The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-08-19
the YELLOW FEVER At NEW ORLEANS,


uW tSLlVV VEvlV ~ VIW VUk6NNo
~~~~>~~~>>~>~>~~>~~~
nTnlaasholy sccucs-R IA ming the Dead xy.e
Trum the No. 0rlssns Crescsus, Aug. II.
DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
To verify the many horrible reports of the dongs
amosg the dead, ~e the other day visited the ce-
metsries. In every street were long professions
uampang tOtho solemn music Of funeral marches.
10 tns countenances OF piodd'ng passengers were
the hnfs OF anxiety and grief, aod manya door was
iestoontd with black and white hngings the voice.
less witnesses OF wang and Of sorrow. On the one
hand slowly swep'tbe long corteges OF the wealthy,
podding with plume- aud drawn by prancing horses,
rejoicing in their funeral yanlres; another, the
hearse OF the oitse. soldier preceded by measured
music envtloped in warlke panoply, and followed
by the NOISY tread of men under arms; while there
again the pauper tIubdsd to his long home on
q ricketty cart, with boy for driver who whistled
as he went and ssore careless oath as he urged
his mule or spawned hor-e to trot making haste
with another morsel contributed to the grand ban
quet OF DEATH Now among the steeples hoard
the Ginning OF the bells Of gh0uies up there,
mngiing their hoarse voices rs in q chorus of
gratHstioD over the RACKS of fallen mortality. Anon
from some los tenement triled the low wall of
mother for the cbId OF her affections, while from the
corner opposite bprst the song Of some low bac-
chanai, minglug iibaldry with sentimeot, or
swearing prayer or t.o d. the humor moved him.
The skies were deusIve az ect Above was ali
cloudless sunshine, nut little in keeping with the
black melaneb'5y that enve)oped all below. Out
along the highways that lead To the cities Of the
dead, and st II tue tramp Of funeral crowds knew no
cessation. Up rolled the volumes Of dust from the
busy roads, and the plumes If the death carriages
NODDED IN seeming sympathy TO the swaying cy-
presses OF the swamp, enveloped In their dun ap-
paTeiiDg Of weeping mcss-ht garniture for such q
scene.
At the gathering points carriages accumulated,
and vulgar Transfers, as they jsted each other in
the press, mingled the jest with the ribald
oath NO sound but Of proiane III addiction and of
rOtous miIth the caug OF whip thongs and the rat
tie OF wheels Al the gates, the winds brought inti
nation OF the corruption working within. Not
Al W mi from,
r0ttDg corpses Inside they were piled by fifties,
exposed to the heat OF the sum- swollen with corrup-
ton bursting their coffin lids and sundering as if by
physical effort tire heamens that bound their han Is
and feet aud extern DIM their rigid limbs in every outre
attitude Whata feast Of horrors Inside, corpses piled
In pyramids, and without the gates, old and withered
crOnes and lat huckster women. rettng in their own
grease, dispensing ice and confectionery and
brushing away, with brooms made of bushes, the
green bottle flies that lowered their merchandise
and that anon buzzed away to drink dainty inhala.
tons from the green and fostering corpses. Nam
mOn at the gates, was making thrift outside by the
hands of his black and sweating miniOns, that ten
dered sweetmeats and cooling beverages to the
thrOnRs OF mourners OF Idle spectators, who inha
ing the fumes OF rottig bodies already "heaved the
gorge while within, the King of Terrors' held
his saturnaiia, with crowd of stoid laborers who,
they tunbled the dead into bitches, knocked them
@about the mazzard,' and swore dread oaths, inter
mingled With the more dreadful sounds of demoniac
joility.
Long bitches were dug across the great human
charnel. Wide enough were they to entOnb alegion,
but 0nly fourteen inches deep. Collins laid in them
showed their tops abve the surface Of the earth On
these piled dnt to the depth of foot or more,
but loosely that the myrisds OF flies found entry
between the loose clods down to the cracked seams
of the cofins, and buzzed and blew there their
ovarIa, creating each hour their new Matched
swarms.
