The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1841-06-01
M i y q ell "a I'M C O IN 9 ).
From the Nsso World.
A THRILLING STORY.

1'rhat important question ~ not thstw die,
But howitVe die
The Hospital At New Orleans, during the preva.
ence ofan epidemic, presents sight beyond the
power Of description, and of which our Northern
friends can form but imperfect idea. The inva
lids are chiefly strangers, far from home, kindred,
and friends. Upon their entrance through its mas
sive walls, and into its sombre cells, their names
are recorded on the books the institution, with
the place Of BIRTH time of arrival &C., and their de
parture from thence as scrupuIously noted The
fatal word dead meets the eye opposite many of
tie names, and calls up feelings in no wise calcu.
lated render his sojourn there Of mere pleas
ure conference.-the in fact, visit to charnel
house, where death reveIs in his mnjesiy Of
strength, and makes the human frame the scene Of
his banquet song the music of which is
"The groan, the kneil, the pail, the bier
Death becomes familiar amid such scenes and
the hear, callous to his power--they look upon it
as one the privileges Of human nature, aud as,
'Ife without II were not worth taking. 1t is in
deed here e. sN
1.-THE poor, the prisoner, and,the mourner
Fly for relief and lay their burdens down.
eThe writer oftlis has frequently looked over
the books Of entry, and among the recorded names
he has recognized many who have left their peace
q
disposition, or to avoid man inhumanty to man,
which in northern cities pursues the poor and no
cessitous the prison waIls, SO as gut the
tender meIcies OF creditors with the knowledge OF
their victims ncarceration-and for WHAT Sim.
ply because the poor wretch cannot pay him few
doiiars--a debt incurred under an accumulation of
mseries, and for the payment of which he had ask
ed time for the rcgafhng ofbeaIih ard prospect
of employment--With prison in the prospective,
a Christian landlord in the front, threatening him
with instant seizure, the heurt broken creature
lies from his home, his family end his friends, and
finds aressing place The sCity ofthe Dead. The
widows son here breathed his last, while she
mourned his absence--but his death-her letters
remained at the post Office, and she censures him
in her silent hours Of grief for his negIoct-Bu she
excuses him on the ground of youth, and smiles in
her widowhood on the hope--liitle dreaming it is
but hope deferred, 'melting even in the rays in
which it glitters. So" RI"
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 memorv's tablet, and wilioniy disappear
when the mirrored surface is broken and recorded
things washed out by the stream of time. leading
as it does down the of oblivjon.-The name
of Hugh Reingale is engraved on piece Of marble
in the American buryng ground, Now Orleans--e-
rected to his memory by who loved him living,
and mourns him dead. Peace DO to his ashes!
Many blooming cheek has Rded, many a
bright eye grawn dim and lustreless, muny joy
Gus heart has fallen beneath the Upas breath ofthe
fend Of the South. s'' s pafea's"F ~ 'f@"
What a contrast there is between the Skinner
and winter Of the South! the first, which in other
cimessis all Joy and sunshine to the young heart,
is there all gloom and sorrow. There winters arc
the sunshine and spring of the year. tsa9.te II
But let US return to the Hospital. The reader
must niagiua to himself a long room on each side
Of which, extending the whole length, is range |
Of single beds--on each one, (Which is frequently
the during epidemic,) let him picture vic-
tim lying in oil the agony of mental and physical
him imagine the effect Of the disease
upon the inmates, which according to their differ
ent CONSTITUTIONS the nature of the attack, act
different ways. One in the last gasp ofdeath vom
its up the bask particles, formed by modification,
and which is termed s'black vomit," his eyes are
fixed, senses gone, limbs writhing.sas Another
raves in frenzy, wild, tearing the bed clothes 10
pieces, and rolling off on the fcor Gro the atend-
ants can replace him. Let the reader picture such
scene, and he will form a tolerable idea OF The
place which words are inadequate to describe, In
40 city, however, the poor more carefully at
tended, during the scourge, than they are in
New Orleans--but my readers must take into cons
sderation the Number misfortune reDders amepa,
BILE to the cause Of DEATH ogg 4asgq8 f \
On one Of the beds near the centre Of the room
lays sick man 10 the last stages Of the disense.
The officiating physician hpd just informed him
there was no hope death was doing its work.
The man resigned himself calmly to his fate. On
hat
of the dying sman's was one who had just been
brought in from tho boarding house his case was
also considered desperate