The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1879-03-11
NUMBER 4.
The Brazilian PestIense.
7. 7. Heraid Correspondence


IN. Z. Herald Correapandenos
s.BARRALHA, January I'VE calcrlstD
that the deaths from hunger alone reach
twelve per day many iiore die of diss
ease. In the cemetery they can not bury
the dead fast enough. The other day the
bodies OF three children swailirR IL.
telment were eaten by dogs. Property
is no longer safe; the people steal what
they can. In the 3ail the prisoners are
starving"
So 1might 30 on endlessly, Alasl q
knew how real it was. The tears come
to my eyes even now when I resd tbees
pteous cries for help. Hunger, pesti-
lence, want-theae we're what Cears bad
to fight when the second great famine
year broke upon her InsJanuary there
was fear, 10 February terror, in March
despsir-; -iis, fains at oil In sons placeps
|iitle useless shusers at best. And nov 8
comes the most terrible scene % 4ll,
There was'no more hope in the Sertsp.
No food. and no possibility ofobtainihg
it except along the sea shore. Then the
whole bewildered, famine stricken, panic.
wild crowd came rushing down to Fora
tai "a and the coast ciiics. Without
food for the road-naked, sick, dying,
even as they fad from desth--every man
for himself, Children striving vsihly To
keep up with their parents, crying as
they roll ever the stones, with bleeding
feet and skeleton bodies, walking, crawl
ing along; begging where no one. could
give-for how could man support thou
sander They we're famished when they
started. Three, four, five days they held,
their way. Then they fell by the road.
side aud groaned and died, Some pity.
ing hand, perhaps threw handful Of
earth over ihem,s but for the most parta,
each was too busy with his own safety 10
care for others. So our human brothers
died. ~ 7af4eH aai 60 - reft@;-rs.,,,
The greatest morality from hunger Hne |,
probably in March; from February | 10
May l, when the exodus was taking
place. l can hardly calculate the number
of famine deaths at less than one hum
dred thousand; and during the whole
drought probably one hundred and fltty
thousand died of hunger. I should add
that my calculations are much lover than
those of other persons; some place the
entire number as high as three hundred
thousand. IN Aracaty the death rate
fuctuated between ninety and one hua.o
dred and ten day; in fortalexa 1t was
less at this time, but eighty per day vas
bad enough. have notices OF ten, twen- {
ty or moredaily deaths in email villagess
and everywhere along the roadsides
nameless crosses still tell the story OF
luncatalogued victims. Dark tales Of
cannibalism begin to appear. From
lletter written at Qulxeramobim l translate
as follows. ,aeiass4
"Iwrite 10 haste. Have no time to
transcribe the scenes Of horror about me.
Itis enough to give you as asspecimen
one nameless crime. A father, whose
nature vas so overcome by hunger that he
killed and cooked in pot his little child,
two years old This took place In Call
fornia, settlement near Quixads. The
father died soon after bis horrible feast
| have three or four similar stories very
well authenticated. lbelieve that these
and other cases of cannibalism wers
caused by insauity--a common result OF
hunger" a
lquote alsoa letter from Jaguaribes
Mirium, one of many that tell the same
story: a
This village is full of abandoned chill
dren; the despairing fathers would no
longer see them torn by the monster hun.
ger. This very day while L was eating
dinner, my house was invaded by acrowds
OF those wre;ched children, very skeIe.
tons, who can hardly speak. Some Of
them were so weak that they would take
only soup, obstinately refusing more sol
id food. The road from here to Aracatys
is full of bodies. You can count tbs
carcasses by hundreds. The other day, in
an abandoned house, there were found
Eve bodies ofrefugees, four children and
one old woman. By the bodies there
were three strips of leather in the kettle
oyerthe ashes Of an extinguished fire. A
dog, the faithful friend of the family,
was still watching them. Near Lettrado,
three young girls and an old man were
fonnd eating the desh oi . dead horse,
which lay by the roadside. This WAS .
| family from Laoros. Even in the villa
ges these poor wretches no longer ask
for mandioca meal; they ask for cats and
dogs to eat. This is no exaggeration.
One shop-keeper told me of refugee
who asked permission to kill the rats
about his place.) Three days ago I
made journey of six leagues by the
road from leo, found eleven dead bodies
by the roadside, ana ut least forty who
we're dying. Happily there is no pesti.
lence here; the deaths are from hunger"