The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-09-16

VI ullalrs VIII De raulcaiiy changed, anu NJ
man can foresee the ills that are in storl
for us notonly as respects the interest OF
the debt but also as regards the Who'll,
vast cditice Of values, and Of public ant
private credit, throughout the country. 3
5l Plague Smltten Memphis. ~ !
Memphis Avalanche. .,,t.. t7S
In this office, as We write, there are but
two left OF all who a month ago were em.
ployed in the editorial, counting, and com.
posing rooms, and our pressman Is down
with the fever. Strangers to the Office, as
to the. business, are attending to our af.
fairs; .yhilctthe only editor left on duty
alternates, through 10 hours q day, be.
tween his desk and case. This Is our
personal measure Of the dreadful cpidem.
ic, and surely It is a sad one. Our expert
ence is one. we will never forget, and it is a
common one. The fifth epidemic we have
passed through, this surpasscs them all in
the horrors It has uncovered. Parents
have deserted children, and children par.
rents, husbands their wives, but not one
wife a husband. Men have dropped dead
on the streets, while others have died neg
lected, only to be discovered by the death
spreading gases from their bodies. Minis
tiers Of the Gospel, carrying messages Of
peace, hurrying from house TO house, have
had their weary feet arrested and their
work staid by the pestilence that walks in
the MONDAY as at night. The priest, ad-
ministering the extreme unction, and the
bride OF Christ, wiping the, death.damp
from the forehead OF those whose friends
and kinfolks are far away, are almost para.
lyzed in the sacred act, and die even before
we know they are sick. The business OF
the .hour-is the succor OF the sick, the
burial OF the dead, and the care OF the
needy living THE last words OF those who
are well are at night farewells to the dead,
and the first in the morning: "Who lives
and who has died2" "}rEt a5tutC2I Itt
In addition to the above extract from
the Aralanch newspaper, We herewith ap-
pend a copy OF aletter received yesterday
by Michael Reiley, Esq, Of this city from
a friend at Memphis. 10 .tDFtt
MEMPHIS, Tenn, Sept. IA, 1878.
The fever here Is still on the increase.
The average daily death roll is over one
hundred, and 1t is the opinion OF many
that we have not seen the worst We yet
have to pass through about five weeks
which heretofore have been the most fatal
part Of the season. We cannot expect
much relief before there is killing frost.
Some seasons we do not get q frost much
before October 90, and sometimes later.
Memphis is now being scourged to an ex-
tent Unprecedented in her history. The
total deaths to date since the epidemic COM
,menced will nearly reach l,500: On the
4th inst. there were ,2lS burials, l30 OF
which were negroes. This large number
in one day. was caused blythe gathering up
oimany bodies which had lain unburied
for several days owing to, the impossibili-
ty OF getting hands to dig graves. We see
funeral PROFESSIONS nothing but unat
tended hearses, express wagons, and al-
most every other kind OF vehicles convey
ing the bodies to,a,place Of interment.
We have now succeeded In getting suf-
,ficient help to bury all bodies delivered
up to @ r. ". each day. Such bodies as are.
not ready by Q are held over until the fol-
lowing day. sr'aaH y
/ saw yesterday o poor woman sitting
beside her child's coffin in an open one
horse wagon, and she had not even bon
net on to cover her head. ..la
M WAGON LOADS OF DEAD. l
The corpses buried in the Potter's Field
are conveyed thence by the large wagon
load. Imagine teamster driving through
the. different streets ts)lgathering up his load
OF dead like garbage and continuing until
he gets full.load. Itsometimes happens
that one of these teamsters will get an
overload on and drop one or two boxes
down, bursting them open by the fall.
The scenes in the family circle are heart
rending in the extreme, and in many
cases whole families are swept away by
the DESTROYER Many of our physicians,
nurses and ministers have! died or are
down. The Howards have had about 200
nurses, a great many Of whom have died.
THE CAMPS OUTSIDE THE CITY. g
The whole country around Memphis is a
camp-ground. About 1000 people are en-
camped within a radius Of from four to six
miles. The fever has broken out in some
OF the camps, and many persons have died.
When the fever first broke out it com
menced in the northern portion Of the
city, but within the past ten days 1t has
spread all over 1t, ~. 81.
As we have remained this long our ply
sician advises us. 10. ",hold the fort, " think
ing It would be unsafe for US to change
climate now.
We are using all the preventives recom-
mended, such as calomel, quinine,. &c
keep fire In our rooms, and have establish
ed d little quarantine on our own hook by
locking up, and avoiding all communities
tion possible with the outside.