Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-11-16

SAID to amount 10 +OUO
The mortality that had been at first al
most solely of Italians, now embraced all
trades and nationalities Bakers and print
ers suffered very heavily, and three Span
ish newspapers had to close for want of
hands. In one office as many as six or
seven men fell sick in day OF the
newspaper carriers not fewer than sixteen
died. 1t was remarkable that women and
children seemed almost to escape the
plague, the men forming perhaps nine
tenths of the whole number q Some doc
tors noted that very few deaths occurred in
houses of "altos," or upper stories; but
then it must be remembered that especial
ly in the poorer districtsl most OF the
houses are merely ground floors.
Toward the close of this month tMarch)
from what cause is inexplicable, for a few
days the mortality returns showed dimi-
mutton. 1t was hoped that the worst was
over, and some returned to town. Vain
dream. The last week of March the
deaths reached $50 per day, and swept
from among us some of our representative
men.
A second panic, greater that the first,
now ensued. Wagons, carts, and every
kind of vehicle were seized at any price,
to convey fugitives and furniture to the
country Some went with canvass tents,
others in covered bullock carts, others
took the railways to rcmotest points, and
many went away to ranches on the Indian
frontier. 1t was like as if the people were
fiying from bombardment. But even
flight was not always safety many per
sons who had left town apparently in good
health were seized with the fatal symptoms
two DAYS after, and died without medical
attendance.
The close of March witnessed remarka-
BILE fall of the river, such as had not been
seen for many years previous. This laid
bare a mud bank at the mouth of the Ria-
chuelo, the smell from which caused sud
denly an appalling mortality at the Boca.
The bulk of the Inhabitants fed in all di-
rections, many of them in crafts toward
San Fernando. On board these vessels
several deaths occurred soon after The
eminent engineer, Mr.. Revy, proceeded to
examine the mud bank in question, but on
probing it to a depth of fifteen feet, he and
| his men were taken i'll, and had to abandon
/ the task.
Death was by this time making awful
havoc in the eonventilles," as many as
seventy corpses being taken out of one.
1t was quite common for the police to find
dead bodies in abandoned tenements. The
putrid remains were hurried off to the fosse
| for the uncoffined poor. AT first these ap
peared in the death list as N. N, i" but
afterward We're not counted at all. The
scavenger carts were employed in this ser
vice, and we heard of one breaking down
from which eight corpses were taken.
Scenes of this kind drove numbers ot
people out of their wits they are now IA
wing lunatics in the Convalecencia Saddel
still is it to say that several were buried 81
hastily as to cause much apprehension OIL
this head We know of Il cOnfectione
who says he broke from his coffin on thu
way to the cemetery, and was SO horriiiet
that he nearly tainted; then he entered ;
pulpera and got glass of brandy, adding
Il cannot pay you, for have just ESCAPED
from the coffin" The pulpera and by
ISLANDERS ran away Mortified. Another MAJ
only came to in the South Cemetery, perhaps
owing to the jolting of the cart. He push
ed aside one of the slender boards of tht
coffin, and astonished the grave-diggers
The poor fellow died in earnest three day
later.
The grave-diggers were again unable t.
get through their work, and for som,
nights the smell from the cemetery wa
so dreadful that the neighbors petitione(
Governor Castro, who appointed specia
committee to see that thencefOrth no dea(
be left over till the next day. Whoever a
this time had occasion to visit the cemetery
brought away the most horifying tales
and rarely did any one venture there
second time. Many among our own littl,
community, in paying the last tribute t.
the remains of friend or relative, tool
the contagion, came home, sickenet
and died. AT last the municipality wisely
published an edict that no more than two
persons could attend any funeral
Tho mortality thic month Was full,
eleven thousand; the registered numbe
was less than half, but then the " fosse'
was not counted. The government wa
hastily preparing the cemetery of the Cha
carita, to which a line of tramway wa
laid down, and the steam omnibusses o
the Western Railway were ordered for th
new special service of the conveyance 0
the dead.
Gloom and desolation reigned through
out the city. The streets were silent an
deserted, except when a hearse appeared
followed by a solitary coach. From neal
ly every door piece of Grape hung, tn
windows of the houses open, sometime
also the doors, but no signs of life within
The sun shone brightly, but the air wa
heavy with the odor of death. No cart
were in the streets, no carriages on th
stands, no porters or laborers at work, n
sound of children's voices, not even til
i dogs bark to break the awful silence.
Gale Florida, the most fashionable {
our streets, you might almost hsv
| fired grapeshot at noon-da
| without hitting any one. In the south en-
you might walk through several blocks
deserted houses, without meeting livin
/ being The windows all open, the furn
ture untouched, for even that was SUI
) posed infected. In central streets you mt
!, by chance cart or furniture van drive
) by policeman, with a human body goin
to the Lazzaretto or the cemetery. Agai
you saw cart with pile of empty co
| fins, and a hawker selling them as Il
, would fruit or vegetables it was not III
common to see one of these fellows s
down on a doorstep, after selling coffiI
| and begin to smoke, waiting till some oil
, woman inside should die, that he migl
dispose of another. These coffins wei
/ merely four pine boards put together, wit
a daub of black paint. 1t is said that the
r were made to answer several times whel
: ever there was no one to accompany til
deceased to the cemetery the screws wei
| drawn and the corpse committed to til
! clay.
Holy week was now q second time on
of mourning and pestilence Gt having bee
the worst of the cholera in 1861 \ til
mortality was now returned at four hun
5 dred per day, but stated by the grave-di!
l gers at a thousand. The usual ceremonit
of the Catholic Church in this solemn Sc;
son were left unperformed, and every on
3 who could left town. The hotels WEI
closed, as well as the chief coffee-houses
even at the clubs the members could NJ
get food the tramways stopped half the
trains and it was agitated to stop the higl
ways the government ordered the tel
l graph offices to remove to Flores in
e word, the city was like a ship abandone
n at sea.
y The popular committee published ci
0 cular in these words:
e There are barely thirty thousand PEE
/ pie left IN town, of whom seven thousan
:. are sick, and the death rate is from for
d hundred to five hundred daily"
n Easter Monday, April 10, the plagr
d reached its climax; five hundred and for,
# boletos" for interment we're issued b
). tween sunrise and sunset; the grave di
'r gers toiled on by the light of the lantern
IS and more than thousand were interre
'e on that day. Here it is worth relatir
e that of three hundred and SiYtv c-rax-