Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-10-18
YEtE6w FEVER VICTIMS
A Graphic Story Of the Deadly
Southern Scourge.

COrtespondence oil the LOUISVILLE COufler-J Ournal
The fever was discovered to be cpl.
dcmic August 20th.Y The discovery
fell Ikea thunderbolt from a cloud
less sky upon the people of Savannah
1T wassso.swholly unlocked for--as
since the war Savannah had perfected
an excellent5system of drainage and
built water works, which afford full
supply of pure water land the police,
in addition to their other duties, are
made sanitary.inspcctors land there
had been no yellow fever to speak Of
since 1883 and besides, for number
of years past, the. summcr season has
been the healthiest portion of the
year in Savannah. The disease was
not imported, but originated in Sa-
vanmah. The causes were the very
extraordinary rainfall in June of 15La
inches, which overfiowed the rice
fields near the city and remained there
under temperature Of over 80 de-
grees for sixty days, with an easterly
wind from off the Gulf stream since
April. From the very beginning the
disease was Of the most malignant
type, and defied all efforts to control
it, and the death rate ran up as high
as fOrty-eight per day. On Saturday
last, the date of the last report, thu
number of deaths was twenty-five
The epidemic has reached its climax
and from this time forward Their,
will be fewer cases, but the death rat'
will be proportionately higher, as thu
disease becomes more malignant a
the season for it draws to a close
Nothing short of a hard freeze vii
cflcctually stamp out the pestilcnce
and that is not to be expected earliel
than the middle Of November. Fully
600 people have died of the playa,
from August Goth to date. The usua
, population of Savannah is 10000. A
, census taken last Saturday shows q,
j 600 people there at present. Not les
/ than 500 Of them arc down with tn
, fever now. One hundred and fifty
: three new cases were reported Satur
day, and every man, woman and chill,
: in the city is more or less affected b.
/ the disease. All left that could &C
away.
After the epidemic got under ful
hcadway, it was more dangerous t
|. leave than to remain, as q change q
atmosphere would almost certainl
= develop the latent seeds Of the discas
= in the system, and an attack of ths
sort invariably proves fatal. N
Language, says Colonel Lamar, ca
describe the terrible gloom and al
prehension that hangs over Savannah
!. The suffering and restitution are a!
r solutely horrible. Savannah has
: negro population of about 10, 600, WI
!. are naturally careless and improv
dent, and then she has white labo
y ing class who arc dependent upG
q their daily labor for their bread
2 Business of every sort except thrOue
!. cotton, is suspended, and the laborir
q classes are wholly without mean
. The disease has run this class of il
!. fed, ill-clothed and ill-lodged on
% and swept them away like chaff b
= fore the wind, and is now attackir
# the better classes. Many promine,
!, citizens have died, particularly Il
! younger business men of the city.
4 The disease comes on suddenly al
), almost invariably in the night, VIII.
r the system is exhausted. The sym
,s toms are intense pain in the hea
n back and limbs, and high fever whi'
Is lasts twelve hours. At the end
~ that time the patient is ready for b
N cook or his coffin. If the fever su
- sides without the black vomit appea
9 ing, two or three weeks of carcf
q nursing will make him well. A 7
70 lapse is always fatal. After the bla'
! vomit intervenes recovery is rare.
q Many heart-rending incidents
"a the terrible plague are told. A wOrtl
and estimable lady of Savannah W
buried coffinless because one cou
not be procured for love nor mono
In many instances the bodies we
laid in the graves and the graves IL
10 open because there was no time
i fill them.
;. A great deal of aid has been Civ,
Savannah and Brunswick, but gre
deal yet remains to be done. Tho
le sands ofpeople are in absolute wa
d of everything. All infected beddil
is and clothing must, of necessity
e destroyed. The treatment of the di
l. ease requires large quantities Of ic
costly medicines, and nourishl1
: food, The laboring classes have !
e work of any kind, and are Who'll
;. destitute.