The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-09-13
PLAGUE.RIppEN, MEMPHIS.


Thrilling description by an Escapsd Resl
dent Of the Manifold Horrors Of the City.
From the Chicago Timesl
Among those who have found refug
in Chicago is Mr.. O. r. Witesman, for
merly a resident of this city, bnt, sinc
1871. in the employ of q Memphis dry
goods firm. A reporter of the Time
received from him the following accoun
of his experience with the DESTROYER:
memphis, you know" said the gen
tleman, sis ordinarily O pretty livel,
town, and, for city of 90, 600 or so. ia
streets, before the fever came, were re-
markably busy. Now it is as quiet as .
New England village on Sunday after
nom.
Through the summer there had been
as there always is, good deal of tail
about yellow fever, but, as it got along
into August without any cases, a good
many people began to think we would
pull through. There were others-and
thousan Is of them, too-that were ali
ready, packed, with all preparations
made to step out on the first indication
of fever. 1t had been at work in New
| Orleans for some time, and. as the warm
season advanced, it began to make head
way up the river. Then Grenada caught
it, and, with the memory of its ravages
in 1873, the people generally became
nervous and excited.
about the 18th of August we had
our first case, supposed to have been
brought up from New Orleans on the
steamer Golden Grown. There were
two of them, and they stopped with Pat
Winters, who used to be Recorder. Both
of them died at his house. The first
death, though, was that of Mrs. Bionda,
an italian woman. She died on the cor
ner of Front and Washington streets.
The first news we had of her was in the
morning, and in the afternoon she was
dead. Did you ever see panic Well,
if you didn't you can't form any idea of
it. Nearly everybody was wild. You
could see it in their eyes. Why, they
came rushing into the stores to buy
things, and the way they went for the
railroad ticket offices was something 1
never saw before. The streets were
crowded with drays and wagons of all
kinds, and every one of them was full of
trunks and travelling bags and furniture,
Cd the way to the railroad stations. You
couldn't get hack or anything else
that run on wheels for love or money.
And in all the hustle and movement
there was something that seemed so ter
ribly ominous l felt it as 1 did at the
time of the fire in Chicago. I was here
then, and had my share of sensations.
1t seemed as if the place was doomed. l
can't tell how or why, but it was like
waiting for some awful crash that was
going to blot out things forever.
con that rush about 5000 people
left town. A great many men sent their
families away and went themselves after
ward, when the disease came ont so bad
There was so much baggage at the rail
road depots that it wasn't all carried out
for week. My family remained there
until about two weeks ago, when 1 sent
them away.
"Then there was calm for day or
so, but as soon as few more people died
there was another panic, and almost
everybody that could get away went,
and they went in hurry. Those who
went by railroad had already bought
their tickets. The roads out of town
were full-some of the people in wagons
many afoot-any way to get out of Mem
phis. Then the city began to look
empty. BY the Goth or the 22d good
many of the business houses closed up,
and then it began to look like desola-
ton. You could go along block, and
for ali the signs of life you would see
you might as we'll be in that old dead
Memphis in Egypt.
1 tell you, it was awful to go down
town every day, and see and hear what
was going on. One day it would be:
Well, Hamilton went last night, and
I've just heard Carson has got the black
vomit.' Then somebody would come
along with the news of some other ac-
quaintance dying or dead, and it seemed
as if you could see death in the air.
"And the next day the first thing you
would hear would be that the man you
were talking with the day before was
down with it, and bad case.
st tell you, there are some awful
sights in Memphis now. There are only
about 8, 800 people there now, and some
thing like /, 300 of them are down. You
know the societies have so much to do
that they can't hunt out every case.
People who want assistance have TO APP
ply to some one of the agencies for it,
and there is so much ground to be COW
cred that very often the patient is dead
before the doctor can get there. A doc
tor will go out in the morning with
enough cases on his list to keep him
busy all day, so he has to refuse all APP
peals. have seen doctor with women
and children on their knees begging him
to come to their husbands and fathers
and mothers-some of them trying to
drag him in. When you go into some
of the houses you see horrible sights.
I'll never forget one place on Jefferson
street. The whole family-father,
mother, and seven children-all were in
one room. The father was dead, and his
body hung across the bed with his head
hanging down, and the black vomit spat
tered all over the bed and the room.
The mother was dying, and that horrid
black vomit-it looks like coffee. grounds
was running out of her mouth into the
face and breast of one of the children
that lay on the floor by the bed. Ugh
it makes me sick to think of it,
Gall the children but one were down
with the fever, and they rolled around
on the floor and screamed and groaned