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Tomahawk (1867-1870), 4th December 1869, Edition 1 of 1, Page unpag

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    • THE ST. TANCRAS MARTYRS.
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      T He To M A H Aw K. A Saturday Journal O...

      T HE TO M A H AW K . A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . ¦ ; € i > itct > bp frttt ) ux & ' 3 & eckett . . o " INVITAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRETERIT . "

      No. 135.] London, December 4, 1869. [Pri...

      No . 135 . ] LONDON , DECEMBER 4 , 1869 . [ Price Twopence .

      The St. Tancras Martyrs.

      THE ST . TANCRAS MARTYRS .

      There Is No Doubt That St. Pancras Workh...

      There is no doubt that St . Pancras Workhouse is a model institution . There is only one thing more certain , and that is that the St . Pancras Guardians are the most pure and authentic specimens of injured innocence extant . The Press has been hard at work reviling them for the last three weeks or so . Be it

      our task to vindicate v them , and the excellent institution over which they preside , from the calumnies of such miserable scandalmongers as Dr . Ellis ; from such presumptuous officials as Dr . Lankester ; from such pigheaded boobies as the juries who have dared to hint that the condition of the infirmary was other than

      it should be , of the vile public which has hounded on these assailants of pious conscientious men , whose only fault has been that ^ ith , fearless the facts of all of consequences the case the , they public have are done alread their y duty famili . ar . Several patients have died in the St . Pancras Infirmary , and inquests have been held—a most vexatious proceeding . In

      July last the medical officer reported more than once that the wards in the infirmary were quite unfit for the reception of sick people , or indeed of anyone else . There were foul smells from the sewers and from the sinks , and the ventilation was contrived so as to let in plenty of cold air , but not to let out much foul .

      The Poor-law Inspector also found that the number of cubic feet allowed to each patient was far below the amount recommended by the Poor-law Board . He also found that in many other respects these wards were very defective . Patients complained to the nurses , nurses and doctors complained to the

      Guardians ; but they nobly disregarded all such complaints . So things went on till these inquests came . Since the death of these inmates on November 14 th , a Dr . Bridges , " acting as a metropolitan medical , inspector under the Poor-law Board for Dr . Markham , " visited the wards . He found " very bad smells

      from the sinks . " He thought that persons labouring under phthisis would " suffer in such wards , and would not be likely to recover . " " He made his report to the Poor-law Board , but , estimable man (!)— " he did not recommend anything . " The Coroner was brute enough to make some very strong observations

      on the fact that Dr . Bridges being a Government Inspector , finding the state of the atmosphere of these wards such as to have a tendency to accelerate death , had not reported his opinion as to what remedy should be applied . For our own part , we highly commend Dr . Bridges . He made a report—he took his

      pay—what could he do more ? If he had recommended anything , what good would it have been ? The Poor-law Board would have recommeaded it to the Guardians , the Guardians

      would have taken no notice of it , the patients would have gone on dying , and a great deal of unnecessary trouble and waste of time would have been the only result of Dr . Bridges' officious recommendation . If , since July last , the wards had heen condemned as unfit for sick personsand if the frequent

      remonstrances of the medical officer and , of the Poor-law Board had met with silent contempt , what on earth was the use of taking any step in November , when the paupers were going off as rapidly as , could be wished ? Pah ! This mischievous desire to do something lies at the root of all these infamous

      sensational inquiries , got up . for the purpose of gratifying the personal vanity of some impertinent Paul Pry of a medical officer , and in order to give newspaper writers something to be indignant about . It is all humbug—gross humbug . The paupers are very comfortable in St . Pancras ; now they are going to

      kill them by moving them to Highgate , where they -will have no rats to hunt , no sewage to sniff at , no thick air to breathe ; where they will have no windows close by their beds to let cold damp air in at night , where they will have no drains to cheer their lonely hours ; where they will not be able to keep each

      other warm by their beds being close , or by lying in a nice bath , or on the soft voluptuous floor ; where , it is much to be feared , they will have fresh air , and be attended to , and kept clean , and their stalls kept sweet , just as if they were horses or pigsand not—paupers . It is horrible to think of .

      , We repeat , that the Guardians of St . Pancras are ill-used men . They are the victims of malignant persecution . They did their duty as far as they could see what their duty was . These sick paupers kept pouring in on them—they were very dear to keep ; they could not be sent to any place where they were

      likely to recover ; if they did recover they would be chargeable to the parish—the ratepayers were already complaining . Evidently the most prudent course to take was to kill them off as quickly as possible . When the horse is glanclered , and old , and uselessor breaks his leg , don ' t we shoot him ? There is an

      , unfortunate prejudice against shooting human beings—much the most economical method of ending their pains—so they took a slower , but none the less sure , method of putting them down . Were they not right ? What did these paupers know of life ? Nothing but misery , penury , starvation .

      What were their homes ? Very little better places , if at all , than the wards they were in—perhaps worse . Then , what jolly company they had there ! Such a merry party of invalids—some with bronchitis , some with consumption , some with the itch , some with fever , some with more loathsome diseases , such a jolly lot ! and then the rats—devilish good

  • Citation
    • Tomahawk (1867-1870), Dec. 4, 1869, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_04121869/page/1/