But 10 sound was there Of sorrow within that wide
Gehenna. Men used to the scent Of dissolution had
forgotten all touch OF sympathy. Uncouth aborers.
with their bare shock heads, stood under the brong
heat IF H. IT, a.
they would encounter Az obstructDg root or stump,
would swear hideous OATH remove to another spot,
and go on oily glng before. Now and then the mat
took or the spade would disturb the bones of some
former tenant OF the mould forgotten there amid the
armies OF the accumulated victims and the sturdy
lab0rer with gbe, would hur the broken fragments
on the sward, erowl forth an energetic d-n, and
chuckie in bis excess Of gIee. Skull bones were
dug up from their long sepulture. with ghastiness
staring out
''Fr No each lack lustre sye,ess. hole"
without eicitlng an "Alas, poor YoricS,' and with
only an exc amaton from the digger, of "room Tor
your betters!"
Economy of space was the source of cunning cal
culation In bestowing away the dead men. Side by
side were laid Two, OF gigantic proportions bloated
by corruption to the size OF Ttans. The central pro-
jectons of their collins left spaces between them at
their heads and heels. This was too much room to
be filed with esrth How should the space be saved.
Opportunity, the material is at hand, for cart
comes numbering in with the corpses Of mother
and her two little children. Chuck the children in
the spsces at the heads and heels of the Titans, and
the mother by herself, out there alone A comrade
Tor her will be found anon, and herself and babes
Will sleep not the less s0undly from the unw0nted
contact
TIE fumes rise up IN deathly exhalatons from the
accommodating hecatonbs oil fast coming c0rpses
Men wear ut their noses bags of camphor and odor
spices for there are crowds there who have no
business but to hook on and contemplate the vast
oospYep cation OF the dead. They don't care il they
die u emseives--they have become 40 used to the
reek Of corruption. They ever laugh at the riotings
Of the skeleton death, and crack jokes in the horrid
atmosphere where scarcely they can draw breath for
utteraDce.
The stoical negroes too who are hired at five dol.
lars per hour to assist in the work Of nterment stag
ger under the sitting fumes, aud can only be kept at
their wrk by deep and continued potations Of the
fire water" They gulp deep draughts OF the stl
auiatDe fluid and Keeling to their tasks hold their
noses with hand while with the other they grasp
the spade beave the mould, and rush back to the
bottle TO gup again. IL is jolly time with these
ebon labofers, and with their white co-workers, as
thouehtless and as jolly, and full as much intoxicated
as themselves
And thus, what with the songs and obscene jests
Of the gravedggers the bazzing OF the flies the sing
song cries of tn. huckster women vending their con-
fectioDs the hosrse o4ths of the men who drive the
dead carts the merry whistle OF the boys, and the
sitting reek from scores Of blackened cOrpses, the
day wears apace the work Of sculpture i, done, and
night draws the curtain.
THE MORT LITY-TUE WEATHER
from New teams 3 lite in, August III
The mortalry CONTINUES unaDated, as tne repNts
in another column show with awful distinctness.
There iea considerable Increase in the number OF In
terments for the yfour hours ending yesterday
morning at o'clock the previous twenty -four
Doors. What the mortality will he for the succeed
ing twenty four hours Heaven only knows. 1t may
be greater; it msy be less. One thing, however Is
eyident-tbe ravsges Of the epidemic must diminish,
very shortly on account Of the scarcity Of lateral
The il terments for the past three days have been
some 644.
We have been assured by eminent physicians that
the d ease is becoming decidedly more manageable,
and that with faithful nursing, and early medicl at
tendance q fatal result may be almost ways avoid
ed. They say-and they ought to know-that the
UNPARALLELED 1rtaity il conned almost entirely to
those who neglect to send for a physician in time,
and who are (most OF them) so situated as TO rem
der il impossible that they should be properly
nursed
rysa weatber 10 In tho highest degree u1fayorable