The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-07-24
Special Correspondence of the hoy Daily
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THE HERMIT'S LETTER.

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THE HERMIT'S LETTER.
Deaths by Drowning-The Morgue-How the
Unknown Dead are Cared For - Missing
People-Twenty-Rv Years Of Law-Theat-
rical Matters
NEW YORK, July 20, 1877.
The drowning season now set in will
give fresh impetus to the undertaking
business, which is already much assisted
by the mortality among children. Coffin
factories make up an extra supply of small
sizes as the hot water approaches, this be-
ing known among some as "baby time"
For more than a month the undertakers
will be very active in this line, to which
drowning adds an important item of pat
| ronage. This is said TO be an easy way of
dying, and no doubt such is the reality, but
Shakespeare had different notion, since
he makes Clarence eXclaim
| 40 Lord, methought what pain It was to drown
What dreadful noise OF water In my ears;
| What ugly sights OF death within my eyes!"
Speaking on this subject, it may be said
that the specific gravity of the human body
|! is but little more than that of water, but
every part of the body Gan arm for in
stance) held out of the water, acts as a
weight. Hence sometimes inexperienced
persona are drowned by their own strug-
giles. Death takes place by asphyxia, as in
ordinary sutfocation. 1t is now well estab-
lished that whatever water be found in a
drowned person is taken in before death.
This fact shows the Importance of watch
| fulness in this particular. With all care,
hntvauar ibara pill ha n To- IF
| drowning, and more lives are lost in this
way every season than in any one of our
most dreadful shpwrecks. At all bathing
establishments there should be full knowl-
edge Of the method of resuscitatIon. To
the neglect of this may be ascribed the re-
| cent deaths of two persons Beatty and
| Phillips) at Atlantic City. They showed
| signs OF life when brought to shore, and
| yet no effort was made to restore full ami.
| nation.
NOTES AMONG THE DEAD.
The opening of the drowning season leads
| attention to the morgue, where the un-
known dead are exposed to view. Most of
the corpses to be eeen here during the sum-
mer are picked up in the river and harbor,
and few are ever identified. The number
of the "missing" in large population is
very great, and many of these are among
the mysterious dead that go from the morgue
to the Potter's field. The morCue was es-
tablished in 1866. Previously there was
"dead house" in Duane street, near the for
mer city hospital. When the latter was de-
molished the dead house was removed two
miles up town, was called the morgue and
was attached to another hOspital-the Bel.
levue, foot of Twenty sixth street. When
l first saw this city Bellevue hospital was
nearly mile out Of town, but now there
is heavy population far above it. From
this wharf the corporation steamer plies
four times day to Blackwell's Island. The
same boat carries the rauper dead to the
potter's field On Harris island, their last rest
in this city being one of the chambers of
the morgue. here they are placed in cof-
fins made Of unplaned wood and about
twenty are borne daily to the trenches. AT
present the large number of tiny coffins in
dictate great mortality among the children
of the poor. The ferry, the hospital and
the morgue are under the control of the
commissioners of charities and corrections,
and no one is allowed to take the boat with
| out pass from their offlce. In addition
to this fifty cents is collected for ferriage
| from each passenger. Most of the latter
have friends in prison, or at other public
institutions, and they generally form sad
| spectacle.
THE MoRGUE.
Having spoken of this as the place whith-
or the unknown dead are brought for rec
ognition, few details may be given. When
a visitor enters he is struck by the strange
and repulsive character of the place. The
| floor is of stone, with drain which keeps
it dry. Its sole furniture is pair of long
stone tables, each on a slant, in order to al
low water to escape by dripping. The
room is Illuminated by large window, in
to which a street passenger may gaze at
| any time during a daylight, but at 0 o'clock
in the morning the door is opened and an
attendant is there till o'clock. On these
| tables are exposed the bodies of the I'M
known dead. When brought 10 they are
thoroughly examined and stripped. A
| heavy canvass covers all but the head and
in hot weather frequent jets of water are
thrown upon the bodies in order to prevent
| Gas much as possible) the progress of de-
composition. The clothing is numbered
and placed in case with glass doors, and
is kept year. Photographs are taken of
the dead, and these often lead to identiica-
/ tlOu Vi uhluc lOnR dttCT BURIAL DeyOnu re-
covery. Every grave, however, is marked
and put on record, and many are reclaimed
by their friends in lime to give them pri-
vate burial. The clothing is accompanied
by description of those who once wore it.
For instance, here is a shirt, cap and pan
falcons, marked "plcked up in the East
river, June 10, 1877; buried ON the 10th. /"
| Here, too, Is full suit marked thus :
| "Picked up in the street, stabbed MAY 10
1877 buried the 18TH" All scraps of pa
per and everything that might tend to iden-
LITIGATION are carefully retained, and trifles
often throw light upon very mysterious
cases.
| THE REPORT
At the end of each month report is sent
from the morgue to the commissioners of
charities and corrections. Going into the
general history of the institution it may be
said that during the eleven years it has been
in use, it has contained 4 1926 corpses, of
which one-seventh were women. This
l II. 60 l.