The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-11-08
WHOLE NO. 473.
From the Dubuque Herald.
Season Among the Shake.
ID miles North of Fort Wayne,
70 LII o.

From the Dubuque Herald
A Season Among the Shake.
IA miles North of Fort Wayne,
ALLEN Co. Ind. Oct. 80.
Former epistles have / writ, O HERALD,
introductive to this, but so long ago that your
readers have perhaps ere this forgotten them
II so, then this must 60 un .preiaccd, for should
l "tale unfold to one half the extent might,
it would b" so long none of your readers would
wish any introduction.
This region is about two thirds timber to
one third "pra rie." But there is great diff.
ference between q Hooser prairie and and
Hawkeye prairie. To one accustomed to a
land where line might be drawn as straight
as the path of ray of light. for hundred
miles. without touching timber, it seems ridicu.
lous, and almost sacrilegious, to call five acre
swamp "prairie." These "prairies" are pas
sable, either on foot or on horse, under two
circumstances-in the hottest of summer, when
they are dried up, and in the coolest of winter
when they are frozen up. In spring and fall
they are navigabie-to pollywogs and terapins
Half the year they soak and the other halfthey
stink. Ii that last is to .trong word, YOU
may change it for weaker, but the word suits
me because it suits the case. The earlier part
OF the present season was very wet, and the lat
ter part very hot, and tie result upon the health
of TIE community can be neither described nor
imagined.
Arriving in August found everything on
the shake. "Thcre won't be any school to-
morrow-the School marin had q chill to-day"
dad cant work for next week.-Mrs. took
down with the ager agin. - IL don't know
what next to do tor our Jemma-she's shuck,
and shuck. and shuck, till there's hardly
breath Of life left in her.'
kha - a.
no better way than by Intervening little per.
sonal experience. In less than fortnight, the
Demon ot the Swamp had his quotdan claws
upon me; he was banished, cn'y to fulfill the
threat OF the exiled Cataline and 'sreturn:"
again quinined away, the disease came again,
in the shape Of remittent fever; this run 4
brief course, to culminate in n eongestive chill,
in which my lite was but just saved, almost he.
yond the expectations of attendants and ph,s.
ician. Slowly recovering. the a"ue came
again, of which, however, | have since been
cured-several times! Meanwhile nv wife
was taken ill with remittent fever, the ague fol.
lowing like the tail to q kite, of which, mot
the kite tail but the ague,) she also has been
cured, repeatedly! For two months, our Oldest
child-a sx-year old, has, like a bottle Of pat
ent medicine. been shaken daily. The other,
an intant-sleeps in the nearest grave. yard
None OF us were able to get to the room where
she lay to see her die, nor since then have we
been well enough to 60 and see where they laid
her.
In this house live three families, including
my own, (here on a pleasure tripy in all eleven
persons. When tour darling" died, ten of the
eleven were unable to rise from their beds, and
were cared for by the remaining one, 4 girl in
her teens who had the ague daily. For weeks
together, six or more Of the eleven were con.
fined to their beds, and the care Of them de.
voved on two young girls, one Of whom work.
ed in the forenoon and shook with the aguc in
the afternoon, while the other shook in the
forenoon and worked in the afternoon.
There were none to help us, for the entire
neghborhood was in the same condition
Within district Of six square miles, (as large
as the District of Columbia,) with this for a
center, are nine families in all numbering
thirty eight persons, of whom, for weeks,
thirty six were 50 i'll as to need constant medi.
cal attendance. and the remaining two could be
called we'll only by contrast.
- Under such circumstan ces, the ordinary
avocations of everyday life were almost
entirely suspended. In doors regularity Of
meals became obsolete; beds were left un.
made for aceeks;; fever laden and perspira.
ton saturated clothing was hung to the
window to be aired, and used again for
there was no one to do any washing. Out
Of doors, cattle, horses and hogs went unfed,
cows unmilkei, crops ungathered. have
seen grass rott,ng in the hay cock and grain
IN the swath, cut three months ago, that
the owners have not been able to harvest.
In the noble orchard upon this place, hun.
dreds of dollars worth Of apples have rotted
Or been otherwise destroyed, because there
was no one to take care Of them. When
'our darling was dying and the doctor
was sent for, he could not come, because he
was in the midst Of shake of the ague,
" bile his wife was in a critical condition
with sudden attack Of fever, and he sup
posed his oldest boy to be dying of q con.
sestive chill. l am not drawing from the
Imagination, but stating what could prove
oy myself and others under oath, if Allen
county should sue me for libel. Schools
were closed, and teachers and children
went home to shake IN unison. One min.
lster, in the midst Of an eloquent sermon,
felt strange sensation that he at first sup
posed to be thrill Of sacred rapture, but
which turned out to be an ague chill He
breathed heaver.ward a very brief benedic.
lion, and hasted to the nearest house, if not
with fear, at least with considerable trem
bling.
But the hot season is over, and better
state of health prevails. That is, no new
eases Of ague or fevers of the bilious type
occur, and those already sick may get we'll
when they can. As for my own family, we
are now greatly blessed. The child shakes
IN the morning, the mother in the after.
noon, and myself in the evening-so We
are able to wait upon tach other. We find
this great improvement upon the former
arrangement, when We all shook at once.
The worst Of it is, the more this section
Of country is improved, the more unhealthy
i becomes. The trees src utdQHn .Hhose,
leaves absorbed largs portion Of tie ma
iarious exhalations, and their absence per.
mi,s the poisonous effluvia to be swept
directly to the lungs, without intermir e.
ling with a more life sustaining atmosphere.
The inhabitants assure me this is one Of
the Sickliest seasons ever known. This is
undoubtedly true, yet 1t is acknowledged
that the ''shakes" are a part Of the yearly
programme here. How man can squat
down in comparatively barren forest, be.
tween four swamps. content to chop, grub,
burn brush, and scratch hardpan, between
shakes of the ague and attacks of bilious
fevers, till his life is worn out in digging
hole in the woods big enough for decent
grave, when land superior in it's natural
state to what this can ever be brought to
by the highest cultivation, can be had at
half the price by goingtw days journey
further west, is q mystery to me. McC.
FAMILY DYE CoLoRs Among the most
popular and useful articles of the day are