The North-Carolina standard., 1845-09-10
A THRILLING SKETCH.
BY MRS. L. N child.

One ofmy fl,hcrs brothers, residing in Boston
at that time, [when the yellow fever prevailed
to snch frightful extcnt,l became victim to the
pcstience, When the first symptoms appeared,
his wife sent the children into the country, and
herself remained to attend upon him. Her
friends warned her against such rashncss. They
told her it would be death 10 her, and no benefit
TO him; for he would be too Ill to know who at
tended upon him. These arguments made no
impression on her affeclionatc heart She felt
that It would be long-lifc satisfaction 10 he, to
know who attended upon him, if he did not. She
accordingly slaid, and watched with unremitting
care. This, however, did hot avail to save him.
He grew worse and worse, and finally died
Those who went round with the death-carts had
visited the chamber, and seen that the end was
near. They now came To- take the body. His
wife refused 10 let it go. She told me that she
never knew how to account for it, but, though he
perfectly cold and rigid, and to every appear
ance quite dead, there was powerful impression
on her mind that life was not extinct. The men
were oyerborne by the strength of her conviction,
though their own reason was opposed to it. s.a.4
The hllfhour again came round and again
was heard the solemn words g Bring out your
dcad.nG The wife again resisted their importuni-
ties; but this time the men were more resolute
They said the duty assigned to them was pain.
fol one; but the health of the city required punc-
tual obedience to the orders they received if they
ever expected the pestilence to abate, it must be
by prompt removal of the dead, and immediate
fumigation Of the infected apartments. s a}i
She pleaded and pleaded, and even knelt to
them in an agony OF tears continually saying, 4" |
am sure he is not dead" The men represented
the utter absuFdhy of such an idra; but finally
overcome by her tears, again departed. With
trembling haste she renewed her efforts to restore
him She raised his head, rolled his limbs in hot
flannel, and placed hot onions on his feet. The
dreadful hafho1r again came round, and found
him as cold and rigid as ever. She renewed her
entreaties 80 desperately that the messengers be-
gan to think little gentle force would be neces-
sary. They accordingly attempted to remove the
body against her will but she threw herself up
on it, and clung to it with such frantic strength,
hat they could not easily loosen her grasp. I'm
pressed by the remarkable energy OF her will,
they relaxed their efforts To all their remon-
strances, she answered, "If you bury him, you
shall bury me with him" At last, by dint of
reasoning on the necessity of the case, they OBJ
tanned from her promise, that if he showed no
signs Of life before they again came round, she
would make no further opposition to the removal
Having gained this respite, she hung the watch
I'D on the bed-post and renewed her efforts with
redoubIed zeal. She placed kegs of hot water
about him. forced hot brandy between his teeth,
and breathed into his nostrils, and held hartshorn
to his nose; but still the body lay motionless and
five minutes the promised halfhour would ex-
pire, and the dreadful voices would be heard,
passing through the street HopeIessness came
over her-she dropped the head she had been
snstaining-her hand trembled vioIenty-and
the hartshorn she had been holding was spilled
on the pallid face. Accidentally, the position of
the head had become slightly tipped backward,
and the powerful liquid flowed into his nostrils
Instantly there was short, quick gasp-a sttug-
gle-his eyes openeh and when the death-men
came again, they found him sitting up in the bedl
He is still alive, and has enjoyed unusually good
health.
The papers have the following good story of a
Virginia post master:
aFRe Postmaster General, not long since, abol-
ishpd one of the small Offices in Virginia, and
wrote rough draft ofa letter, informing the coun-
try postmaster that in consequence of his proxmi,
.ty 10 the other office, he had determined to dis
continue his Office Very soon an answer was
received. in which the postmaster complained Bit
terly of the discontinuance Of his ofhce-not for
the sake of the salary, for that was not more than
621 cents per quarter-but on account of the
enxse of the discontinuance-PT PT6Iimity; for," /"
said he, sLnever was guilty of proximity in my
IIife.,,r55s 5aso5I a;ssfc.f I'll u u. *aa ,7iftcs
Twelve thousand eight hundred and seventy
eight passengers arrived in New York, from iorT