Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-20
He Deals With the Darker and Sad
der Phases of Life.
some IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS
They Are Contained in Ex-Coroner
Woodward's Annual Report.
SOME WORKOUT LAWS

WOOQWaTQ IN tne report ne SpedhS VI
many phases Of local life.
The entire number Of cases investigated
during the year was $50, Of which lis were
still births This is somewhat less than
investigated last year. and the coroner
thinks the falling off is due to a resump-
ton of the law requiring many investiga-
tions to be made by the health officer.
Speaking of the matter, the report says:
When / assumed control of the office
the regulation was seemingly a dead let
ter, many of the cases embraced under
the section being reported directly to the
coroner. On account of the amount of
work so thrown upon him, it had become
the practice to issue In some cases death
certificates at the Office without viewing
the body. Believing that this method
might afford means Of covering crime, /
have refused to issue a certificate in any
case in which 1 had not seen the corpse.
and have endeavored 70 have the proper
cases treated by the health office. l would
suggest that arrangements should be made
to relieve the physicians to the poor OF this
work. They are already overwhelmed
with their regular duties. Moreover, from
my own experience / believe that some
Of the cases die without physicians be-
cause of their inability to pay for medical
attendance, and because these physicians
refuse or neglect to attend them. That
this refusal or neglect is without excuse
I am not prepared to say, hut do believe
that such cases should come to the at
tention of some officer who could investi-
gate all OF them with reference to the
neglect or refusal Of these physicians to
render medical aid without tie Ill feeling
engendered by a formal complaint by the
coroner.
Bodies Of Infants.
The number of infant bodies found is
referred to as follows: "Of still births,
quite number Of bodies have been picked
up on the street. some were found in
sewers. in the g and o. canal. in the
James Creek canal, in the Potomac river
and in Rock creek. The ease with which
these bodies can be carried from place to
place and dropped renders 1t almost i'm
possible to discover whence they came.
That many OF these bodies are the product
of criminal abortions there Is no doubt,
but there Is no evidence to prove this to
be so.'
violent Deaths.
Continuing, the report says: "Of the
deaths due to violence which occurred In
this District, "a per cent were due to acci-
dents, 8 per cent to homicides and % per
cent to suicides. There were no deaths
due to railroad collisions during the year.
OF the six cases recorded as due to steam
railroads, two were those of railroad en-
ployes killed while at work. While both
of these were In some measure due to the
negligence of the employee, one would prob
ably not have occurred had the railroad
company had Its switches properly block
ed. OF the remaining deaths, but one &C.
CURED within the city limits. This one
was due TO the grade crossing and the
failure Of the railroad company to supply
engines with a proper headlight. The lat
ter condition has since been remedied, but
the grade crossing still furnishes an In
viting field of labor for the reformer. 1t
is to be noted that not one death is charged
against the horse cars in this city, while
the cable road has claimed three victims
and the electric cars four. Comparisons
between the dangers of these two latter
motor powers cannot be drawn from these
figures, as the deaths were due, with one
exception, to the careleSsneSS OF the de-
ceased, and as there are no figures as TO
the number of miles travelled daily by each
kind of car. Any comparison which does
not take into consideration this latter
element must be misleading. In one case
death resulted from the careleSsnesS OF
the Washington ana Georgetown Railroad
Company in switching cars. This condt-
ton has since been remedied. 1t serves,
however, to indicate the desirability OF
avoiding switching cars on the streets
wherever possible IL motor power other
than horses is used. Some of the deaths
might have been avoided had the cars been
provided with proper Tenders but, In this
respect all the roads err alike This city
has escaped any deaths from the electric
current as applied to either street lighting
or motor purposes.
Five bodies have been found drowned
which have not been identified. All were
colored males and bore no evidences of
violence. On scc cunt OF this fact, together
with their color and apparent station In
life all of which were against homicide or
suicide, these deaths have been regarded
as accidental.
Cases of Suicide.
"Of the suicides there were more white
males than any other class. Next comes
white females, and then follows colored
males and females, each having an equal
number. Sixteen were single. twenty-five
married, one was a widow and one
widower. The rates of suicides per hun
dred thousand Of population ESTIMATED at
$4,000 was thirteen - eighteen for the
whites ESTIMATED at 100000 and four for
the colored estimated at $4,000. The aver
age age of the suicides was 42.77 years,
the youngest being eighteen years and the
Oldest seventy-six. A statement of the
causes of suicides Is almost a matter of
guesswork. as it IS in most cases unknown.
Homicides Reported.
"Os the thirteen homiCides but one was
justifiable. This one was committed by a
police officer In the discharge of his duty.
1t Is worthy of notice that even including
this one but two were due to gunshots,
and none of the others were due to what
are ordinarily regarded as dangerous wea-
ponS. The occurrence of homicldal drown
ing (aS in one case here 1ecorded) Is I'M
usual. In Only one case has infanticide
been positively proven, and in this case II
was impossible to find the murderess, al
though the crime was done in the mothers
own bed room and while but two other peo-
pie were present.
InQuests Held.
"Forty-three inquests were held during the
year, and ten persons held for the grand
Jury. In one case the charge was ignored
by the grand jury. end in one a nolle
proseQui entered by the district at
eorney. Two persons were convicted of
murder three of manslaughter and one
was acquitted. The others are awaiting
trial"
Dangers Reported.
The report says that steps should be
taken to provide the coroner's office with
a suitable home instead of having ii trans
ferred from place to place with each
change of coroner, and then takes up the
question of autopsios, of which fifty-four
have been performed by order of the
coroner at the public expense. Others have
been done by physicians as q matter of
courtesy.
The report calls attention to an i'm
portant matter when 1t says: Il would
call your attention to the absence of any
facilities at the disposal of the District
government for the prompt and accurate
chemical analysis and microscopical ex-