Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-03-15
Phladelphia's Dismal Charuai
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PAa4GsipAa Pre-.

who could not point it out as such to an IN
auisitive visitor. The eccentric old man
who leans against the door, smoking his
pipe and awaiting guests for the charnel-
house, is looked upon as a person OF pecu-
liar Importance, and the bunch of keys that
Jingle in his pocket are the subject OF NOR,
bid interest to every one in the vicinity.
They are the keys Of manga mystery. They
can unlock the secrets Of the river, they
open the way to the latest proof ofthe adaaSe
that murder will on" and they can fur.
nish at all times feast for the eyes OF
lovers of the horrible.
Conrad, the keeper Of the Morgue. IS
proud of his calling. Come some other
day." be says to a person who meets him
on the threshold Of the hotel for the dead,
Say in about a week. Things amt in no
sort Of trim. wouldn't like you to see the
place now. We're all out Of gear. In
few days We II have some nice new bodies
good 'uns-and then I'll show you how l
can fix en- up. Why, you'd think they
were asleep. There they lie, peaceful and
quiet, looking as happy as if they were on
a bed of roses, instead Of lying on chun Ks Of
ice, with bits OF ice on their face to keep
EN- sweet.
"Well, if you irsist," he continued, grum,
blipgly, "come on, but you'd better come
back some other day. There ANT al
undertaken in the city that can do this
thing better than me. Keep EN-? Why,
| keep en- longer than any one else ! know.
I've been here ten years at this work. Be
fore got the place used to do the hauling
for The Coroner
The Dead on the Marble Slabs.
The old fellow threw open the door and
led the way into the large hall, through
which visitors pass on their way to the
rooms where the unknown dead lie staring
at their coffin lids. A glass partition reach
ing to the ceiling separates the hall from a
chamber where the corpses are placed. The
glass has been painted, 50 that ii is Opaque.
The time was when the crowd were admit
ted TO this hall and through the Gnpainted
glass saw the bodies lying on inclined mar
bic slabs. Ice cold water trickled on them
from above, and ran into little cutters at
the foot Of the slabs. Hundreds OF people
would come in day TO look through
the glass Very small noses were
pressed against the large panes,
and children's eyes peeped in,
their Innocent owners wondering why the
men aud women lay so quiet under the min.
iature shower baths. But this method Of
exhibition was done away with l.oafers
made the Morgue regular longing place.
Besides that, the remains were not properly
preserved on the slabs, and it was also diff,
cult for relatives to recognize them at such
q distance, especially when the features
were changed through exposure, lapse o.
time or a sojourn in the river.
Now the bodies lie in collins, aud seekers
Of lost relatives or friends are shown them
privately. The old slabs are only used to
lay the remains out on when they are first
brought in, their presentation at the MOrgue
often being marked BY thorough drench'
ing from hose. A morgue is usually the
last resort Of people who have lost a friend.
II is not until every other means Of finding
a clue has been exhausted that the grim
vault is visited.
The Morgue keeper, whose house ad-
Joins the building so that he can keep con.
slant watch over his charges, is often walked
I'D in the middle of the night By distracted
persons. 1t is his duty to come down aud
assist them in a search among the collins.
The gaslights in the hall are turned down
to star during the night, but even when
they are burning fully they give but dim
light. The custodian of the corpses leads
the visitors through the cold, damp hall
way, turns to the left, unlocks q door and,
striking q match, lights 8 gas jet. Then
the visitors see on the floor some new pine
cofius covered with their lids. Piles Of
clothing an dboxes OF ice are in opposite
corners of the vault.
Identifying Bodies.
"Is this him." hastily inquiries the Morgue
man, regardless of grammar, throwing of
the lid Of one Of the boxes and revealing
corpse propped into position with Jumps of
ice. Its lower jaw is tied up with q handker
chief that encircles the head. 1t seems to
look sadly at those who disturb it. Another
moment and the lid has been replaced-it is
not the one Another lid is pushed of, and
there is disclosed perhaps woman. Big
stitches hold together the flesh over the
heart, showing the track OF the knife of the
physician who made the autopsy. This is
moi the one, either, and, after few more
glimpses at the contents Of other collins, the
visitors go away, happy at not having found
in that place that which they were so eager
ly seeking.
Conrad. the Morgue maR, is not sensitive,
neither Is he sympathetic, but he knows the
most painful moment in the experience Of
the visitors This is the instant when the
lid of fresh coffin ia to be lifted, time
when women often faint from the high ten
sion Of the nerves. The searcher does not
know whether the face that he is about to
see is that Of beloved father, brother, wife
or child or of stranger. The Morgue
keeper can give no accurate description of
the coffin's contents and he very often for
gets which boxes particular bodies are in.
Under some cloth on one of the slabs yes
terday lay the bodies of two infants, both q
few months old. A FARCE patch Of blood
on another part OF the marble marked the
place where one of them originally lay.
Someone must have killed EN- and thRown
EN- out on an empty lot, unused the MOrgus
keeper. They do that often, he went on
in a musing way. Here's another, ne ex-
claimed. opening little coffin and showing
a baby whose period of life evidently had
been but q very few days. The big black
stitches on the body showed that a post
mortem examination had been held.
The amount of infanticide in Philsdel
phia can be gagged by the large use of it
tie pine boxes at the Morgue A big pile
of them does not last very long. Policemen
pick up the bodies in the street. on lots
they are removed to the
city dead-house, pending their burial in the
Potter's Field. The responsibility for sheir
death Is frequently net fixed.
The Morgue Keepers Joke.
Il had q good joke played on me the
other day" said the Morgue keeper, chuck
ling. "a man came and said there had
been Q big FIRE and that fifty babies had
been burned up. Well, lsupposed ofeoaTse,
that it was some public institution and
made ready for lively tine. lhadH't Fifty
coffins in the place, so l made ready 10 put
Eve or six babies in some Of tie big boxes
Well. sir, in few days pet that man and