Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-10-04
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HOME.
Contributions for the relief OF Mem
phis begin to pour in from all directions,
The appeals telegraphed abroad and
made by the press have not been in vain.
Our own resources, though limited in
these hard times, have not been avail
able. Many of our rich citizens were
away when the disease broke out, and
have kept OF at a safe distance. Others
have betaken themselves away more re-
Gently. This class is yet to hear from.
They have not done their part toward
the relief Of the sufering-but we hope
they viii yet be heard from, and when
ever we can find their contributions in
the books Of the Howard Association
they will get into print The merchants
andthe can't-getaway people have given
freely according to their means, and yet
the necessity is SO great the emergency
so fearful that their generosity is still
taxed. The $4,000 given by the city
was net realized at FIRST, and the How
ards were in q dilemma; but the
notes of the city we're all negotiated
finally and the money raised. Yet their
expenses are enormous, and there is
no help for it. Nurses cannot be
employed for less than s. per day, nor
will laborers work at cleaning out and
disenfecting houses where families have
been Frustrated or swept away, for ordi-
nary wages. Many OF the patients are
destitute Of everything; some of them
require champagne in their treatment,
a remedy nearly always used freely in
New Orleans, and some poor families
have to be supplied with the necesssries
OF life to keep them from starvation.
No wonder then that the Association ex-
pends over $500 per day, and that ex-
penses are on the increase. If the city
government is powerless TO provide
more funds, the sooner the fact is Off
eially declared the better, that the citi-
zens may organize more thoroughly, and
decide upon a plan Of cooperation.
Major Busby's committee working in
conjunction with the Towards has &C
complished a great deal, as will be seen
by our reports. But there is no telling
where this trouble will end. 1t may not
abate before the first of November, ex-
cept as the population is thinned
ont. We will need at least
$4,000 yet in money, besides all
the contributions of groceries, delica-
cies, clething, etc., likely to be received.
To talk about an economical mango
ment is nonsense. 1t is the same as to
propose economy on board sinking
ship, which can only be saved by throw
ing overheard large portion of the
cargo. 1t is life that is to be saved, and
not property. The LEDGER took the
ground weeks ago that this is no time to
count the cost or bubble about dollars
and cents, and since that time, but
only recently, some others have
adopted our view. We are glad
of this, for the sake of humanity,
as there is some prospect of united effort
and the enforcement of sanitary meas
ures, which should have been done in the
outset. ( The clergy, the Sisters Of Char
ity, physicians, the Towards, and all the
various benevolent organizations, have
at great personal risk performed noble
services in behalf of their distressed
fellow men. Without ostentation or
boasting, they have gone into places to
DO deeds of charity where death had
slain half the household and laid a heavy
hand upon the rest, and where the close,
foul air is freighted heavily with the
germs of DEATH. Many have been re-
lieved and saved, yet for want Of proper
attention many lives have been lost.
The public, however, is now thoroughly
aroused, and we have hope that, what
ever the duration or malignity of the
disease, few cases Of neglect will have to
be reported. Our sister cities are con-
iributing literally, and it is trusted that
a lack of funds will not again be a sub
iect Of complaint.