Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-05
A GREAT CITY'S MORGUE.
VISIT no ONE OF NEW YoRKis
NOTED INSTITUTIONS.
Where the Namc'ess Dead Awaii
Recognition - Satisfying Morbid
Curiosity.

Hedged in on every side by big struc-
lures where the great destroyer is hover
ing over the bed Of the dying or science
Is forging WEAPONS to oppose him the
morgue stands-a squat, dingy, melan-
choly structure, stretching back from
Iwenty-sixth street, with the perpetual
swash of the East river mournfully
sounding beyond it. The flood of metro
pohtan crime and misery ebbing and flow
ing between the city aud Blackwell's
island daily sweeps by it. Philanthropy
and curiosity elbow each other outside
And despite their superior dimensions
and the public interest that invests the
hospital and medical colleges around,
the eyes of all that pass that way wan
der first toward this poor hulk of a build
ing; for it is tomb, not alone of the
thousands who have gone into its inte-
rior, leaving life as we'll as name and
identity behind, but of its many dread
full secrets which there have been i'm.
INJURED. Of the stories OF only 1.-THE of
those who enter does the world learn,
and the victim of murder, suicide and
disaster have passed in and out of the
gloomy place without ever leaving
trace behind Of the tragedies by which
they suffered
Although always viewed with a grue-
some curiosity by all who pass, the world
at large is unfamiliar with what lies be-
yond the shabby brick walls and the big
wooden portal opening beside them.
Sometimes through the iron bars that
cross the windows a Pickering light
shows some CHASTITY figure outstretched
in the dimness but all the other hor-
rors of the place are mercifully hidden.
"What is within?" morbid curiosity
asks. Little and much. No strange APP
planes, no mortuary devices. But all
the horrors that death and decay create.
Enter through the little porch at Bellevue
hospital and pursue narrow pathway
down to the river side. You pass the
building of the Bellevue medical col
lege on the left, and little Office is be-
fore you, with a few crazy chairs in it.
stained desk and few charts. On the
desk is a big registry book-a sinister
record of the dead But it is not names
that are here written, except where iden-
LITIGATION has been made. The record is
of apparel and Of physical peculiaIities.
Close by is a sort of dismal storage, where
the clothing and valuables of the dead
are kept.
This Office is only little hutch of a
place, and here the custodian of these
dismal precincts waits. AS a reporter
entered he stirred and looked up. Tall,
easy going, slangy, with a bit of
swagger, he seem ed the very type of the
commonplace young Teller" peculiar
to Gotham. A hoist of the Derby hat
and then:
"Well?'
The reporters Grand was unfolded.
"Want to look around, eh2 All right.
Come along. Not much of show; don't
ekal theayter, but it's big in its way.
See the Stills first or afterwards" This
with an inquimng look which took in
tie visitors whole appearance and evil
IDENTIFY comprised a calculation of how
much of the horrible he was constitu-
tionally able to stand. The reporter,
following his thoughts, suggested that
that part of the exhibition be inserted
near the end of the bill.
80. K. Step up here and you can
look the museum over. It's up over
head, it IS, and the lockers think it's no
SLOUGH of a mushum either"
Then up few steps and a spacious
lighted chamber appears. Works of the
anatomist, the taXidermist, the surgeon,
the sculptor and the painter are all
about. Here in cases are skeletons, gen.
orally deformed or monstrosities in their
way; specimens of strange bone forma-
tons, the remains of animals of the lower
orders; in others are exhibits of the pro-
gress of loathsome diseases; in others,
still, human monstrosities of every kind
the whole, in short, an excellent med
ical museum, well worth a visit, albeit
presenting some revolving exhibits.
There's sum things here that amt
nowhere else in the world" sagaciously
explained the Derby hat. '"The dockers
go large on this mushum."
Then down stairs and through dim
passageway to that gloomy chamber
which faces on the street. Gloomy in
deed it is. The frowzy walls are gloomy,
the great whitish slabs standing in a row
upon the pedestals are gloomy, and
gloomier still the stark, wan bodies
stretched upon them. The very gas Jet
burning over these melancholy figures
seems to shed dim sepulcnral radiance.
Fancy in the presence of such sights
takes fight and passes through all sorts
of horrible imaginings. Who are these
nameless dead What brought them
here2 Where did that one come by the
blush cash on the head, or the other by
those great bruises Was death sought
or was it the result of mans malevolence
The brain is in whirl in the presence of
such a picture, and sense of relief is
felt when this gloomy chamber, to whose
gruesome uses that of holding autopsies
is now added, is left behind.
The derby hat all this time has been
silent-not through awe evidently, for
his familiarity with such scenes is illus
trated the moment he enters in way
that makes the susceptible visitor shud-
der, but he has confidence in the eifec-
tivoness Of the picture and knows his To-
quacity cannot deepen it's impressions
"The slabs amt full to-day" he says,
apologetically, as he turns the knob.
'But faint often So"
Then out into the blessed air of heaven
more blessed after such a scene, one
feels. than at any other time. Here is a
paved quadrangle between the main
brick building and long, low structure
extending toward the water. On one
side is the big gate which opens on the
street. Through it, the Derby hat ex-
plains, the hearse enters to carry off the
identified dead Through it, too, the
name ess ones go off on that sad trip up
the East river to Potters field.
"'Spose you want t. see the dead