose
stands out thin and prominent the teeth
are seen through the partly-separated
lips; the eye-lids have not been closed
SO tightly but that one sees glinting
line of the dull pupils beneath. Perhaps
she is no more than twenty years old
she may, however, be forty, misery has
80 aged her. In another of the red boxes
there is an old man with a fine head,
prominent brow, square jaws, and a
splendid beard. His hair is almost
white, and so placid are his features that
h seems but sleeping and dreaming
some serious dream that caused him to
set his face sternly. A third coffin, a
small one, contains the corpse of child,
meager little thing with sore eye-lids and
thin blue hands, bound together on its
breast by strip of muslin.
The last we opened displays the revolt
ing clay of a bloated, rum-sodden,
diseased vagabond, leathsome, filthy
creature, mere animal, 80 dirty, that
dirt seems deeply ingrained in his evil
face. Is it possible that the death of a
man like this should have been regretted
by any one }? Could any one have loved
or cared for him? Who can tell how
long a faithful heart may have clung
even to him; striven in vain for his re-
demption; wept over his miserable fate
But speculations are idle and not pleasant
upon such topic.
In another room we find a more stylish
coffin, it's lid screwed down, and the
attendants inform US that it contained
the body of man recognized in the
Morgue by his relatives and awaiting
removal at their orders. The other bod
les that we had seen are those of persons
who have been patients in the hospital,
excepting The tramp, who died ever on
the Island where he was serving out in
the Work-house ten days sentence for
habitual drunkenness and vagrancy.
A door from this room admits US by
the back way into the Morgue to reach
the floor we have to descend two or three
steps. We are in large room, through
which runs, dividing it into two halves
a great glazed partition with door il
the middle. The front door is wide, the
window is broad, and there is abundance
of light. The floor is tesselated tiling
Inside the cage or inclosure are foul
stone tables, two with bodies upon them
above the faces of which bangles nov
useless rubber hose with sprinklers or
the end of it. In warm weather colo
water was kept constantly dripping upo1
the dead faces, but tits more than doubt
full if it ever preserved the corpses. 1t
principal use is to keep flies from de
posting their eggs and breeding mag
gots in the eyes and noses of the dead
Mr.. A. M. White, the keeper, INFORMED
us that corpse will here keep wei
through four or even five cold month
and still be inofensive, but this ispresup
posing that it was in pretty good ccndi
tion when it came.
No ice is used on them. The Morgu
, is cold, damp room, always at 10y
temperature, even in summer, and 8
, humid that in winter bodies turn brow
) and mildew before they decay. Onl
7 two bodies are on exhibition at the tim
of our visit-one is that of a man VIII
has been there some nine weeks withou
any body claiming him; the other ths
: of a young girl who was dragged fror
1 the river week ago. There were other
: earlier in the day, but friends hav
s claimed and taken them away.
Now and then carriage stops befoI
}. the door. and a heavily veiled woma
: comes in, gazes at the dead faces, an
Il then either shrieks or faints in demon
e stration of her Identification of one, c
y else turns away and departs mutterin.
= "Not there Thank God !"
: Upon the wall opposite the dead folk
g compartment are exhibited great man
photographs, carte-de-visites and fe
s tin-types of funrecognized corpses. Out I
J, the entire number but one female fac
+ is pretty, and but one mans count
nance that has any thing noteworthil
. good in it.
q Being free to the public, the wome
drop in and retail their gossip; outsiC
+ the building old crones sit about, ksi
ting in hand. One young Irish woman
. not long ago, idly sauntered in wit
some of her friends out ofmere curiosit
:. She had bundle of keys in her hand
y which she carelessly jingled against Il
y partition. Suddenly she dropped Il