Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1855-10-17
Incidents Of the Pestilenee.

A letter from Norfolk, published in the
Charleston Courier, says:
"A man jumped into the river the other
day and was drowned; his entire family
had been swept away by the breath of
the destroying angel, and he alone was
left. We witness scenes every day that
make the tears flow and the heart bleed
A lady died at the hospital last week
leaving an only child, girl about FIVE
years old. She had seen her father and
brothers and sisters carried, one by one
to their nrrrow home, and the spirit of
her mother had now departed. She sat
by the cold corpse weeping bitterly, and
as she sat there sobbing, with her face
buried in her lap, felt the warm tear
drops course down my own cheeks.
commanded my feelings and spoke to her
tendefly. i told her that her mother was
no longer sick and suffering pain, but she
was in heaven, in the presence of her Sa-
yior and in the company Of angels and
good people, and if she would be a good
girl she would see her mother again.
comforted her by telling her that God
was her father, and that he would take
care of her. She then left the ROOM
About an hour afterward, while | was
walking along the street, / saw this little
girl; she recognized me Immediately. and
smiling through her tears, she ran to-
ward me, and clasping my hand in hers,
she said, with touching simplicity, Do,
sir, have my dear mother buried in cof-
fin; it would pain my mother very much
if she was put into one of those horrid
boxes.''
We copy the following extract from a
letter published in the Charleston Mercu-
ry,sfrom one of the physicians Of that city
now in Norfolk. What a volume of wo
does it speak:
Language fails to express the amount
of suffering and distress. Could you but
ride over the place, in one half hour
could show You sights that would make
your heart bleed. | went, two days ago,
to nurse young man with an interesting
family, consisting of very pretty wife
and two children. I sat up with him
from five O'Clock one morning till seven
the next, when the poor fellow died. /
shall not forget the scene as long as |
live. His wife had requested to see him
before he died. About five in the MORN
ing | informed her that he could not live.
as the symptoms of the vomit were com
ing on. She begged me to assist her to
the bedside. I did so, and as she was
about to embrace him for the last time,
the death rattle was heard, and he hung
stiff dead in her arms. She raised her
self and fell powerless into mine.
But the worst part is yet to be told
His father, an old man of sixty years,
had to be informed of it, and was the
person to do it. l threw on my cloak
and started for the house, He met me at
the door, and, as if inwardly conscious
Eof my mission, he flung his arms around
my neck and restinss-l.;s head upon my
shoulder, burst into flood of tears. He
had lost his wife the Sunday preceding,
his daughter the day after, and now this
young man was the third-all in one
week. Besides, his last and only boy
was extremely low. When | left his
door to return to the scene of death, med
itating upon what | had witnessed. and
the pitiable, desolate fate of this old man.
| could restrain my feelings no longer.
and seating myself upon doorstep, |
wept bitterly"