The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-21
A SHOCKING TRAGEDY.

Because the State of Connecticut as- serts itself to be a Christian commu- nifty it is not possible to ignore an in cident in the life of the town of Or ange. which has been brought to, light by finding of Coroner Mix. Doubt less the representatives of the law will move in the matter as they deem fit, but consideration of the occurrence rises above the question of criminal proceedings. It is an incident in the life of the State which would not have been believed had it lacked the countersign of the official coroner of the county.
 The victim of the tragedy was an old negro woman, the widow of vet eran of the civil rebellion. Being un- able to care for herself and having no relatives upon whom she could rely for her support she became a charge upon the town of Orange. By direc- tion of the authorities of the town she was sent to be boarded at the house of one John Healy "who lives" in the language of the coroner, fin shanty located in the woods at a place known as Stevens Heights" The town promised to pay the sum of two dollars week for her support. Says the coroner's report: "She was placed In low building, cold, cheer less and surrounded by a piggery. Tn many places the building was exposed to the weather. There was no stove and the only furniture was a tumble down bedstead upon which was filthy mattress, her bed clothing be- the house Mrs. Robbins had moder- ate supply of clothing, which after she had been there a while was not available to her, and she was sup piled by Healy with a mans jumper, being almost entirely without under clothing. She was at times during the winter outside saving wood in this condition" In spite of the fact that she was sick woman all the while she was quartered at the shanty she was frequently obliged "to go to the garbage barrel in order to get food to eat" Complaints were made to the town authorities of Orange but without avail. Her sister called on her two weeks ago and found her in such deplorable condition that she was sent to the New Haven hospital. ''When the nurses went to remove her they found pigs in the room with her which ran out at their en- trance"
 We have revived this tale with more or less detail because the lesson of 1t should sink into the memory of the people of New Haven county It is inconceivable, or would have been thought so day or two ago, that such an experience should be recorded by the coroner of the county True, 1t is probably an isolated case, but it loses none of its horror on that &C., count Here is section of the coun- try inhabited by people who are bless ed beyond the people of many other sections of the country. There are places in the State of New Hampshire where similar incidents can be exper- fenced every day in the year, where the missionaries of the different church organizations and societies are hard at work seven days in the week to arouse the degenerates to a fuller sense of their animal existence. In different parts Of the south like hu- man decentralization Is easily found, especially among the poor white trash of the mountains, but these instances offer no excuse whatever to any sec tion of the State of Connecticut re- producing acts and scenes which bring the blush of shame to the cheeks of the most hardened man. And the town of Orange is near enough to the city of New Haven, of which some day it may be a part, to make the humilia- tion shared in here. As we have al- ready said. this is a Christian com munity. At least the community claims to be directed by either Chris tian or civilized principles of social and political control It reads of the cruder civilization of early New Eng land. and in spots of the colony of New Haven, with a shudder, and asks itself wonderingly how a people could countenance such manifestations of the brute instinct, much less practice them. Now this Christian and civil ized community, proud of it's indus trial development and charitable na- ture, ever pointing with pride to the philanthropic achievements of the inn mediate past and viewing with alarm the failure of other peoples to feel the stimulus of such altruistic endeavors, must face such a shortcoming on it's