Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1841-05-21
From the New World.
A THRXLLLVG STORY:

But how we die"
The Hospital at New Orleans, during the
prevalence Of an epidemic, presents sight
beyond the power Of description, and of which
our Nothern friends can form but an imperfect
idea. The invalids are chiefly strangers, far
from home, kindred, and friends. Upon their
entrance through its massive walls, and into
its sombre cells their names are recorded upon
the books of the institution, with the place of
birth, time Of arrival, &C., and their departure
from thence as scrnpuously noted. The fatal
word DEAD opposite many of the names meets
the eye of the visiter, aud calls up feelings in
no wise calculated to render his sojourn there
one Of mere pleasure or amusement; 1t Is, in
fact, visit to charnel house, where death
revels in his majesty Of strength. and makes
the human frame the scene of his "tanquet
song," the music Of which is
"The groan, the knell, the pail, the bier"
Death becomes familiar amid such scenes.
and the heart callous to his power; they look
upon it as one of the privileges of human ma
ture, and as if life without il were not worth
taking.'' 1t is indeed here
-"The poor, the prisoner and the mourner
Fly for relief, and lay their burdens do,cn."
The writer of this has frequently looked
over the books of entry, and among the record
ed names he has recognized many who have
left their peaceful homes and "an fire sides"
to satisfy either q rowing disposition, OF to
avoid mans inhumanity to man, which in
northern cities pu!sues the poor and necessi-
tous even to the prison walls, so as to glut the
tender mercies of creditors with the knowl-
edge of their victims incarceration; and for
what? Ay, for what! Simply because the
poor wretch cannot pay him a few dolars-a
debt incurred under an accumulation of mise
ries, and for the payment Of which he had
asked time for the regaining of health and
prospect Of employment. With prison in
the perspective, Christian landlord in the
front, threatening him with instant seizure,
the heart-broken creature flies from his home,
his family, and his friends, and finds resting
place in the "City of the dead.' Tie Wild
owls son here brea.hcd his last, while she
mourned his absence-not his death; her let
tiers remain at the post Office, and she censure.
him in her silent hours of grief for his neglect.
But she excuses him on the ground Of youth,
and smiles in her widowhood on the hope
little dreaming it is but hope deferred, "melt-
ing even in the ray in which it glit,ers.''
The lover, too, sleeps in death, and the
maiden, in her far off home, dreams Of Joy and
hope which can never be hers. One name
among those is written on memory's tablet,
and will only disappear when the mirrored
surface is broken, and recorded things washed
out by the stream Of time, leading, as it does,
down the ocean Of oblivion. The name Of
HUGH RElNAGLE is engraved on piece of mar
BILE in the American burying-ground, New Or
leans-erected to his memory by one who
loved him living, and mou!ns him dead. Peace
to his ashes.
Many blooming cheek has faded, many a
bright eye grown dim and lusterless, many a
joyous heart has fallen beneath the Upas breath
OF the fend Of the South.
What contrast there is between the sum-
mer and winter Of the South! the first, which
in all other climes is all sunshine and ioy to
the young heart, is there all gloom and sorrow !!
There winters are the sunshine and spring of
the year.
But let US return to the Hospital. The rea-
der must imagine to himself long room, on
each side of which, ex lending tho .-helo
iengttI, is range OF single beds :; on each one,
(Which is frequently the case during an cpl
demic) let him picture victim lying in all the
agony of physical and mental sufferng-let
him also imagine the effect Of the disease upon
the inmates, which, according to their differ
ent constitutions, or the nature of the attack,
act in different ways. One in the last grasp
OF death vomi,s up the dark PARTICLES, formed
by modification, and which is termed "black
vomit," his eyes are fixed, senses gone, his
limbs writhing. Another raves in frenzy,
wild, tearing the bed-clothes to pieces and
rolling off on to the floor, dies ere the attend
ants can replace him.
Let the reader picture such a scene, and he
will form tolerable idea of the place which
words are inadequate to describe. In no city,
however, are the poor more carefully attended,
during the severe scourge, than they are in
New Orleans: but my readers must take into
TIE number misfortune renders
amenable to the cause of death.
On one Of the beds near the centre Of the
room lays sick man in the last stages of the
disease. The officiating physician had Jnst
informed him there was no hope-death was
doing its work. The man resigned himself
calmly to his fate. On the bed which stood
opposite to that Of the dying
mans, was one who had just beeh brought in
from his boarding house; his case was also
considered desperate.
In sick room-and who has not experien-
ced the agonizing feelings and sufferings Of
one !-there are objects upon which the eye
rests in those moments when pain permits the
reason to roam in its mental wanderings, and
gazes upon some object, calling up as it were
the dreams Of the past, when health and
strength went hand in hand with hope,
and the bright sunshine of happy future
CLEANED before US there is dreamy luxury
in this which can only be realized by those
who have experienced this exercise Of mind
in the moment of danger, and who love to
dwell upon it.
The writer of this, in 1892, during the pre-
valence Of as severe an epidemic as ever pre-
vailed in New Orleans. suffered an attack Of
yellow fever, and believes that his life was
saved by his strength Of mind overcoming the
alarm created by the idea Of dying among