Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-09-05
The Yellow Fever.
The horrors Of the yellow fever ,

! llus. ne le horrors TORS OF the yellow fever pes>
tiIence now desolating the South are
almost beyond description. In many
towns and cities business 10 suspended, !,
and every person not sick is actively
engaged in caring for the sick and
bourying the dead. In Memphis some:
have died in their houses uncared for.
and remained there until discovered
and buried by the police. Only q few.
persons are left in Grenada, Miss. szz5@s
A newspaper correspondent writing.
on the 10Th inst. gives vivid descrip>
tion of the condition Of Grenada. The
writer says that twelve houses to the
right and seven to the left of his home
were deserted, and for hours together
not = person was seen stirring iia once
happy neig hood g. The groceries
we're closed, nearly all Of their propri-
etors having fallen victims to the
scourge. Being assured by physicians
| that one who has recovered from yell
low fever is exempt from 1t ever after-
ward, the writer tried to find his ac>
qualntances and assist them. He
says: II saw at least ten of them dead
and scores Of them dying or slowly
awaiting the crisis of the epidemic.
1t was appalling to behold young and
old women huddled in some by>way,
trembling, praying, soebins and cast>
ing despa.ring g'ances in every direc>
| ton, not knowing whittier to go.
Mothers abandoned their stricken
children; wives fed ia terror from
their afflicted husbands. Ali the ties
of kindred seemed to have been to
too frail to withstand the pressure Of
fear and despair. The loved ones were
left in strange hands. Negroes and
uegresses who had lad the fever
proved very useful in some instances ;
but many of them took advantage of
the situation aud asked exorbitant
compensation for their services on &C.
count of the scarcity of the Howard
nurses. I saw as many as three white
purses seized with the sshakes,' and
even with vomiting while in the dis
charge of their duties. Three days
ago I saw a man restiog against a
wooden fence. I was about to pass
on, thinking he was only under the
influence of drink, but hearing him
moan and say %, my God! I ap-
preached him aud found that it was
Enthusiastically case of yellow fever.
I assisted him to one of the tents near
the police station, where / fear that
he is to be among the list Of victims.
! I do not believe that oae-third Of the
/ cases of fever in its most malignant
! type among the negroes have been re-
ported. I thought it my duty to re-
port to DR.. Bccks, who, I supposed,
would refer the matter to the authori~
ties, the many horrible 81 ghts l had
witnessed in some negro cabins, where,
in some cases, whole families were
prostrated by the fever-even three in
a he'd in two Instances. and dying
children sprawliug on the aoor. Il
cannot omit mentioning the hero,sm Of
the Sisters of Charity. Their minis
trations are tireless their temper is
never ruf1led in the least by sleepless
nights, spare diet, and constantly at
tending to the pettish demands Of the
sick aud witnessing the agouies of the
dying. Where they sleep or eat ]
could not divine. I saw the same
faces around day and night. and again
at dawn. They carry medicines with
them, work like bees in disinfe citing
houses, and have magical faculty OF
raking up clean linen and bed clothes
in out of the way places. l also saw
several clergyman who were behaving
IN very disioterested way, one Of
whom had not removed his clothes fol
three consecutive, nights. 1t is not
possible to describe the narrowing in
cidents Of the fatal pestilence at Gren~
ada. It is a blighted, forsaken aud
doomed town." ..*
! A correspondent Of the Chicago
Tribune writes from Mesiehis as fol
lows: -
"The echo Of my music, as whistle
to keep my courage up, comes back in
sort of vail that Jars on my ear. Il
is almost as bad as a midnight stroll in
a graveyard, ones imagination assis'
ting to picture the hand of dealh reach
ing out from the corner of every bad
smelling alley. To have lived in Mem
phis for the past ten days is almost to
have grown gray with fright. The
Wild panic which seized the city, the
scramble for feothold on steamboatdecl
or car~platform, the agony Of frigh'
pictured everywhere, on every one''
face, were trying enough to the stout
est. More trying, however it hal
been to see the death>rate gradual,
crawl up, to see familiar names on the
death>roll and in the record Of the tmit
ten. to witness the monster fingers Q
death relaxing and stretching forth +
grasp wider hold on the doomed city
> New Orleans is suffering terribl.
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