Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-09-06
Pictures from the Plaque Stricken Cities.

FEARFUL RAVAGES OF THE YELLOW FE-
vER-WHOLE FAMILIES DEAD-SCENEs
IN THE STREETS AND HOUsEs-HELP
NEEDED FROM ABROAD.
&C., &C, &C.
1t is estimated that up to last Tuesday six
teen hundred persons had died of yellow
fever in New Orleans, Memphis, Vicks-
burg, Grenada and Port Gibson, allotted
as follows: S45 at New Orleans, 299 at
Memphis, 1856 at Vicksburg, 249 at Gren-
ada and 35 at Port Gibson. The Protes-
tant and Catholic clergy have nobly stood
to their posts and many of them have fall
len. Among the last at Grenada were Rev.
DR.. McCampbell of the Presbyterian and
Rev. Mr.. Hall of the Baptist church. At
a meeting in DR.. Hoge's church at Rich
mond last week telegram was sent to
Rev. DIR. B. M. Palmer Of New Orleans,
that "the Presbyterians of Richmond were
assembled in prayer for their afflicted
Christian brethren of the Southwest" DR..
Palmer replied that the Christians there
were comforted by this evidence of inter-
est, All over the North and South, con-
tributions Of money have been made to aid
the suffering. We give below some sad
pictures from the stricken cities taken
from the latest kilograms.
Me- ORLEANS.
Among the deaths at New Orleans is
that of G. r. Norvell, editor of the DAILY
Democrat" and native OF Lynchburg,
Va. He had been i'll the city only about
eighteen months. His little four year old
son lying in the same bed, died few min
utes before his father. Mrs. Norvell was
in the room:
Corpses are now hurried to burial at
night, and the spectacle OF hearses hurry
ing out with their rapidly-putrifying bur-
dens, unattended by single carriage, is a
frequent one. The Indignation against
Mobile and Galveston for their heartless
Indifference is strong in commercial Cir
cles. Neither has so far contributed a
cent. while New Orleans has been lavish
in charity to them when they were afflicted
in the past. The New Orleans and Mobile
railroad proposes to sue Mobile for DANA
ges resulting from the embargo on through
| trains, estimating their loss at $4,000 a
week. The latest tendency of the disease,
almost invariably shown in fatal cases, is
to congestion of the kidneys.
The Board of Health discussed the pro-
gress of the epidemic, and the members were
unanimous in the belief that it was utter.
| to run its course. Unless some great and
rare meteorological change takes place. the
probability is strong that the city will be
swept throughout. A strange feature
brought to light by the comparative statis-
| tics of convalescent and fatal cases, was
| the fact that the mortality among the ne
groes attacked is nearly sixty per cent; so
! fatal, indeed, is the disease. that when a
full blooded negro is seized he abandons
hope at once. In illustration of the ex-
IRENE nervous prostration during the stage
of convalescence, young lady on st.
Charles street, who was already able to
move about the house and was considered
totally out of danger, was severely fright,
ened by vivid flash of lightning, relapsed
into fever within an hour and died with
the black vomit. Many of the best physi-
clans in the city are now refusing to visit
new cases, having their powers already
taxed to the utmost. The situation Of
| affairs is far from hopeful.
1t is estimated that 1000 children are
sick; many of them, however, have the fe-
| yer in mild form. The last of the San
souci family have died, the father, mother
and two children having persisted last
week. One family of Portuguese, seven
in number. were buried simultaneously.
Among the horrors brought to light was
that of family of emigrants in a slum
back of the First district, all of whom had
been down for three days without food or
attendance. One had been dead for day
and his putrefying corpse rendered the at
mOsphere in the room so poisonous that
one of the Towards tainted on entering
the room. On the floor lay two children
tossing in delrium, while upon the bed
| disease, with black vomit. The tendency
| of the fever to result in the suDerventien
of cerebral congestion is lessening, proba-
bly, from the fact that the nights are much
| cooler, the thermometer Usually dropping
| to 100 before morning. For the first time
since the outbreak of the fever gloomy
foreboding seems to prevail among the
community, and the hope that the climax
has been already reached is being fast dis
sipated.
MEMPHIS.
The fever has not only increased in the
city, but has seemed to thwart the efforts
to save the lives Of many poor people who
were moved out of the city, by appearing
in two of the camps. 1t is now definitely
known that three deaths occurred yester-
day from fever at Camp Joe Williams, and
several others OF the refugees are sick. In
addition to these three, a woman died of
heart disease. When found this morning
in her tent her young babe was discovered
on It's dead mothers breast seeking its
wonted nOurishment. At the camp near
Overton Station, on the Memphis and
Paducah Railroad, Charles Pagan died
this morning. The disease has taken down
many negroes, in some neighborhoods sick
ones being found in every HOUSEHOLD. There
is great need for physicians and nurses,
our own physicians having more than
they can attend to, and many of the sick
have to go for days without the tention
| OF nurse. A ride through the district
| where fever is worst draws forth many
appeals to be directed where or how to ob-
tain che services OF physician. AS re-
| suit many do not obtain medical attention
until too late to save life. The Towards
| employ five physicians. but the sick calls
! are more than they can attend to. Two
Of our practicing physicians have died
| with the fever. and five others are down.
The physicians were SO worn out in attend
ing sick calls that, for self-preservation.
they rested, many in the country and
others in unknown parts of the city, while
friends Of the sick we're searching for
medical attendants. The following re-
port to the Howards, made yesterday by
DR.. r. w. Mitchell, director Of the medi-
cal corps of ten physicians employed by
the Association, gives some idea of the
condition of things: II need ten more
physicians Immediately. I find scores of
people sick and dying without having been
seen by physicians The scenes Of death
and distress during the day and evening
were indescribable. Members of the re-
lief committees have been called to see
sick persons, and responding to calls found
in some cases corpses lying in beds or on
the floors without a single watcher. Men,
bers of the Independent Order of w ork-
men to-day buried five members of the fra
ternity. They have exhausted their means.