The evening times., 1896-11-07
OF THE c|TY's DEAD
Interior Of the M0rgue on New
Jsrs.y Avenue.
ROOM FOR ONLY FOUR BODIES
Cramped and Inconvenient Quarters
for the Exhibition, Examination
and Care of the Remains-The
Number OF Unfortunates Whom 1t
Has Held in Eight Years.


in the rear of the Sixth precinct station
house, is a disgrace toa aciviiZed community,
1t would be out OF place in n fifth-rate
community, much less populous, moucfh
city like the National Capital.
Win ,Ils truth Us tnelr sii.ooieth, several
citizens of Washington are going to carry
the matter before the inc oming Congress-
and make an effort to have that body ap-
propriate sufficient sum to give the mu-
nclpality Il dead house commensurate with
its leeds. The present mofSue is III feaiity
but u portion OF the stable attached to
No. q police station. 1t is u s4uatty, one
s,ory brick building, sandwiched between
the stable proper and the wagon shed; GER
tainly most uncanny place to Keep the
unfortunate dead Of a great City, even for
a limited time.
A few feet from the morgue entrance
is u great gate, opening ON to a lot covered
with aSnes and OeDrls. In 1act, the sur
roundiEgs, with horses, chickens, manure
heaps and debris, are not much better lhah
those at the wharf, at the foot OF South
Capitol street, where the dead animal are
received for transportation to the crema
tory or boneyard.
1t is saCrllegious," said gentleman
vino called To see The manrled remains OF
such place Tor the reception ofthc crcnalns
OF those unfortunateS VINO met their deaths
by accident OF homicide. ! wouidn keep
the body Of Il dead pet dog in such apiace.
The interior OF the morgue is Kept as neat
and clean as the crainped quarters Will per
nit by Morguemastcr VIII Schonebcrger,
who ha $ been i'll charge of the uncanny inStl-
tuition for over four years. II Is one room,
10 LIZ by 20 feet in size, with stone floor
ing and a generally dismal air. What day
light enters this abode Of death in its most
horrible forms comes in through two side
windows, overshadowed by the wagon
| shed and a transom over the door
WATER BROUGHTIN BUCKETS.
THERE'S no ru nning water In theapartment,
and when il becomes necessary, as it is N
nearly every case, to W ash of the remains.
water has 10 be brought into the room in
buckets from the adjoining stable.
The walls are kept neatly wbitewa
by Manager SchoneberGcr, and the stone
floor i - washed after the removal Of each
body. There are absolutely no modern
vcntilating apparatus Or arr angements con
nected with the institution, and on several
occasions during the past summer po-;tr-
men in the adjoining statiun-bouse have
been made sick by the noxiouS and al
most uncomfortable odors, especially from
| bodies that have lain a long time in the
water. The poisonous gases have also filled
tbesurrounding atmosphere ana endangered
the Hves OF icsIu.-rICS lu tue u'IgnuoILoou.
The present morgue was erected about
eight years ago, during which time it
has held the remains of 345 persons, who
IN ct their deaths by murder, suicide, drown
ing, poisoning, railroad and other acci-
dents In addition to these, the little build
ing during the same period has accoInmo-
dated the tiny bodies Of about 500 infants
found ia sewers, on lots, streets, alleys. and
other places, where they We're deposited In
the midnight hours by inhuman mothers or
| their agents. Thus during the eight years
| OF its existence the morgue has held nearly
800 bodies. Many of these We're taken
| in charge by relatives or friends and
given Christian burial. Others, more un-
fortunate, found their way to nameless
graves in the Potters Field.
Before The establishment Cr d city m Orgue
each precinct took charge of its own dead
Then the bodies of murdered persons, sui
cides or those killed in accidents Were
placed on tables or other Contrivances in
the stables or outhouseS in rear Of the sta
ton houses and kept there until the flnal
disposition had been decided upon by the
coroner
BODIES EATEN-BY RATS
Iti ON rec ord that in the olden da Us rats
| on several occasions feasted Cn the bodies
| uf unfurIunates IN these insecure uutbuild
| ings.
| ne present morgue has really accommo.
| dalions but for four bodies. 1t is provided
| with two cooling boards, Znc-lined ueaG
table and an iCe-boX. Manager Schone'
| berger, at his own expense, provided a
| grewsome case with apartments, one fol
| the clothing Of III urdcrerS, another for tine
| garments taken from murdered persons
| and a third for the reception of trinketS
| and other articles found IN the pockets OF
| clothing on the dead, which are sometimes
| employed as means Of ldentifica tion.
| When post mortemiS s performed num-
| Der of students from the city colleges ar
| usually present To see and learn how DcpuJ J
| Coroner Glazebrook conducts his investiga
| tionS into the condition OF a Sub:Sct.
| The necessity for a larger and more mod
| ern morgue was never better illustrated
| than AT the time of the ford'S Ihcatel
disaster and more recently by the Stumpt
| holocaust. on the day inat the old the
| ater building on Tenth street collapsed
| and carried so many men down to death
| there We're fourteen mutilated bodies in the
| little room at one time. 1t had been sudden
| ilvtransforinedinto verita BILE cha rIiei house.
| The CurpSes, covered with mortar dust and
| blood, lay upon the floor, in the corners OF
the apartment and on the cooling boarl
| and ables.
| Outside of the door was Il great crowd
| of people, crushing, pushing, and yelling
lOf any Vi
| ones were among the slain. Altogether
l seventeen bodies were received
Six cbarred and crushed corpses was the
| awful harvest at the murgue from the
| Stumph fire Even this number over
| crowded the little structure and rendered
| the atmosphere of the room foul and
| Sitting. A IS fast as the bodies were iden-
| tilted Morguemaster Schoneberger pinned
! Oh the coat lapel of each small slip of
/ paper containing the name and address.
| The records OF the morgue are kept on
| large forms, boundintoa a book and pro vided
| by Health Officer Woodward, wht appre
ctates the necessity of such a record.
| Prior to DR.. Woodward's appointment Mr.
| Schoneberger kept the entries as best he
| could on improvised forms. Before he took
| charge of the morgue no records We're Kept
| at all. A sample entry in the book now
| in use and the first one made in tba,
J volume is given:
| "Morgue number, 1. Office number, 2O4