St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-15
New York Letter.

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80 ID b I,9s ifghI mar :
single gas jet ever the face of each
corpse. the dripping water that falls on
the body to preserve it, while, as mat
ter of fact. the mo9rgue, nearly
everywhere is the dirtiest, nasti-
can be found, and this is espe-
ciallv true of the morgue in this city.
1t is located in an annex to Bellevue
hospital, and just off the damp and
dingy room that is used as the morgue
is little room that is called the dead
house, but by those who are initiated it
is termed the chamber OF horrors. 1t is
rightly named, for there never was a
place in which more horrible things
were done, and in which the SacrednesS
that is wrapped around the dead was 50
lightly thought of and so openly vio-
lated.
Through the connivance of undertake
ers, who are we'll paid for being blind,
the body of almost every one who dies
in public hospital is mutilated in the
most horrible manner in the name OF
science before the corpse is turned over
to the friends for burial. The face is
left intact, and the undertaken takes
good care that only this part OF the
body is seen by friends and relatives
after it is taken from the dead house.
If the history Of this place could be
written it would make startling page,
full of
Dark and Terrible Deeds,
that would place even some of the
brightest names in the medical profess
sion in an entirely different light than
they now occupy in the public estima-
ton. The presiding elder OF the dead
house is Capt. Jack Donolan. and he
knows 1t all and keeps his mouth shut.
1t is here that human bodies are stood
up, weighed and inspected, and sold
like cattle for dissecting purposes, the
price being regulated by the value OF
the corpse as an anatomical specimen.
Captain Donolan ass careful and
prudent man, and he does not send
away the wrong body for burial more
than once a day. The men who work
for him are convalescents, and they are
simply dummies who try to do as they
are told in a purely mechanical way,
and usually without succeeding. A
few nights ago, shortly after midnight,
while Capt. Jack was laZily lounging in
the Office, there came sharp whistle
DIT kU6 speaking IuUO dIu OuO VI GLO
nurses told the captain that patient
had Just died in Ward 9. This is the pri-
vate ward for patients who pay for med
ical treatment, and they usually re
ceive Letter care before and after death
than the others. The captain was suf-
fering from ennui or some other form
of Spirituous depression, and instead OF
responding to the call, as 1t was his
duty to do, he sent the night guard.
consisting of four men, to get the
body and take it to the dead house. Up
stairs they went, with the lock-step
that they were all familiar with, each
one having a hold of the arm of the
"cage." This is large wooden box,
one side of which is hinged. The open
side of the "cage'' is turned toward the
bed when it is in use, and the dead
body is rolled into it.
When the ord erlies this is sarcasm
reached Ward 9 the nurse was busy,
and the leader asked where the body
was.
Number SIXTEEN" the nurse an
swered. All patients are known by the
number of the cot they occupy
Through the faint light in the room
which barely served to show the out
lines of the bodies of the patients on the
cots, the men marched to the given
number, or, at least, the one they took
for it. and they were not particular
The door of the "cage" was opened
and the body of beautiful girl, about
twenty years old, was rolled into the
box with as much ceremony and feeling
as would have been shown for yellow
dog. The corpse carriers picked up the
box and Shambled away to
The Dead House.
The patient who had died was mos
interesting case from medical stand
point. 1t was girl who had been suf
fering from an organic disease of the
heart from birth, and of all the special
lists who had examined her not one @
them had been able to determine the
nature of the lesion. The heart gave
out sounds that were not mentioned il
the books. The only way to find GU
what was the matter with tie organ
was to hold an autopsy. The Law
requires that a body must have beer
relatives or friends obtained before i
can be cut up, but doctors do not pa,
attention to such little things whei
searching for scientific knowledge ant
willing undertaken is at hand. 1t wa.
expected the girl would die some tim,
during the night, and Dr.Elias, the we'll
known pathologiSt, was within cas-,
call with knife and saw, ready to begil
the butchery as soon as the breath hat
left the patients body, OF sooner i
there was any occasion for it.
The house staff of the Hospital wa
called up to witness the autopsy, and il
In less than half an hour from the tim
the death was reported DR.. Elias, hi
assistants and other spectators stood b,
the side of a shallow pewter trough OF
which the body of the girl was lying
The outlines of the body. though rathe
the Pickering gas light looked llk
the polished handiwork in marbl
of one of the old masters. TIL
only thing of interest to the physici
ans was the heart, and they did no
care for any of the other organs. Th
first incision was, for this reason, a dee
one, and made without regard to the in
ternal injury. The only object was t.
get into the chest as speedily as pos
sible. DR.. Elias smoothed the skin an,
plunged the knife into the body jus
below the breast bone and gaveAn up
ward rip. In second there came pre-
longed and unearthly yell, and the fort
corpseS in the morgue seemed to turl
over IN their narrow pine boxes for SYM
pathy. The corpse sat bolt upright il
the trough, repeated the yell, and the
Fell Back Unconscious.
DR.. Elias dropped his knife as If
were murderous weapon, and til
sweat stood in great beads upon hi
capacious forehead. The other doctors
though used to horrible sights, coul
not stand this, and their shaking knees
of their agitation.
"My God, the girls alivew exclaime
DR.. Elias when he recovered from hi
surprise and listened to the heart-beats
1t was terrible moment for them all
las murder was stamped over the Who'll