Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-07-07

HOW THE CHOLERA DEAD ARE
BCRIED AT THE NEW YORK
QuARAN ZINE.


The New York World gives Che following
graphic, CHASTITY description of The manner
Of the burial Of the bodies Of those who die
Of cholera at the New York quarantine.
Al nine o'clock every morning the sloop
bearing the cholera corps-s departs from
the Falcon ten miles scuthwestward. 10 the
quarantine burying ground on Staten Island
The long black outline Of the Falcon, which
without her masts and freed from cargo,
rises abruptly forty feet high out Of the
depths, presents a strong contrast 70 the
meagre-sized, bowl shaped, sluggishly-
moued dead ship that hugs the water and
drinks the waves as tito seek obscurity and
publication for her loathsome load They
are well mated-the gigantic Falcon, is the
huge monster that daily belehes out the
victims whom the disease il nurses is con-
tidually killing, while the small repulsive
sloop plays lackey and tender, carrying off
the nauseating remains of those that its
bigger brother refuses longer to hold.
The two men who now manage the sloop,
and convey as well as inter the bodies are
stalwart Russians, Of unusual strength. But
recently serfs in their own country. they
understand but enough English, and possess
but sufficient personality, literally 10 obey
their sad Offices and stolidly 10 perform
their disgusting, though necessary work
What nature gave them in muscle she has
withheld in sensibility. The corpses, say
six, are laid in parallel lengths on the deck
partially covered with sail CLOTH The I'M
used anchor weighs down one end Of the
only shr6ud which the poor dead but tenn
porarily possess To keep the other end
from Tapping an unappreciated requiem,
JOSEPH runs below, leaving NICHOLAS
whistiing at the wheel, and brings up the
bread box 10 place upon the cloth, and him
der its wind made motiUn. But that is not
sufficient, though no other means are resor-
ted tc, TO screen the discolored corpses. The
breeze is inquisitive, and lifts the side Of the
covering to show the sun on whom he is
shining on. A man of middle age, a wo-
man in her fourth decade, between them an
infant whose prattling on earth is hushed
forever, beyond these a young wife, near her
a gray haired man, and at a distance a
youth, the vigor Of early life visible even in
death--lie side by side, while distorted iea-
tures, the last stamp which agony impressed,
and g fetid Undesirable oder that ofiends
the air and sickens the senses, tell the dread
ful story and show the more horrid effects Of
the terrible pestilence. Flaxen hair, roun-
ded features compact frame, the now pallid
blue of the staring eyes that will not shut,
suggest their German birth. Indeed, the
fatality is almost universally among this
class. Hundreds have left the grandeur
and the gayety 81 the Rhine, only 70 breathe
their death-gurgle at the mouth Of the Hud-
son, on The portals Of the land whittier free
dom, safety and abundant opportunity
woOed them.
The sloop forces a languid passage
fIfrf,Hr-ra he Hf.N sN-11,o1
notonOus thud, thud against the sides while
the stiffness Of the air and the silence of
the dead are rudely marred by the indiher-
enl jokes Of the dual crew, than which the
occasional creaking Of the restless mainsail
is lot less grating 20 the scene.
The ground reached, an open grave gapes
ready for the dead yet death-breathing bod
les More than five feet deep and two and |
a half feet wide, it seems spacious, but il is |
remembered that six distorted shapes that |
once were human beings are to be jammed /
in that hole, disgust is felt at its shameful |
shallowness. II was dug the night before by |
men who never attend the burial, Jut their
part Of preparation done, averse or fearful
Of experimenting the conclusion Of the hor-
rid work The corpses are taken hurriedly /
and thrown in in their order Of |
size, which brings the young wife next to
the top and the infant upon her breast. |
Neither coffin, shroud, nor even box is |
there. Strong hands shovel in the waiting |
earth on the almost bare bodies. Six so
nearly ill up the cavity that but few spades
ful Of earth suffice, and those descend not |
with the ringing sound that salutes the cof-
fined dead, but with the dull, heavy, echoe-
less sound Of dirt against flesh Perhaps
nine final inches Of clay cover the upmost
o0rpses, perhaps less. No prayer, no
mourner', no priest, no shroud, no coffin, no
friends, with one-sixth Of one grave, and
Ireagre morsel Of earth for their cover, the
daily augmented cholera dead sleep on by
the side Of the ocean, and at the door Of a
land in which, coming TO seek a home, they |
were moi ahle 10 nhlain decenl inmh