The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-11-06
A FrIghtful Plague.

The yellow fever has been confined
TO no particular locality, and rich and
poor have suffered nike, says letter
from Memphis. Nor do the citizens
svoid any particular spot except Happy
Hollow, where the plague is said first
to have broken out---a miserable, tunl-
ble-down place inhabited by the very
poor, and now looked upon rs verit-
able Gehenna. Here at the very start
ing of the disease there wao great suf-
fering, for the people were not able or
indeed willing to call in medical assist
ance. It seems now that there reeae
some thirty deaths before the sanitary
authorities made their rformal announce
ment that the pestilence was upon us,
and then it had obtained q sure foot
hold. The disease begins with chill
and pain in the head, back, and limbs,
which is often followed by delirium.
The stomach will not retain food, and
feels as though it was on fire. The face
is putfed and swollen like that of con-
firmed drunkard, and the eyes are red
and extremely sensitive to light, and
gradually the orange or darker hue
characteristic. ! of the disease extends to
neck, breast, and extremities. The per-
son attacked, is often remarkably rest
less, changes his position constantly,
and his face assumes n look of intense
nervous anxiety or is fierce and threat
ening. Then comes an abatement of
the symptoms, the skin grows moist
and coel, pain partly vanishes; and the
patient is apparently gro wing well. The
third state is one of prostration; the
pslse becomes more frequent and fee
bile, and the skin darker, the tongue is
large and moist, or brown and dry, or
smooth, red, fssured, and bleeding.
The stomach again becomes irritable,
the vomiting is often incessant, and the
matter elected contains dark flakes
which, If the case goes on, gradually be-
comes the terrible "black vomit," which
looks like mixture of coffee grounds
or SCOT. Low, muttering delirium su-
pervenes, and in few hours the victim
dies. In connection with one of the re.
lief societies it has been my unhappy
fortune to witness many such cases of
suffering aggravated by all the horrors
OF squalor and poverty; the black vomit
would plash hour after hour into basins
or against the wall near which the suf-
ferer lay, in some cases deserted by all
his family. for the terror occasioned by
the disease readily takes the form of
panic fear and overcomes all sense of
moral obligation and natural affection.
One of our city officials refused the 9TH
er day to attend the funeral of his own
mother, for fear of being attacked by
the fever. Indeed this is not to be won
dered at, although attendance on the
sick is by no means necessarily fatal.
No one comes to the city who can posi-
bly, escape doing so, and there are many
noble men and women who beve devoted
their whole time to the infected. The
efforts OF the Howard Association in this
direction are beyond all praise. 1t has
supplied 20 nurses, and its daily expen-
diture is at least 81. 400. The Masons,
the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias,
and the secret societies generally, have
fulfilled their best mission to the best
of their ability, and now find themselves
in desperate need of money to continue
as they have begun. Yes, as I said be-
fore, money and supplies are coming in
rapidly from all sections of the country,
and now that the plague is abatipg its
fury, there will doubtless be little more
trouble in this respect, though now the
need il pressing.