Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1847-04-09

read the seene exhibited on tho field Of balle
after the action, when visited by the surgeon
The cries Of the wounded and dying Tor help.
have been described by many graphic pans.--
The agonizing enireaty for "Walerl waiurll
helpl hclpl !" has been conveyed TO our minds
with painful disliuctness. can liken the scene
we Witnessed in this low lane OF famine and pes.
tilence TO nothing Of greater family resemblance,
than thai the battle field, when the hostile ar
mics have retired, leaving one third of,heir num-
Der bleeding upon the ground. As soon as DR..
Donovan appeared at the head oftho lane, il was
filled with miserable beings. haggard, famine.
stricken men, women and children, some far
gone in the consumption Of the famine fever, and
all imporing him ''ior the honor Of God" 10 60
iu and see "my mother" ""my father, ""mvwife,"
"my boy" "who is very bad your honor" And
then interspersed with these earnest entreaties,
others louder still would be raised for bread. In
every hovcl we entered we found the dying or
the dead. In one olthese sraw.roofed burrows
eight persons had died in the last fortnight, and
five more were lying upon the felid, pestlerious
straw, upon which their predecessors TO the grave
had been consumed by the wasting fever of
lamine. In scarcely single one ofthese most
inhuman habitaIions was there the slightest indi.
cation Of food Of any kind tn be found, nor fuel
to cook food, nor anything resembling bed, un.
less it were thin layer Of filthy straw in one
corner upon which the sick persons lay, partly
covered with some ragged garment. There be.
ing no window, nor aperture 10 admit the light,
in these wretched cabins, except the door, we
found ourselves often in almost total darkness
for the first moment Of our entrance. But faint
gllmmering of handful olburning straw in one
end would soon reveal 10 us the indiSlinct ina
ges of wan.laced children grouped together, with
their large, plainiye, still eyes, looking out at us,
like the sick young Of wild beasts in their dens.
Then the groans, aud The choked, incoherent en-.
treaties for help, Of some man or woman wasting
away with the sickness, in some corner oflhe
cabin, would apprise us of the number and con.
dilion ofIhe family. The wife, mother, or child,
would frequently light wisp Of straw, and hold
overthe face of The sick person discovering 10 us
the sOoty features Of some emasialed creature in
the last stage Of the fever. In one oil these pla-
ces we found an old woman stretched upon pal
let Of straw with her head within a foot Of n
handful OGfre, upon which something was steam
ing in small iron vessel. The Doctor remov.
ed The cover, and we found it was filled with
kind Of simy seawecd, which believe is used
for manure on the seaboard. This was all the
nourishment that the daughter could serve TO her
sick mother. But the last cabin we visited in
this painful walk, presented to our eyes n lower
deep Of misery. twas The residence Of two fam.
lilies, both of which had been ihinned down to half
their original number by the sickness. The first
sight thai met my eyes on entering was the body
OF u dead woman, extended on one side of the
fireplace. On the other an old man was lying
on some straw, so far gone as 10 be unable 10 ar.
cuate distinctly. lie might have been ninety,
or fifty years Of age. II was difficult 10 deter
mine, for this wasting consumption OF want brings
out The EXTREMIST ndces OF old age in the tea-
lures Of even the young But there was another
appariiion which sickened all the flesh and blood
OF my nulure. 1t has haunted me during the
past night, like Banquo's ghost. have lain
awake for hours, struggling for some graphic and
truthful SMILES or new elements Of descr ptiOn,
by which might convey 10 the distant reader
ome larg bic image of this object. A dropsica
affection among the young and old is very com
mon 10 all the sufferers by famine. had seen
men al work on The public roads with their limbs
swollen almost 10 twice their usual size. But
when the woman of ihls cabin lifted from the
straw, from behind the dying man. boy twelve
years Of age, and held him up before US his upon
his feet, the most horrlying spectacle met our
eyes. The cold walery-iaced child was entire.
y naked in front from his neck down 10 his feet.
Ills body was swollen TO nearly three times its
usual size, and had burst the ragged garment that
covered i, md which lew ttl sltd in ahreds be.
hind him. The woman Of The other family, who
was sitting at her end Of the hovel, brought for.
ward her liille infant, u lhin-Iaced baby of two
years, with clear sharp eyes, that did not wink,
but stared stock still III vacancy, as ifa glimpse
Of another existence had eclpsed its vision. lis
cold, naked arms were not much larger than pipe
stems, while its body was swollen to the size Of
u full grown person. Let the reader group these
upparilions OF dcalh and disease into the spccla.
Gle often feet square, and then multiply it inlo
three lourrhs oI',he novels in this region of Ire.
land; and he will arrive at fair estimate of the
extent and degree of its misery. We're it not
for giving them pain. should have been glad if
The wel-dresSad children in America could have
entered these novels with us, and looked upon
the young creatures wasting away unmurmuring
ly, by slow, consuming dcslulion. am sure
they would have been touched TO the lvcliest
compassion al the spectacle, and have been rea.
dy 10 divide their wardrobe with the sufferers.
SKlBBEREEN, Feb 22.-Dr. Hadden called TO
take me into Casllehayon parish, which comes
within his circuit. This district borders upon
the sea, whose rocky ndented shores, are cover.
ed with cabins ofa worse description, than those
al Skibbereen. On our way we passed several
companies of men, women, and children at work,
all enteebled and emancialed by dcsttuton.-
Women, with their red, swollen feet partially
swOthed in old rags, some in mems coats, with
the arms or skirls torn off, were sitting by the
roadside breaking stones. Ii was painful TO see
human labor and life struggling among the low
est interests Of society. Men, once athletic la.
borers, were trying to exc Oh, few miserable
days TO their existence BY tong upon these
works. Poor creatures! Many of them are al.