FEARFUL IMMORALITY IN NEW YORK.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 95, 29 January 1872, Page 3

FEARFUL IMMORALITY IN NEW YORK.

The New York Times exposes dreadful practices in that city, to which attention has been called by the recent discovery of a body of a woman in a trunk at a railway station. That journal says : —Thousands of human beings are murdered before they have seen the light, and thousands upon thousands of adults irremediably ruined in constitution, health, and happiness. So secretly are these crimes committed, and so craftily do the perpetrators cnveigle their victims, that it is next to impossible to obtain evidence and witnesses. The men and women engaged in this outrageous business,are, with few exceptions, the worst class of imposters; very few have genuine medical diplomas. The female practitioners generally have nurses or midwives. Almost invariably they are in partnership with a man doctor, and are entitled inadame, or in some cases doctor. Lady patients, of course, prefer calling upon a inadame in delicate cases, and are willing to converse freely with her. . . . They compound and prescribe with the most dangerous drugs, with reckless disregard of human suffering and life, and venture* upon operations that are always hazardous, and not unfrequently fatal. The case of most recent notoriety was that of Dr Evans, who was recently convicted and sentenced in the Court of General Sessions to five years’imprisonment in the State prison. In his horrible den were found evidences of guilt of the conclusive character. Human flesh, supposed to have been the remains of infants, was found in barrels of lime and acid, undergoing decomposition. He came from Scotland about twenty years ago, with no medical education whatever. Stubborn energy, active perseverance, and undaunted boldness appear to have forced his guilty success. Shameless advertisements of “relief for ladies in trouble” are admitted into certain journals, and it is said that this man advertised to the extent of lOOQdol.

per week, and received allaily average of. 400 letters, most of which enclosed money for pills. A gentleman recently called at an office in this city, and was ushered into a room, the door of which was closed and locked. “ Are you Dr M ?” was asked. “ Yes; wha'; can Ido for you ?” was the smiling reply, accompanied by a keen penetrating gaze. “ I called to seo if you could relieve a lady of a physical difficulty ” (describing the case). “ I can, sir.” “ Without danger ?” “ Yes, sir ; have had thousands of cases; have them all the time, and never had any trouble at all.” “ How long will it take ? where will she be treated ? and what are the terms ?” “ A week or less, and I can find accommodation, up town, very elegant, and the terms will bo reasonable. But I must seo the lady first before I can say anything further.” This man was formerly a printer ; but Madame R., his reputed wife, induced him to abandon that occnpation. At her house, at a door labelled “ office,” a lady and gentleman recently called. They say, “ We were ushered into a small, darkened room, and had just sat down when the rnadame entered herself. ‘ Well, and what can I do for you ?' she asked. ‘ Can you relievo a lady of a physical difficulty ?’ ‘ That depends upon circumstances.’ A supposititious case was stated, and she promptly replied ‘ There will be no difficulty about that. Of course such affairs are expensive, you know. The charge will be— ’ Just then a sharp, quick rap was heard upon the door, and a voice from without exclaimed, ‘ Ma, I want to speak "with you a moment.’ The madame then retired, and we could hear a brief but rapid colloquy. The next instant she returnod, and, in evident trepidation, said, “ I can sell you some pills, but really wc do no other business. We have had so much trouble about these matters, we don’t take any more risks. In all the six years that we have lived in this house a stranger has never slept under the roof—nono, in fact, but our own family.’ ” Other parties who have been there had a different experience. Only the police authorities have anything like an adequate idea of the gigantic dimensions of this evil. Every day adds new indications. That the number of murders from this cause is not generally known is easily accounted for. All the parties interested have the strongest motives to unite in hushing up the scandal. An advertisement has for a long time appeared from Madame G, female physician, who “ guarantees relief to all female complaints—pleasant rooms for nursingand there is a liko advertisement from Dr G. They have a house capable of accommodating about twenty patients. A lady and gentleman recently called there, and thus relate what passed : “ Madame addressed us ‘My dear friends;’ she said, ‘we can do what you hint at. I understand the case. We have hundreds of them. Poor unfortunate women! How little the world knows how to appreciate their trials. We think it our mission to take them and save them—a noble work it is, too. But for some friendly hand like ours, how many blasted homes, scandalised churches, and disorganised social circles there would be. Why, my dear friends, you have no idea of the class of people that come to us. We have had senators, congressmen, and all sorts of politicians, bring some of the first women in the land here. Many very many aristocratic married women come here, or we attend them in private houses.’ 1 What are your charges, madam?’ ‘ 300 dollars cover all expenses, and we sec the patient through—unless it occupies more than a week. Then wc charge an extra medical fee and board money.’ "‘ What about the child ?’ ‘ Well, we adopt it out in good hands. .100 dollars extra is our fee for that.’ ‘ But if not a child, what then ?’ A quick rolling and a flash of her glittering black eyes, a sprightly nod of the head, a finger placed on the lips, a knowing look, aud a ‘ sli-h,’ was the pantomimic reply. ‘Wc understand every branch of our business,’ she exclaimed ,with peculiar emphasis.” . . . The mails go burdened with the circulars of such people, and come laden with money enclosures for “ pills,” “ drops,” and other vile humbugs. The best home firesides iu the land have been invaded by these advertisements, either in the newspapers or in letters. To what a frightful extent this outrage is" rapidly increasing few can realise.