A LETTER TO 'THE TIMES'
l did not see Merrick again for two years. Then, one day, the police found him. He had my card in his hand, so they brought him to the London Hospital. He was very tired, hungry, and dirty, so 1 put him to bed in a quiet little room. But he could not stay at the hospital.
He was not ill, and of course the beds in the hospital are for ill people. We have no beds for hungry people, or ugly people.
1 told the Hospital Chairman, Mr Carr Gomm, about Merrick. He listened carefully, and then he
wrote a letter to the editor of The Times newspaper.
From The Times, December Ath, 1886
A Letter ta the Editer
Dear Sir,
1 am writing to vou about a man in our hospital. He needs your help. His na me is Joseph Merrick, and he is 27 years old. He is not ill, but he cannot go out of the hospital because he is very, very ugly. Nobody likes to look at him, and some people are afraid of him. We cali him the 'Elephant Man'.
Two years ago, Merrick lived in a shop near the London Hospital. Fortwo pence, people could see him
and laugh at him. One day Dr Frederick Treves - a hospital doctor - saw Merrick, brought him to this
hospital, and looked at him carefully. DrTreves could not help Merrick, but he gave him his cardo
Then the shopkeeper, Silcock, took Merrick to Belgium. A lot of people in Belgium wanted to see
him, and so after a year Merrick had (50. But th en Silcocktook Merrick's ffiû, left Merrick in Belgium, and
went back to London.