THE UNKNOWN DEAD.

Shannon News, 11 March 1924, Page 3

THE UNKNOWN DEAD.

PEOPLE BURIED UNIDENTIFIED.

The police records tell a pathetic story of the people who die and are buried unknown in big cities. Every year (writes a correspondent) between 30 and 40 people in Sydney slip out of life with no one to identify them —the flotsam who float' about until death claims thcni. In a small community identification is easy; but ini a city of nearly one million people, and with a large floating: population in addition, the problem of identification becomes difficult. The police consider themselves fortunate in being able to identify as many as they do, seeing that for the last 12 months, for example, 600 deaths were dealt with by the city coroner, alone. Finger prints serve to identify quite a number of hitherto unknown people who have passed out of life. These grisly records are known by the police os the Book of the Dead. In chapters ini the various stations are the stories of life's failures and tragedies.