The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-07-10

hubB, Hke mighty funeral shroud,
around the armsment, yobscuriug the
sky. and for many daya.nnd nights con
cealing the blessed light of Heaven.
Artificial causes of terror were superad.
ded to the gloom which hung around
OF tar and pitch at every corner-the
reverberation OF cannon, fred by ordor
OF the authorities, in all the streets
the sounding Of the alarm bells-the
awful cry of fire, which frequently rang
In feeble wailine through the city, to-
gether with the conf igrations which ac.
tually occurred at that dreadful juno
ture-the rash and violent proceedings
OF the City Council, and the loathsome
reports published by them-the wanton
and disgusting exposure to public gaze
OF mass of livid, emaoiated and de-
composing human beings, whose attenu.
ated corpses, rendered ghastly by the
whitening malady, presented hideous,
revolving and fearful spectacle e-the
erection Of funeral pyre, in which
their proianed bodies were sacrie-
giousIy consumed, and their ashes scat
tered to the four winds of Heaven-all,
all to give sublime and awful porfec-
ton of horror to the appalling picture.
During the reign of terror, despair and
death, many persons died in their beds
without aid. nnnotice.l and unknown,
and were there subsequently discovered
In state OF decomposition. So difficult
was it to accomplish the burial of the
dead throughout the city, from their
immense accumulation and the great
deficiency OF laboring persons. that
neither fortune nor popularity were ade-
quate to secure their possessors speedy
| Intnrn1ppt Eunn fhn 80.
with all the appliances OF wealth, oficinl
influence and numerous friends, Law for
many days unburied, while repeated ap-
pllcasions were in vain made to various
individuals to have the remains removed
from his house and committed to tbs
grave. Suoh was the multitude OF dead
throughout the suburbs and city that the
ordinary forms OF sepulture were necea-
sariiy abandoned; many were hurried to
the grave-yards without coffins; hearses,
carriages, carts, drays, hand and ooua-
mon wheel.barrows were all employed in
the transportation of the dead. Spa
clous trenches were with difficulty pre-
pared in the cemeteries, and the dead
we're thrown miscellaneously together,
without single mark Of deoency or
respect Notwithstanding all this, the
dead accumulated to such an extent that
hundreds lay for days unburied, while
every possible effort Of the Mayor, cor
poration and private citizens were in
vain employed to procure adequate as
sistance to perform that melancholy
duty. Carts filed with uncoffined hu.
man bodies were driven to the grave
yards aud there upturned, and their
contents discharged as so many loads of
lumber or offal. The cemeteries being
found inadequate to contain the maeses
OF dead bodies which hourly accumu-
lated, an extensive excavation was, by
dlnt OF extraordinary exertions, prepared
ny the city authorities, under the direc-
ton of the Mayor. on the edge of the
swamp in the rear OF the city, in desc
Grated spot where malefactors, who had
paid the last penalty of the law. were
buried. In short. the city was decimat.
ed-one.tenth part OF the entire popula-
ton having been swept off in about ten
days. Wherever the cholera made its
appearance in 1882 it was attended by
similar ravages. Let the alarmists learn
what cholera meant in other days, and
they will have abundant cause to con-
gratulate themselves at the mildness OF
tho disease which now peryades the
country.
TIE SooURoE THIS YEAR The Gal.
latin, Tenn. Examiner says:
During the prevalence OF the epidemic
here, our estimate Of the population re.
naming is 1900. In this, we are sus.
tained by the opinions Of the citizens.
The deaths by cholera, strictly within
the corporate limits. to this writing,
"wednesday, July 2,) have been an even
hundred. We have. therefore, lost one
in every fifteen. or six and two.thirds
per cent. This is an appalling figure,
and shows larger mortality in Gallatin
than elsewhere. It goes far beyond that
OF Calcutta, where, in the sickliest year,
it is only two and half per cent. At
Nashville, from 1888 to 1913, after the
advent of cholera, it was 4 So per cent.
In 1866, it rose to nearly six per cent.
This above is the total mortality, inclu-
si1e Of cholera. If an inhabitant OF Gal
latin could have foreseen, on the lst day
OF juno last, that ono person in every
fifteen would be lying in O grave, he
would have been appalled, at the fearful
picture; and yet it Is true And we are
glad that our absent friends were not
here to witness tho terrible scenes of the
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