Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-10-03

times as well as his own when he penned
that grim lyric which ends with the re.
frair:
Rattle his bones over the stones,
He's only a pauper whom nobody OWLS.
He might well have had in his minds eye
this great metropolis of London in the lat
ter end of the year of grace 1888. The
facts in regard to certain occurrences of
recent date, which go to show with what
little respect the corpses of the poor are
treated here, have no doubt reached you
through other channels. will only, there
fore, make brief reference to them, and,
but for the observations to which they will
form a fitting prelude, should hesitate to
do even this much. The first case was
that of the undertaken in whose cellar
were found the bodies of a dozen or mere
infant children Like the carcasses of SO
many dead pigs thrown together in the
corner of slaughter. house, these bodies
lay in heap, and
THE SICRENING SPECTACLE
Was all the more horrible from the fact
that the remains were in putrid state,
some being go far gone as to scarcely retain
the characteristics necessary to identify
them as human beings. At the inquest it
transpired that these outraged babies were
the offsprings of poor women in the neigh
borhood, and had been left with the un-
dertaker for interment, each mother hav-
ing deposited the sum OF one dollar and
twenty-five cents for the funeral expenses.
The undertaker's plea in extenuation was
the smallness of the remuneration he re-
ceived. He must keep the corpses, he
said, until he had a sufficient number to
make it worth his while, from business
point of view, to
CART THEM TO THE CEMETERY,
Meanwhile he could not be expected to
lay each one out in state, but must utilize
the space on his premises to the best ad-
vantage by budding them as closely as
possible together. The other instance
was less revolving than this, but no less
inexcusable. and it offers commentary
on the old jingle quoted above, which in
life-hke or death-like vividness could
hardly have been excelled had it been
gotten up to order. The pauper's bonos
were being literally ratified over the stones
when a spring in the conveyance broke,
and the remains of five of these liberated
unfortunates were pitched from beneath
the box of the driver into the street. The
sight, it is said, greatly disguised the by
ISLANDERS, and the effluvia being 30 strong
as to suggest too lengthy interval be-
tween death and burial, an explanation
was asked, the coachman advancing in sub
stance similar plea to that put in by the
undertaken in the former case. The con-
tract price paid by the city was go low, he
is reported to have said, that it was neces.
sary TO wait for
AN ACCUMULATION OF BODIES
Before removing them to the battle-ground,
and the process of removal, even then, had
to be conducted very cheaply or an abso-
Lutte loss would be entailed. An inves-
tigation by the Board of Guardians
interested has toned down some of
the worst features of this affair, but
that there is still much to deplore is
amply shown by the remarks of Mr.. Ross,
q member of the Board, made at a meet
ing held few nights ago. 81 complain,
said this gentleman, "that five or six
coffins should be conveyed in a vehicle of
this description. There were these five
coffins under hammock cloth, made to
cover one only, the coffins being tied with
a clothes line to hook IN front of the
coach. We let contract to Mr. Hooper,
who subjects it to man in the Old Kent
road, who,
IN ORDER TO MAKE THE THING PAY,
Has to wait until there is an accumulation
of bodies which can be conveyed simulta-
neously in one vehicle. When the collins
were taken off the coach at the graveyard
the relatives did not know one from an
other. The names, which had been written
on the collins with piece of chalk, were,
by the shifting of the collins, indistinguish-
able" Such is the unchallenged Indictment
of Mr.. Ross, and it is probable that the
public indignation which has found its
mouthpiece in him will prove sufficiently
strong to effect some greatly needed re-
form along this line. One suggestion is
that the contract system should be abol-
ished, and each Board of Guardians bury
it's own paupers. Another is that philan.
thropic persons should take advantage of
the present commotion to endeavor to in
troduce
THE SYSTEM IN VOGUE IN ITALY.
There, if destitute person falls desperately
sick, religious confraternity take the pa
tient in hand and carry him professionally
to the hospital. II he should die, this con.
fraternity perform the last sad offices about
the corpse and bear it to the tomb. Be-
meath the cowled robes of those who IN
dertake this work, there may be Dukes
and Princes joining hands with the mer-
chant or even the commonest laborer. 1t
does not in the least matter. 4 common
mask shrouds common and Samaritan
purpose. 1t is scarcely probable, however,
that any such system as this would operate
successfully in a Protestant country nor
is cremation likely to be resorted to, al
though, if the two cases instanced above
fairly represent the way in which the
bodies of the defunct poor are usually dis
posed of, the latter system would be far
preferable to that now in vogue, both from
a humane and sanitary point of view.
not to speak Of the question of decency.
But
RNGLANDs GREATEST PROBLEM
Has reference, not to her dead, but to her
living paupers. 1t is sad reproach to her
in the first place that she has SO many of |
these. A nation SO rich. so powerful and |
SO long occupying the position of the lead
ing power in Christendom, should surely |
have managed better than to have the sur. |
face of her land dotted with overcrowded |
Ia l.
of her people living on the verge of starv-
alton. 1.-The poor ye have always with
you" said the Divine Teacher, but it is
not conceivable He would justify England
in possessing such an inordinate number of |
this class OF persons. The social and CON-
mercial conditions that have given this
country an unenviable prominence in this
respect are perfectly well known in the
United States, and, by contrast, are per.
haps better appreciated there than any
where else. The many have been impoy.