Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-06-14
LITTER FROW MRS, GAGE.
At Cairo--The yRite hefuEees--TheIr Oes-
tiIutiOu and IIiserT--APpeNl for Aid.

city Of magnificent possibilities" as it
has been called in times past Far what,
l do not know. One says it is because
the Captain is afraid Of Marmaduke and
his batteries below Nspolt Oh, another that
we aRs waiting for tse mail and psssen-
gers Of the Illinois Central Railroad to
arrive at i've P. n and another that We
are to take on regiment of thousand
soldiers. D. the cause what it may, here
We are or beard the good steamer MOllie
Able, and here we have been for space
Of tWenty-four hours, sWsltering beneath
an almost tropical sunshine.
We stepped eff our Miss Mollie Able on
TO the wharf boat this morning to see
EhaS we could and such sight as met
our PeeTing eyes-msy it never be the
fate Of cur eyes to see again. Cairo is Of
course the great depot or landing point
for tho refugees, white and black, that fly
from the terrible expressions Of the Con-
federates for protection. Some tive We
thousand of the white refugees have
passed through this city this spring, and
still they come. On the outer deck Of the
wharf-bOat We found groups Of these ILL
f8ted people, lying, sitting and standing,
in an almost unimsginable condition Of
wretohedBess and poverty, squslid, filthy,
pale, hsgyard, bewildered, holloW-eyed
" tn hunger, fever and tOil-thsy were
rare specimens of misery and despair
A p le-facei woman tattered garments
only enough Of them to cover her
5hraBlEsn body, and ananiy at that-stoOd
like 0 statue by the size Of q man sJreJohed
upon the deck on soma old clothes or dingY
blanket, in state Of inssnsibility.
us he sick ?" asked.
she got drunk and fell of the boat,
she replied. Her voice aroused him al
am not drunk nk-you-somebody knocked
ne off" grOWled the half dead creature
Near by lay an old Wom8n-only q
rug between her aud the rough plank Of the
deck, her face pale, her shriVeled hands
feebly closed upon her Wilhsred breast, heI
suuken eyes almost covered with the dis
heveled gray hair that no one seemed t:
love her well enough to smooth upon heI
swsrt and fdrrOWed brow. OIL suoh 6
sigSt. Her children and grand children
looking on, poWerless, despsiring, moi
knowing what to do. Feeble with starVs
ton, too upenerg tic from ignorance to do
any thing, and so she was passing away
(Oh beautiful faith that whispers us) to 9
better land. Close by her,Where her dying
| hand could have elutehed it, lsy q dying
babe elk months old, in the lap Of a child
mother, who locked down upon it with
eyes as stolid as those o. an animal.
When we questioned her she e. We sullen,
grudging replies and spoke hsrshly 10 the
little one when it moaned. Aud We
thought and almost hummed aloud as we
turned
" Oh death. the poor mans dearest friend,
The kindest and the best
So found we the last installment of these
poor refugees Of the South, and so we
may finI them every day. These will 20
on the next boat to st Louis, and that
miserable shelter on the outside rim Of
the wharf boat y here The sun will pour
upon them ct morn and eve, and the thun-
der shower drench them when it comes,
will be occupied by another group, perc-
hRnoe nore WTefcbed, more starved, more
ignorant than they.
Yet there sTe people that cling to sla-
very as the drsm-drinker clings TO the
bottle which is sap ing his existence; these
are they who would have killed the last
chicken that roasted in the bush by the
door, and given their last hominy pot as
tar kettle to have clothed with their
Wrs any Thoughtful man or woman that
would have dared to warn them Of tn .
danRer and sin that would surround
them "GOd help them and God forgive
them; they knew not not what they did o."
The Sanitary and Christisn Commissions
will look 10 them, and by and BY relieve
their wants. They Beatter out into the
country or are grouped together in what
is called White Fugitive homes or camps,
Whsre they hang dead weight upon our
Northern charity. Ask one Of the women
to " rk, she shakes her dog colored,
lsnky looks ind gnantly. hWe'uns never
did work, and we'uns ain; goin' to be, in
now; yo'uns better b'leeVe dat ar" While
the negro goes 10 his labor wherever be
Osn find it, earning his bread with honest
hands, these turn aside and feel their
choler swelling at the bare mention of toll
for their white hands.
The use Of comb and brush seems un-
known to them. and stslWsrt women are
often found sitting squat upon the ground,
or deck Of some wharf boat or steamer,
sluggishly smoking the cast off ends Of
cigars which are picked Up-their chill
dren running around with bits Of govern
ment bareback In their fists, dirtisr than
the pigs that lie rolling Cd The sbore; ana
this, TOO, With the running water ripping
within Two feet Of them, almost asking TO
be used.
II there is any one who has enlisted in
the work Of emancipation, that has felt
like turning back, let me beseech them to
peTsevere, if not for the sake Of the negr
for the sake the white men and women
whose humsnity is crushed into almost
brutishness BY this unhumsn monster, sla-
very.
But the engine shakes itself, and like
some huge animal reused from sleep,
groWls forth its energies; the great boat
quiVers, We are off. 1 must mail this at
Memphis.
close with this one earn .st appeal to
all that may read my letter. Sir up your
charities; be careful Of your expend-
itures; resist all temptations to exrsvs-
gsnce and folly For the coming winter will
make demands upon you for the white fu-
gitives and the black, such as the past has
not known, for starvation stares thousands
Of them in the face.
FRANCES D. GAGE.
HIM. Thomas CorUiu nur Ministar to