The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1898-01-01

/ Every frse pos4 gnvllshnsan eonisz
int0 the world ~aA the ,~allenahie
right TO a seg. al The table and bed
in the palatial English workhouse. sit
has been my good fortune during a
journalistic career now close ON %
years to visit and describe for various
publications over 100 British cities and
towns. In nearly every case attention
has been called to the handsome build
ings set apart for the paupers, or, In
colloquial English, "the 'ouse." Back
In the good old days of Queen Elizabeth
/ the principle was made law that no
i English man or woman should starve.
aud that, IL unable to secure a living for
themselves, the poor and the INDECENT
aud she incapah'es must be cared For
by the state. Sc firmly has the idea
taken possession Of the English mind
that the poorer class, the old, and even
those IN the prime Of life. talk with
eamnlaisance Of ending their days in
"the 'euse," They inosS apsa I. very
much as our oh people might regard
going to home for lnvalids or the old,
and. indeed, In many Of the English
warehouses they are cared for as well
as in such Institutions as our old ladies'
homes. etc. The other week. when In
Bideford. was taken to tka work
house. situated in beautiful hill over
looking the broad river and famous
bridge. For the moment could hard
~ believe my eyes. Ii looked for all
the world like japanese palace. 1t
was built much as they build in Japan,
with plaster between the massive wood
en- beams. pointed gable roof. old-fash-
Toned easement windows, vines spread
ing their beautiful green tendrils in all
directions, and in front large variety
of dark shrubs ard just such stunted
shrubs as one sees in Japan-odd-
shaped and picturesque. And here the
poor of BideforI1 ll[
merry.
Quite number of cases of death
from overlooking in the Bideford work.
house occurred during my stay in Eng
land, and the Hackney coroner held in
quests on no less than three cases with
in a short time. Oliver Twist is evil
deptly back number nowadays, for
at the coroner's inquiry into the death
of the latest victim of parochial kind
Iess man 70 years of age, who had
lived in the Bethnal Green workhause
md acted as assistant librarian, the fol-
leWi=sdia dialogue ensued between the
coroner and an inmatc of4thas.work-
house:
while We TwSsssfse ss n a saitszaasae
ceased, he was cutting some bread and
butter, suddenly fall backward off the
bench on which he was sitting.
The Coroner-Yon don't think the ex-
ertion of cutting bread and butter
killed him?
mo, not likely. He had cut up lot
before that"
"They give you plenty to eat, then?"
"Aye, they do that"
The doctor who was called in to see
the deceased testified that death was
1ue to syncope, produced by an over
oaded stomach.
The Coroner-One may say that he
was killed by kindness?
az A~OStOA - AAoJ VI may HOt Uc
blindness to overload mans stom-
lch.
well, it shows he did not go short of
ood."
"Short! BY no means. Why, they
lave nothing to do but eat, drink and
leep."
The jury returned verdict that de-
eased died from syncope, the result of
N overloaded stomach, and that such
eath was due to natural causes.
And as the jury gave the decision
leep, sepulchral voice in the back of
he courtroom remarked:
what glorious DEATH"
The owner of the voice was a tall,
yaunt, hungry-looking individual, who
had evidently mentally decided that
the 'ouse" was not bad place to end
one's days.-N. Y. Mail and Express.
EycJuSfnv ~