Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-11-17

The mortality that had been at first al.
most solely of Italians, now embraced all
trades and nationalitics Bakers and ~
crs suffered very heavily, and ,roo S,n%an.
ish newspapers had 20 close for want Of
nanus' l" .,ne office as many as six or
'o''' mon fell sick in n day, or the
newspaper carriers not fewer than sixteen
died It was remarkable that women and
children seemed almost to cac6pe the
plague, the men forming perhaps nine
tenths of the whole number. Some doc
tors noted that very few deaths occurred in
houses of "altos," or upper stories but
then IL must be remembered that especial
ly in the poorer districts) most of the
houses are merely ground floors.
Toward the close Of this month (March)
from what cause is inexplcable, for u few
days the mortality returns showed dimi-
mutton, II 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 cnsued. 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 TcmOtcst points, and
many went away to ranches on the Indian
frontier II was like as If the people were
flying from a 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 u remarka-
bic fall of the river, such as had not been
seen for many years previous. This laid
bare mud bank at the mouth of the Ria
chuclo, the smell from which caused sud
denly an appalling mortality at the Boca.
The bulk of the inhabitants fled 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 conventillos,n as many as
seventy corpses being taken out of one
1t was quite common for the police to find
dead bodies in abandoned tenemcnts. The
putrid remains were hurried off to the fosse
for the uncolfined poor. At first these ap-
peared in the death list as % n. N, but
afterward were not counted at all. The
scavengCr 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 of
people out of their wits they are now ra-
wing lunatics in the Convalecencia. Saddcr
still is it to say that severn! ~s'r, uuried so
hastily as to cauNt much apprehension on
10 nf a act nar
who savg ne broke from his coffin on the
way tojfhe cemetery, and was SO Mortified
that lfe nearly tainted; then he entered a
puIpera and got a glass Of brandy, adding
=" cannot pay you, for have Just escaped
from the coffin" The pulpcra and by
standers ran away Mortified. Another man
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 the
coffin, and astonished the grave-diggers.
The poor fellow died in earnest three days
later.
( The grave-diggers were again unable to
get through their work, and for some
nights the smell from the cemetery was
so dreadful that the neighbors petitoned
Governor Castro, who appointed special
committee to see that thenceforyh no dead
be left over till the next day Whoever at
v
brought away the most horifying tales,
and rarely did any one venture there
second time. Many among our own little
community, in paying the last tribute to
the remains of u friend or relative, took
the cOntagiOn, came home, sickened
and died. At last the municipality wisely
published an edict that no more than two
persons could attend any funeral
The mortality this month was fully
eleven thousand; the registered number
was less than half, but then the - fossen
was not counted. The government was
hastily preparing the cemetery of the Cha
carita, to which a line of tramway was
laid down, and the steam Omnibusses of
the Western Railway were ordered for the
new special service of the conveyance of
the dead.
Gloom and desoIation reigned through
out the city. The streets were silent and
deserted, except when hearse appeared,
followed by a solitary coach. From near
/ ly every door piece of Grape hung, the
windows of the houses open, sometimes
also the doors, but no signs of life within
The sun shone brightly, but the air was
heavy with the odor of death. No carts
were in the streets, no carriages on the
stands, no pOrters or laborers at work, no
sound of children's voices, not even the
dogs bark to break the awful silence. In
Gale Florida, the most fashionable of
our streets, you might almost have
fired a grapeshot at noon-day
without hitting any one. In the south end
you might walk through several blocks of
deserted houses, without meeting a living
being. The windows all open, the furni-
ture untouched, for even that was sup
posed infected. In central streets YOU met
. Inv oh - .I.,,-
by policeman, with human body going
to the Lazzaretto or the cemetery. Again
you saw cart with Il pile of empty cof-
fins and hawker selling them rs he
would fruit or vegetables il was not un-
common to see one of these fellows sit
down on doorstep, after selling a coffin,
and begin TO smoke, waiting till some old
woman inside should die, that he might
dispose of another. These collins were
merely four pine boards put together, with
a daub of black paint. Ii is said that they
were made to answer several times when
ever there was no one to accompany the
deceased TO the cemetery the screws were
drawn and the corpse committed to the
clay.
Holy week was now second time one
of mourning and pestilenCe Git having been
the worst of the cholera in 1861 y the
mortality was now returned mt four hun
dred per day, but stated by the graye-dig-
gers at thousand. The usual ceremonies
of the Catholic Church in this solemn sea
son were left unperformed, and every one
who could left town. The hotels were
closed, as well us the chief coffee houses
even at the clubs the members could not
get food ; the tramways stopped half their
trains and it was agitated to stop the high
ways the government ordered the tele-
graph offices to remove 10 Flores i'm
word, the city was like ship abandoned
at sea.
The popular committee published a cir
cular in these words:
There are barely thirty thousand peo-
pie left in town, of whom seven thousand
are sick, and the death rate is from four
bun1rad IN fva bunIra1 Ja;l,,