The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-08-28
THE UNKNOWN DEAD.
DESCRIPTION OF THE POTTER's
FIELD OF NEW YORK.
Hundreds OF Dead Whose Kindred Are
Well-to- Do-One Hundred and Fifty
Bodies In One Grave--"whom
Nobody Owns"
New York TimeaI

New York Tines
In 1868 the commis sioners Of charities
and correction found IL necessary to find q
burial place for the poor, and so the large
plot on the east side of Hart's island, up the
sound some twenty miles or more from the
city, was secured. During the war the isl
and had been used rs a camping ground
for Union soldiers, and also as place of i'm
prisonmont for the rebel soldiers, and the
first burial Of the dead there were Union
soldiers A neat little Union cemetery
where sleep hundreds of those who were en-
listed in the cause of the Union now gracss
the island, and beautiful soldiers monu.
ment and scores Of lesser marble tomb
stones mark the resting places Of those who
died while encamped OH the island
Since 1868 something over III, 900 Of the
citys poor, friendless and unknown dead
have been buried in the city cemetery.
which ad joins that in which are buried the
remains of the soldiers On Mondays and
Thursdays Of each week the burials take
place. When person dies In a hospital,
work-house, penitentiary or other public
institution, unless the body Is claimed by
friends or charitably disposed persons and
given Christian burial. it Is placed in o
cheap 5o-cent pine coffin, removed to the
morgue for day or so and thence trans
ferred on one OF the city's steamers to Harris
island and buried by gang Of work house
employees who are detailed to bury the dead
When a person dies in a public institution
his or her nearest friend or relative Is In
formed, and IL the latter are able the city
will take measures to compel them to bury
the body.
But the duty Is often shirlxed. 1t Is moth
ing new to hear Of husband who 10 able
refusing to bury o wife. or OF q wife refus-
ing to bury a husband-or q father or
mother refusing to give a son or daughter q
proper burial, or of the latter doing as much
for their parents But there are those who,
even il as poor as the mythical church
mouse, will even beg for the means to Sc
cure a coffin and q burial plot elsewhere for
some deceased loved one Some Of the poor
est Of the poor have been known to deny
themselves the very necessaries OF life, to 90
thinly clad and hungry, rather than one Of
their kith and kin should be placed in pau.
per grave. And yet there are in pottsr's
field hundreds Of the dead whose kindred
are known to be well-to-do. There sleep in
some of the pits side by side the poorest out
cast and the once petted child OF fortune.
There ere many. yea thousands, who think
to be buried at the expense Of the city In q
Potter's Field Yet there are those whose
hearts are hardened, and who do not change
even when the cold earth shuts out from
their sight forever some loved one. Ger
tainly the burial which the dead receive in
the potter's field Is not Christian one. Nc
tears are shed there; there are neither
mourners, priests nor prayers. No tender
hands lift the coffin; no tender hands place
the shroud upon the occupant A gang OF
twenty men, moro or less. is engaged six
days in the week digging the pits in which
the dead are to be buried. One hundred
and ffty bodies are placed in each pit. and
the coffins are packed as closely together a.
sardines in q box.
The burial gang also consists Of work.
house employees detailed from the branch
work-house on Warts island, which Is In
charge OF Warden Dunphy. As an extra
inducemsnt the burial gang is allowed
rations Of tobacco and poor whisky. The
duty which they perform Is not q pleasant
one and many would shirk It IL they coulL
The men 60 about their work at the pits as
carelessly as IL they were handling logs.
Sometimes the cofiins are broken, and
part Of a human body may be seen ex-
posed. and laughs and jibes are heard as
it Is dashed into the hole. Then again
human blooi trails over q coffin. The
stencil that issues from some Of the collins
at times. especially in the summer, Is terri
BILE Boxes instead Of coffins ere at times
placed in the pits. They contain tho re-
mains Of the dead from the hospital dis
secting-rooms Many bodies are huddled
together In pieces in one box. The pits are
numbered by sections and tiers, and q rec
ord is kept Of the names OF those buried
there, while the unknown are marked "un-
known" There is a part OF the cemetery
set apart where bodies are temporarily
placed 50 as to await the possibility Of be-
ing claimed by friends.