The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-01-03
From the Knickerbocker.
THE PLAGUE.
Scenes NJ Coustn utinopIc.
RYAN EYEWITNESS.

/ Sttucs" w Sohstuuttuopic.
Ryan EYEWITNESS.
! In 1887 was a resident in Galata, on,
of the fauburgs of Conslantinope, suili
GENTLY near the scenes of death caused by
the ravages of the plague to be thorough,
acquainted with them, and yet 10 be sep
arated from the Turkish part Of the popu
lation of that immense city. 1t is no
material to the present sketch TO dwell
upon the subject Of my previous life, OF
the causes which had induced me to vis
the capital of the East at such period O
mortality; and | will therefore only add
that circumstances of peculiarly painful
nature obliged me TO locate myself in Gal
alta, where there were none to sympathzc
in my feelings, or any one with whom
could exchange more than word of con.
ISOLATION. saw none bu, the widowed
owner of the house in which | had a
chamber, her daughter Alcuka, and Pc.
traki, her little son.
While the epidemic ragged, we four en-
deavored to keep up rigid quarantine.
Each recommended to the other the strict
est observance of our mutual agreement
not to receive anything from without
doors, except the necessaries of life and
whenever we left the house, which was
TO be as seldom as possible, not to come
in contact with any one Whenever
went out invariably wore an oil cloth
cloak, and by the aid of my cane proven
ted the dogs Of the streets, which are there
so numerous, from rubbing against me.
If visited any one, which seldom did,
| always set on bench or chair to pre-
vent conveying or receiving contagion !;
and before entering the house | always
underwent the preparation of being smo-
ked in box, which during the preva-
lence Of the plague is placed near its en-
trance for that purpose. These box IS
were some eight feet high by three square,
the platform on which the feet rested ele-
waited about foot above the earth, so as
to admit under it dish containing the in.
gradients of the prophylactic, and a hole
in the door 10 let the face out during the
smoking of the clothes and body. We
procured our daily supply of provisions
from Bakkai, retail grocer, whose shop
was directly under our front window; an
itinerant Ekmekjer, or breadman, brought
our bread to the door; our vegetables
were procured from gardener close by,
and our water we drew from a cistern I'M
der the house; in fine, our food was eth.
er smoked or saturated before we touch
ed it, and every possible precaution OBJ
served to cut our little family off from the
dreadful scourge, the pes,llence which
walketh in darkness and the destruction
which wasteth at noon-day.' The moth
er and daughter throughout the day spun
silk, knitted wooden suits or embroidered
kerchiefs for head dresses, called in Ro-
maic fakiotee, and even to late hour of
the night they frequently continued the
same employment. until the plague pre-
prevented the sale Of their handiwork,
and their materials were all used up.-
All day long they would sit upon the sofa
of their little apartment, facing the street,
and while their hands toiled for a subsis-
tence. the widows daughter humme ed a
plalntlve air, or occasionally broke the ST.
lence by conversing with her MOTHER
The son was yet too young to be of assis
lance to his desOIate mother and sister,
and except when he said his letters TO
them, spent day in idleness. As to my
own employment, the dull period of time
passed with them was blank in my ex-
is'ence and yet such is the influence of
past penury and pain, that | now recall
them with pleasure.
The weather was generally very warm
and southwest breezes over the sea of
Marmora prevailed. From our highes,
windows we could perceive sluggish sea-
men loungng on the decks of their ves-
sells IN the port, afraid TO land amid the
peslllence. Here and there vessel
strove against the current of the Bospho.
rus to gain an anchorage; or would SLOW
ly float down that stream into the sea, on
its way to healthier and happier Europe.
The starving dogs at nightfall would howl
dismally, bewaiing the loss of The beney-
client hands from which they usually re.
celved their food i; the gulls and cormo-
rants iloated languidIy over our dwelling,
overpowered by the heat; and the dead
silence, which in the afternoon and even.
lngs prevailed, made most melancholy
and affecting impression on my mind.
The plague that summer Il may limi,
the period to three months, carried off
more than fifty thousand persons. For
sometimes, the mortality amounted 10
thousand per diem. The number of
corpses which passed The limited range
of my windou daiIv ;ocro,soJ 81 r.