Year: 1876

instance, that a Of death from delirium tremens
should represented from another cause not so
unpleasant record the coroner instrues hs two or
three men on jury pcrsevere in insisting that the
case was other than it was aad in the end they gen
orally succeed in rendering verdict at variance with
the facts.


OF the scores Of yerdicts which rendered "acci
dentally drowned" not one in twenty is recorded
suicide In the also where suicide is so PLAIN as
not to be avoided nine times Of ten the deceased ia
credited with mental alteration" Scores Of verdlcts
arc rendered ,y tine doubtful terms "exhaustiOn" de
bility" exposure" and words which nay mean almost
ANYTHING Many suicides committed in this city go upon
record in the ooroners Office disease Of the heart 400
cases being recorded from jan 1S75 to Sept l. 1870


nd il has been asserted by those familiar with the
operations Of the that delirum tremens and
suicide are the features Of the bust
ness If the suicide belongs a wealthy aud respectable
Sfamly, it is alleged they are expected and
required TO pay very handsomely TO have the
ease hushed up Some unscrupuous follower OF the cor
does hesitate TO accept money under such cir
cunstances In the Of sudden death IN an infuen
tal family of servant girl from lnalpractice-and of
these there hundreds OF in NewYork yearly
the family prefer pay literally to have the facts con-
ceaed rather than have the papers filed for days with
true account of the girls death.


When head of the family the family physician is
obuse not recognize the demands Of the coroners
runner without being told plainly what is wanted,
various expedent resOted TO for bringing them to
their Senses" In the OF suicide for instance the
body may be ordered to be taken TO the MOrgue for
further investigation and for post mortem exanina


on. tender Of money in such invariably closes
the examination In the OF sudden death,
investigation is sometimes delayed until the hour Of
the funeral has been published in the papers
Then the forward TO make
his examination and report, and somebody insists for
him that the funeral shall place within few hours
pretending that there reasons FOR this in the circum
of the DEATH An incident OF this sort is told in
the case OF a wealthy gentleman who accidentally
killed some time ago. The coroner. preliminary in
vesgation, ordered the body to be Immediately buried
The family physician appealed TO in the matter and
he ordered the out of the house, threatening TO
expose the trick II any further annoyance was given the
family. In this the coroner failed to receive any
money as condition Of allowing the body to be buried
at the hour set for the funeral but in nneynne
out of a hundred he succeeds in extortng fee.


FALSE vERDICTs RETURNED IN RAILROAD ACCI-


DENTS


Accidents involving loss OF life on the treetcars or
steam railways another OF profit 70 tic coro
ners. The railroad companies naturally anticipate in
the event of loss OF life limb by accidents that the
surviving relatives friends Of the injured persons may
bring suits in the courts for damages II would be. of
course, important point in the establishment OF such
claim in court if the complainant should be able to put
forward as part OF his evidence the verdict of coro
jury condemning the company for the careesness
which resulted IN the accldent kdluOyu conpdhie5t
which frequently prosecuted by persons who have
been iniured-many through their own careessnsss-
take the precauton Of having coroners Juries run in
their interest and for this reason one seldom sees
verdict condemning railroad company, or hold
ing any OF its employees to account for the accident They
are rarely held responsible though the facts are OF


nature to warrant such verdict The records of the
coruers' Office for the time previously specified
show that 81 where persons were killed by cars,
In only I5 cases there any condemnation oil the
company and these in the Of steam railroads
The horse-car companies and their employees are In
varaby exonerated without censure Thus the
coroners watch over the companies interests The
actual amount Of money they receive OF course no one
can saw reouest from coroner for the appointment
OF driver conductor OF the street ears Is GER
tain of consideration These requests are numerous and
made by all the coroners dailY


Any number OF unnecessary nquests are also held in
New-York Deaths in hospitals, whore a physcian's
certificate would answer all the purposes Of coroners
inquest are used TO increase the onounents which are
paid by the county ia the form of fees In every case OF
stllbrth where the doctors certificate would be sum
clcn 10 satisfy the law insist on holding an In
quest and the amount OF money derived in this way is
very large. Examinations are frequently ordered by
coOners in where not the least suspicion attaches
10 the DEATH simply for the purpose Of claiming the fees
and allowing surgeons to experiment on the bodies
Some tine since a being laid in Chambers-st
and in the OF the excavation lot OF bones were

and separate inquest held each The result
that the collected for this service the part OF tbs
coroners amounted much the cost OF laying tie
sewer.


The actual amount which is realized by the coronecs
cannot be uaiy accurately computed, bui may be
arproximated An examination OF the official records
SHOWS that in 10 months they received about 100000


1t is fair infer that with the opportunities for making
demands upon the afflicted which unscrupuiOns
coroner would be sure TO improve, $4,000 additional
might he added the paid by the city Thus the
position may be made to yield $4,000 annually to each
coroner and that its value is understood by the men
who put in nomination the coTOners who elected
lately is evidenced from the fact that as soon each one
received his nomination lie had to - 900 % the
Taminany Han Committee for election purposes, besides
contributing his proporOnate share to the different
local Democratic Ward and AsseIaby District organize
tions in sums varying from $50 20 900 TO each.


41f ID q