St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-11

far as such coroner authorizes dissection Tor
the purposes of the inquest and no further
Third-Whenever and so far as the hus-
band, wife or next of kin of the deceased
being charged by law with the duty OF burial
may authorize dissection for the purpose of
ascertaining the cause OF death and no fur
Their.
All other dissections or post mortems are
under the law a misdemeanor.
Dr.. Chase in his own behalf read
lengthy communication, i'll which he
quoted letters received from the st.
Paul, Cincinnati, Montreal and St.LOuiS
hospitals, saying that while the practice
of holding post mOrtemS was INDUCED
in, it was not regularly sanctioned by
law. DR.. Chase declared that when the
relatives of the deceased objected no
posts were held, and although Aid.
Phillips stated at former meeting OF
the board that the relatives of Christine
Larsen had been opposed to the au-
tOpsy. DIR. Chase had sent the body, not
to city morgue, but to an undertaker's
establishment, where the autopsy had
been held. DR.. Chase read a letter
signed by the supposed son of woman,
who gave his name as "Ole Olsen,"
stating that he was perfectly willing
that such an examination should be
held. In support of this position taken
in the matter of autopsies. DR.. Chase
had number of physicians present,
who were willing to swear that all OF
the autOpsieS held were for the better
education of the doctors who were pres
ent. TO support the statements that the
people who died in the city hospital
DR.. Chase called upon DR.. j. T. Moore,
who said that an old lady who died
from pneumonia had an operation per-
formed on her some time before. He
said that the physicians were anxious
to know the outcome of the operation,
and, although the death was due to an
other cause. the doctors wanted to
know the result of the operation. Drs.
W. A. Jones, j. III. Dunn. j. w. Clark,
Mcclellan, Bfacken and Brazie all de-
clared that free-for-all autopsies were
necessary, and declared that the city
physician had advanced the cause of
science by holding autopSies on the peO-
pie who died in the city hospital. DR..
Dunn admitted that some complaint
might be made for leaving body in a
coal hole for five or six days, but he
thought the intern. and not Dr.. Chase,
was responsible for it,
After the doctors had finished, Aid.
Parry moved that the board indorse the
action taken by DIR. Chase In holding
autOpSieS, and that the board of super
visors of the poor express vote of
confidence in him, which was carried
with applause. 1t is probable, however,
that the end is not yet, as the grand
jury is still in session, and it is more
than probable that the matter will be
brought to their attention.
Supt. Snyder reported that the eX-
pense of his department for the month
of March was $2.332.2O. He had fur
nished burials for IL pauper dead.
Twenty-three persons who would have
been a charge to the city were given
transportation. Six hundred and two
applications tor relief were received
and investigated. Relief in groceries
were furnished in PSI cases, and orders
for wood in 2S4 cases. Forty-four pa
tients were sent to the hospitals. There
are 73 patients now in the hospitals I'M
der the city's care, and 50 persons in the
poor house.