The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-09-04

!
ease was indeed yelow-fever, but of such q
| terrible sort that il was something Dracfi-
/ c9lly new To them. They think that the
/ foulness of Grenada lent 20 it maIlarial
element, making IL resist the treatment h u
! ordinarily Is Ia some degree efiiaaciOls
| those who did not die remained sick not
| one patient recovering. Commonly. velIolv
| lever Is abrupt in its attack, there being no
preliminary symptoms. There i, first. a
/ chill; then fever OF more or less intensity.
accom- panied by pain in the legs and loins.
/ ana continuing from few hours 10 three
/ days. Next, II ever, convalescence ensues.
! None of the cases in Grenada ended at thar
stage. Some OF the patients were simply
lett IN a prostration from which they have
/ not yet recovered; but in most instances
| the distinctive yelIOwness of the skin came
on, followed by the vomiting OF blood,
| called black vomit, and exhaustion. Ali
! or the physicians sens from Mem phis
were aiopathic. They adhered To- the usual
| treatment, which does not embrace any
| specially curative remedies, but consists OF
| complete resi-, induced by opiates. Alcohol
&c stimuiant is given In the stage of exhaus-
| ton. One physician says tina the Grenada
patients are evidently much affected by
fright. They have no hope of recovery
and their lack of courage is d serious him
drance of recovery. They suffer a mental
as well as physical collapse. Espec ally is
this true OF the negroes, to whom the dis
ease Is h0rritying surprise. Negroes nave
been regarded as almost inVulnerabie TO vel
low fever, and have rarely died of it. The
Grenada negroes We're fearless, and durin z
the first week OF the pestilence. not one vas
stricken. The first among them to fill i'll
according to DIR. Spencer, who attended him.
yrs slow TO believe that he really had vel
low fever, and when he was convinced. he
said that It was entirely unnatural, being
special punishment for his robbery OF u
white patient. He died, aud terror seized
upon all the blacks in the place They had
done much of the nursing without hesita-
ton, but now they deserted their posts in
dismay. As many as ii ty negroes were
pro- trated during the night of thu 20th. 1t
SENS to be beyond question that many OF
the patients in Grenada die without attend
ance since the fever broke out among the
negroes Several of the experienced How
ard Association nurses have fallen and that
makes all nervous and disheartened DR..
wilkins, New York physician, who
CHANGED to stop there, went bravely to work.
He caught the fever. and on "Wednesday
died
One of the few living witnesses of the later
scenes In Grenada has arrived in Cincinnati.
He says that the little village is utterly des-
olate. Everybody who remains is either
sick or is kept there by duty. All the rest
have fled or died. Entire families have been
blotted out in day by the disease. There,
as in New Orleans, women and children are
almost disprOportiOnately numerous among
the victims, their organic ttions being gen
orally less able than the men to Withstand
the exhaustion of the disease At night 3
walk through the streets is terrifying. The
means and cries OF delirious patients can be
heard at every turn. Nor are all the out
cries OF delirium- The negroes give up all
hope on falling sick, and eXci.edly call on
cd and man ior help, using their needed
strength in doing so. They Will not be con-
trOled by physicians or nurses. The white
women, on the contrary, are the most quiet
and obedient of the patients as long as they
retain their reason. The dead bodies are
buried AS soon as possible after death, and
in some instances. this informant believes,
persons are started for their graves before
they are really dead. The buryIng is done by
two relays of negroes, one working by night
and the other b day The headq uarters of
the Howard Association and the telegraph
office are the only business places kept open
The latter is in charge of an operator named
William Reddiug. He sent to New Orleans
for an assistant. and John Miller came: but
Miller was appalled, by what he saw and re-
fused to stay. No attempt is made to hold
religious services over the dead, and, with
rare exceptions, no collins are used. All Is
dark at night except In the houses where
persons are lying ill, for the other houses
are deserted On the night of the 10Th only
60 well persons were in the village, and ali
are under the command of Gen. Winfield
Smith. and trying well as might be to
= care for 1873 patients. Railroad trains do
not stop, but rush past at the speed of fifty
miles an hour. showing glim pses OF passen-
gers scared faces behind the tightly closed
windows. 1t it is exceedingly difficult to
feed the few rem aiming inhabitants, because
of the lack of transportation.
1t is not easy to get out of Grenada, not
withstanding hundreds have accomplished
the feat. An area of several miles around
is deserted, but the boundaries of that space
are closely watched by frightened inhabi-
tants, who drive back fUgitives if they can.
Much heartlessness is shown. The man that
gave the above accOunnG of a night in Gre
NADIA thai n
died. started for the country. leading her six
Year-old boy. She was tired out with nuTS-
ing her husband, but she pushed on for two
miles, and then carried the child two more.
Then she was met by some negroes, who
commanded her to turn back, saying that
they would kill her if she did not obey.
They doubles would have carried ont their
threat; at least the poor woman thought so.
| She turned to Grenada. The negroes fears
were well fun led, however, tor she had
scarcely got back to her home when the fever
was fully developed in her. and she Diet.
Some of the planters have humanely recetv-
| ed all refugees, and turned their houses an !
/ barns into free lodgings; but generally tel
/ ror has mastered generous impulses, par
| ticularly among the blacks. A negro camp
/ meeting ten miles away. has been cOntin-
ued and the penitents crowd each other at
! the altar so anxious are they to become con-
| Verts before the fever kills them Prayers
are offered twice day for the sufferers, but
no physical aid is given. To com pensate
/ for all this cOwardice, or atieaSt selfShness,
| cases of heroiSm have already come to light,
and of course most of the stories of that
| kind remain to be told. The local and visit
| ing physicians have courageously risked
| themselves. The Howard Association nurses
have done their duty, and three have died
| at it. The self-sacriffce of those who have
| STAYED with their diving relatives when
| flight was possible has been rem arkable. A
| DIR. Cham berlain is said to be the only pa
tient who has recovered. and as soon as be
was on his feet he was doctoring others.
The fever turned on its track on the 18th,
| going back from Grenada toward New Or
| leans as far as Canton; but the inhabitants,
| numbering about 400, dispersed hurriedly
| leaving seven patients, one physician, and
/ a few nurses. In other directions the dis
| ease is spreading, aud, as the cotton picking
| time is at hand, great financial losses must
ensue through the cessation OF labor. The
villages are in special danger from G. e
Scourge, because they are rarely well drain
ed, the water is often bad, and all the eondi-
| tionS are favorable to the disease, if once
| introduced. The panic is. widespread. for
the stoppage of mails depriYes the people of
/ newspapers, and therefore the news that
| they do get is exaggerated, giving ideas of
| the plague that exceed the terrible truth.
On the river front of Memphis are many
combined lunch AID barroomS. in which
| boat and long shOremen eat, drink and
sometimes sleep. La one of them. on Aug IL,
| a drunken steamboat hand was taken sick.
| A pQySItiAn Gu SiR 1T piOupuASCO MS ut>S1SC
| genuine yellow fever. In spite of an at
! tempt to shut out travellers from further
South, the scourge had got into the city.
| On northern bound trains, within four hours
after the case became generally known, over
1900 residents had fled TO safer places. The
| patient was taken to a hospital outside the
city, his clothing and the bedding on which
| he had slept were burned, and the house
was thoroughly f0migated. 1t was hoped
| that the pestiIence had been baffled at that
point; but the officials had hardly COM
/ pleted their work before their attention was
called 10 Prof. Decker, a well-known citi-