Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1855-09-12

are swept away as with the bosom of destruction.
The husband and the wife-the parents and the
children, the master and the servant, often lie un-
der The same roof, cold and stark in death, aud no
one 10 bury them. Such has been, such are the
terrible rayages Of the plague, that anxious friends,
watching for tldings, no longer ask the messenger,
who are dead? But with fearful eyes and beating
heats they enquire who are among the living.
As we hear of silent marts and deserted streets,
we almost realize the idea of the poet, where last
man will live when
''Earh's cities hath no sound or tread,
And ships drilling with the dead
To shores where all are dumb I"
Language is too weak to convey an adequate
conception fthe state of sickness, suffering and
desttution. Both cities have become SepulchreS,
along which the rumb;ing OF the wheels of the
dead cart, sends forth gloomy reveIberatlonS, and
over which grim visagrd FAMINE is beginning to
move hand in hand with PEsrLENcE. The I'll
dings daily borne to us from those devoted cities
come freighted with facts, which harrow the feel
ings, and wiring the heart with agony. y friend
III the vicinity writes 10 me:
''Bodies ale lying unbureL for want Of collins
the last undertaken is dead-and hotrid report
reached us last night, that bodies-d dead bodies
were seen lying under pOrches, wrapped up in
blankets" Again the same person says, that
''these cities have become vast charnel houses,
death throned and sceptred reignS supreme, our
most prominent citizens are being swept away
the Physicians are falling at their poStS--the MUIR
are dying ut the bedside, and the ministers of
the cross of Christ as they stand at the couches Of
the dying are struck down. Another source of in
telligence, relates the appalling fact that III one
family struck down, and such is the
scarcity CT muses., that they were all dead some
hours before ii was known. A newspaper cor
respondent in addition 10 similar details, thus
writes:
''Scens of affection continue 10 multiply as the
fatal fever progresses. Families are broken up
children made orPhans-wives huSbandesS and
childless-wIdOws lose their only stay and support
buried with then negroes! Oh poverty! Oh deS-
oation Oh peStlence! we'll do ye go hand in
hand together, and faithfully have ye performed
yUur work! MIR. Z. Sykes, the Assistant InSpec-
tor Of Streets gives gloomy picture Of the mel
ancholy scenes he is doomed to witness in his daily
rounds. The other day he dad occasion 10 inspect
lot on Charlotte street. He found i'll the yard
three curly headed little children, rOmpIng about,
rolling on the ground, with unkempt hair, and dir.
Iy, tatteTed garments. He inquired for their father
N~''Ns
"Alama is dead too" eyes," added the young
est, land big ugly black man came and carried
item away directly they ware deadn' Good Go;I"'
continued Mr. Sykes, shocked at the scene, ''and
WHO have you 10 take care Hf yOu?" Nobody, Sir!"
''N no gives you anything TO eat!'' ''AlITy, the
colored woman, next door, gives us some bread
every day." Never, SAID MIR. Sykes, have my feel
ings been 50 panied. The forlorn condition of
the little orphanS-their tender years, and childish
insenSibility OF their great loss, male sick at
hon not \
not add that the bereaved Innocenis were taken IN
charge by the Howard Association, and Will be
duly provided tor.'
To form even faint idea of the scenes of dis
tress. taxes the powers of the most vivid magma
ton. Go to yon palatial residence, all that wealth
can procure or luxury desire, is there. As we en-
Ter, refinement and taste surround us i'll all the
apartments that meet our view; but u few short
weeks ago, the sounds OF joyous music issued from
this dwelling; pleasure presided there, the dance
tile song-the sparkling Of wit was there; now all
silent; no light flashes along these hall-no voice
of welcome greets the ear. We ascend the mar
BILE stairs-Graclous Heavens! BY the pale SHIN
eTing moon beam, what scene is revealed! There
lies mother alongside her son; yonder, i'll the cor
ner, is her Young aud once blooming daughter, and
here, stretched across the door, as though she had
fallen in attempt to bar the entrance of the stern
Destroyer, lies the faithful servant all cold and
stark in death! They died without attention, and
nursing, unnoticed amid the wide spread sickness.
They were unbuEied, because none knew that they
were dead, and now there are no collins to enclose
their cold remains. All over these doomed cities
similar scenes occur. Death threads his waywith
sIealthY footstep; he strikes his blow, and passes
on from victim to victim until on every hand, the
most familiar objects the dead, and the graves
of the lovely, the good, and the pure.
There are those too, who though possessed of
wealth, cannot command money, and have to de-
pend on the Howard Association for bread for
their families. There are not a sufficient number
of bakers in these cities to furnish supply. New
er before in tie history of our country has such
visitation Of pestiIence, distress and death been
witnessed. 1t surpasseS in the intensity of its
virulence, though free from the exhibition of
atrocities, the wasting plaques of London and M
IAN.
In the midstof this infection and Death, faith
full priests of God are laboung among the sick and
the dying-their beloved parishioners are falling
around them. GODS poor are looking up 10 them
for help-orphans, homelesd and starving, are cry
lug to them for bread.
The daily expense in aid of the sufferers in the
two cities is estimated at from 1900 to $500. Lib
orally have the humane and the sympathizing in
our county contributed in aid of this general ex
Pense, in which all share alike; but it is obvious
that under existing circumstances, these devoted
and self-sacnfcing ministers of Christ need the
sympathy and aid of their brethren. Their stua-
ton appeals to the whole church. The poor of
their parishes, now tie most numerous of their
remaining pensioners, need bread; they need
hOnses-tLey need collins for their unbured dead.
Large and generous have been the contributions
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