The sun., 1884-01-06
PICTURES OF LONDON
Tho Msrtuaries OF the werid's Metrspelis-
Among the Guctnimed Dead,


LONDON, Dec. 2O.--1t was In n small nnd
tidy Office In q quiet London street. My COM
ranon was about 40 yenrs old. He was dressed
In black. His mouth was ribald. his noso pur-
pie. his conversation frsk. IIo was full OF
stories. His anecdotes wcro mostly ghastly
He related them ioyially. The more terrible
they were tho funnier he grew. His wit was
not always OF the purest sort. He was nm adept
In snng Ho was kind-hoarod man, tho
clerk of Coroner. He had been mnuy Years
at 1t. as he said. and IL was evident that the
most awful occurrences left him unruIlIed.
An infant. u icw months old, whose smother
oil body had Just boon discovered in closet.
was conveyed to tho mortunry ms we wore talk
ing. Poor thing!" said ho. Rather pu2zling.
eb. sir?"
Thcn ho gave instructions TO the i,orter, n
smart gray littlo man. to arrange tho fearful
object rs well rs he could in u coilin. the our-
sided deal she'll painted in black externally. Of
the poor. Iaskcd him IL many cases Of that
kind were brought to him. :" on yes. sir" was
the reply. and worse also. Well. il was but
three days ago that something was shifted
here in such a vivisected trim that we couldn't
mako head nor tail of it, And yesterday We
had to A. quite speculntively most confusing
stock Of calcinated bones and cndcrs holonging
to the two poor old females cromated Ia the
great Are OF Monday" l suggested that he
must bo very busy. Yes" ho answered. at
times thoy will como In shoals. and you don't
know how to accommodate them. Then there
are the innuests."
dental or unknown causes. If belonging to tho
not-well-to-do classes, are taken to tho NOR
pital The rich are usually left in their houses.
Il ifclnimed by their relations. ~ the day OF tho
court. So. OF course, my interlocutors time
must have bocn very fairly employed. The iol-
Of the melarcholy, cases that come, before the
Coroner, and which is contained in arliamen-
H, n Rs in xSTs this
Of mseries to be found in London. It results
ing the preceding year there occurred in the
capital eighty deaths upon which coroner's
orSt death aceeerated BY prlyation;
st have sui' died during that ueriai from want si
food for great @ many have have, at IT, least that sol so-
to die without attracting notice. No doubt the
policeman nnd the relieving officer know II
inquired OF the clerk II it was always, ensy
to get ut the identity Of III. bodies stranded In
the mortpSry; nary he replied that frequently they
The English have strong objection to the
French system Of the morgne; yet. though 1t
have only one central dead house. where all
unclaimed corpses are exposed for idcntiilca-
ton, Is certainly much preferable to the Eng
iish pnrocbial moriuaries Ii a family misses
one of its members. or u friend loses friend in
e. nand IS Gn Ty Ian
London is divided in unions Of parishes. each
into no loss than thirty parishes. and OF course.
NOT commonly known. Moreover. TIL. mortm.
ary is not unfrnIuenty al some 'nconvoni.nt
the limits OF the Mel ro!,ols Local Management
act covers mn area Of ~. .2oS acres. What must
over such an area, by person. 'nnoring under
tho deepest anxiety, IT is hardly possihi" to
BY Sya"uSuM ,H "a plicn s,a,on 'r.n the
Inspector of which il Immediately informed Of
all mystsr,"n, atia!rs nns ty fow aEan nrs are
snns tune; VIII. -Xrushhy enough. not bs con
tented with the written description with with which
lhe Inspector could furnish them They viii
snly be satisfied with what they can sne with
Although. practically, tho English arrange
nsnts for the rapid i'lent tihcafon oI dead bod es
cannot be com pared to the French tho idea Of
~ sss whass spssss ssn y
Paris would present makes one's blood run
pen in Loni"b are many. @ni m"re NUMEROUS
Than the public generally knows. Some OF
at busy times. are curtiy reported na insignt-
sant matters. l have seen in q amortuary nn
ribis to describe. No doubt they betrayed cd u
teIr. bic tragedy. yet hardly any papsr, spoke Of
their d,sGoysry nnd those & who did simny
tssa d,rE wfre TO-
do away with all their political intsil ganre.
the person who first discovers tn" body com :
who breaks tho news to his Inspector. who tells
the beadie. who informs the clerk Of the NOR
the reIspvn Of th" body. This LOOKS as though
mattsrs might be slmpiilieL; When The d,s.
photograph is taken and its description trans
mitted 70 all the polio" stations. Til" funerals
those oi Z pauper. are made at the expense OF
yar Te sam had e RHp aryG n :" ee
mni. The day WAS lovely. Az distance was
heard the confused clnmor of the hG, city. Tho
mGrtuary Was silent: but now snl then. out o
aveternn pnplnr bard by the chnrel, nnrst forth
r.. The am"rops ay s Of an u invisns
And whnt u miscellaneous set in the loila: train
Of the forsaken dend! But Ibis is h"bitnal, for
hnery and those brought up in rags start to-
g.rther on their last human VOYAGE.
In this poor desoiate h"arsr, by the side OF in,
digent navvies and two children left exposrd
In tn. street, rr.snma1'y M to avoid funeral s sx,
who some years ago Was ut the isni Of a urpt
business in Brml ngham, md tho bod of III
Tsssa SS"s SSedn f cdn b"r
er: not Single friend or relation,
poy Hsw S%y. hs sh. last sysr ss i s+ s"l
next minute jogs unnoticcd with It's grim con,
tents through The in,srwinnbls str, streets q IN.
ia that the parents or friends OF tho unknown
girl h have % no, missed her . and mnds innuirles
/ had seen her laid in her coffin neatl,
wrapped in her clean white shrond, AMI wait
ing to be seen by the COronrr's Jury, ami can.
not r.frain from saying that her frturns. bear
ing An expression Of Great sorrow, had divine
beauty. Tn" aristOcrHilc cast OF her hands he
trayed pntrlcinn origin.
Come see my picture gallery" replied ths
clerk. There are moro puzzles there. It i.
strange how many Of them seem 10 fail from
the moon, You might as well try to ferret on
tho grandsre OF 4 stray eat as 10 iinrihtle the
origin OF some uf the strangers that board here
You may cabinet picture them and bizon then
through the town. till yon expect half OF u I,
ci,ll. and not get ono singls application, Lool
you here" and he opened u drawer fill ~ nor
traits Of mon and women wiosc names have
their death. some by foul dealing mud some. b,
cause unknown. What grim COLLECTION tina
WAS. and what q melancholy one! You sec
cir Z Aiun,t INT y nnil ILn rlnrk ns 1