Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1863-12-24


which the chinks and crannies Of their
Unprotected dwellings might have been
stuffed was trailing in dirt and dust
about the ground, while the back door
of the huts, opening upon q most un-
slightly ditch, was left wide open for the
fowls and ducks, which they were allow
ed to raise, to travel in and out, in
creasing the filth of the cabin by what
they brought and left in every direction.
In the midst Of the floor, or squatting
round the cold hearth, would be four
or five little children from four to ten
years old, the latter all with babies in
their arms, the care of the infants being
taken from the mothers (who are driven
afield as soon as they recover from child
labor) and devolved upon these poor
little nurses, as they are called, whose
business it is to watch the infant, and
carry it to its mother whenever it may
require nourishment. To these hardly
human little beings / addressed my re-
monstrances about the filth, cold, and
unnecessary wrctchedness of their room,
bidding the elder boys and girls kindle
up the fire, sweep the floor, and expel
the poultry. For long time my very
words seemed unintelhgibe to them, till,
when | began to sweepsstand make up
the fire, ETC., they first fell to laughing
and then initiating me-"
HOW THE SICK ARE TAKEN CARE or.
''The Infrmary is large two-story
building, terminating the broad orange
planted space between the two rows of
houses which form the first settlement :;
it is built of white e-washed wood, and
contains four large sized rooms. But
how shall describe to you the spectacle
which was presented to me on entering
the first of these But half the case
ments, of which there were but six,
glazed, and these were obscured with
dirt, almost as much as the other win
dowless ones were darkened by the
dingy shutters, which the shivering in
mates had fastened to in order to protect
themselves from the cold. In the enor-
nous chimney glimmered the poweress
embers Of a few sticks of wood, round
which, however, as many Of the sick
women as could approach were covering,
some on wooden settles, most of them
on the ground, excluding those who
were too i'll to rise; and these last poor
wretches lay PROSTATE on the floor, with
out bed. mattress, or pillow, buried in
tattert d and filthy blankets, which, hud-
died round them as they lay strewed
about, left hardly space to move upon
the floor. And here, in their hour of
sickness and suffering, lay those whose
health and strength are spent in unre-
Quilted labor for us-those who, per-
haps even yesterday, were being urged
on to their unpaid task-those whose
husbands, fathers. brothers, and sons,
were even at that hour sweating over
the earth, whose produce was to buy for
us all the luXuries which health can revel
in, all the comforts which can alleviate
sickness. | stood in the midst of them,
perfectly unable tosspeak, the tears pour
ing from my eyes at this sad spectacle
Of their misery, myself and my emo
ton alike strange and incomprchensible
to them. Here lay women expecting
every hour the tcrrors and agonies Of
childbirth, others who had just brought
their doomed offspring into the world,
others who were groaning over the an
guish and bitter disappointment of mis-
carriages lay some burning with
fever, others chilled with cold and ach-
ing with rheumatism, upon the hard
cold ground, the draughts and damp
ness of the atmosphere increasing their
sufferings, and dirt, noise, and stencil,
and every aggravat;on Of which sick
ness is capable, combined in their con-
dition-here they lay like brute beasts,
absorbed in physical suffering; unvisit-
cd by any Of those Divine influences
which may enoble the dispensations of
pain and illness, forsaken, as it seemed to
me, of all good and yet, @ God, Thou
surely hadst not forsaken them Now
pray take notice that this is the hos
pital of an estate where the owners are
supposed to be humane, the overseer
efficient and kind, and the negroes re-
markably well cared for and comfortable.
AS soon as I recovered from my dismay,
I addressed old Rose, the widwife, who
had charge of this room, bidding her
open the shutters of such windows as
were glazed, and let in the light |
next proceeded to make up the fire, but,
upon my lifting log for that purpose,
there was one.universal outcry of horror,
and old Rose, attempting to snatch it
from me, exclaimed, ''Let alone, missis-
let be; what for you lift wood I? you
have nigser enough, missis, to do it !"
/ hereupon had to explain to them my
view of the purposes for which hands
and arms were appended to our bodies,
and forthwith began making Rose tidy
up the miserable apartment, removing
all the filth and rubbish from the floor
that could be removed, folding up in
piles The blankets Of the patients who
were not using them, and placing in
rather more sheltered and comfortable
positions those who were unable to rise.
1t was all that could do, and having
enforced upon them all my earnest de-
sire that they should keep their room
swept, and as tidy as possible, passed
on to the other room on the ground
floor, and to the two above, one of which
| is appropriated to the use Of the men
who are Ill. They were all in the same
| deplorable condition, the upper rooms
being rather the more miserable, in as
much as none ofthe windows were glaz
oI oil ~.