Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1836-09-15

rey s cry, FLORIDA, dated DUN July,
which we find in the Eastport, Maine)
Sentinel, gives the following appalling
picture ofthe sickness prevailing there.
The letter is from an officer in the ar
my:
"You have seen by the papers that
a great deal ofsickness prevails at this
place. The half is not known. The
people come in here for protection from
all quarters, and there are now from
700 or 800; they had comfortable
homes, and the conyeniences Of life,
but were compelled to leave all behind ::
here they have built huts which keep
out neither the sun or the rain, and it
rains every afternoon most violently.
Added to this, the measles broke out
among them, and their insufficient shell
ter caused colds; death has ragged a.
mong them most frightlully; so or 80
have died within the last five or six
weeks, and it is supposed that no less
than two hundred are now sick with
measles, ague and fever, and cho-
lera morb bus the latter takes off adults
as well as children.
81 have been today to the huts of
some three or four hundred of these
miserable creatures and no tongue
can tell the suffering ] have witnessed,
and the tales of wo | have heard. In
hut ten feet square would be places
for three or four beds, that is, four
sticks driven in the sand, and poles
laid across for boards to rest upon on
them, some had beds, others nothing
but blanket. The occupants ofthese
beds were the most distressing objects
| ever saw, some emaciated with chole-
IA morbus, some burning with fever !;
others again, having taken cold with
the measles, were swollen most fright.
fully. There were from two six sick
in each Of the huts that | visited. In
one instance, the father and mother
were both dead, leaving five children
all sick, the oldest being thirteen, and
these poor creatures were obliged to
help each other as well as they could. "
MoAE ARsoN.-The Baltimore Pa
trot Of the 30th August, says The
Clerks Office ofthe u. States Court at
Clarksburg, Va, was partially con-
sumed by fire on the night of the 18th
inst, evidently the work Of an incen-
diary, who aimed at the destruction OF
the papers, and unfortunately succee-
ded. The shutter was bored so as to
withdraw the fastenings, and the FIRE
was thence thrown upon some valua-
bic papers close at hand. In remark
ing upon this fire at Clarksburg, the
Wheeling Times says, it is another
edition, on limited scale, Of the at
tempt to burn the treasury buildings.
Extensive frauds had been committed
on the treasury, by pension agents,
through forged papers. Suspicious had
been aroused, prosecutions entered,
and the documents were on file in the
clerks office. Fire was the resort of
the guilty to conceal the evidence
against them, and they have succeed
ed thus far; but retributive justice will
yet overtake them. The loss ofindi-
viduals from the destruction Of valua-
bic papers has been great, and we
learn that a deep excitement prevades
the community there.
Strange rumors have reached this
city, and the above shows that they
have taken distant wing, and been en-
bodied in print. The individual allu-
ded to is a member elect of the next
House ofDelegates from the county of
Harrison, and was in the session be-
fore the last, sRmdns anti.Leigh Or
ator.-Rich. Wig.