St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1879-04-19
YELLOW FEVER IN SACKS OF Cor


ably written letter on the subject of
yellow fever. In this letter The
doctor makes statements which are
Of rather an alarming nature, be-
cause of their showing that the yell
low fever germ finds fayorite and
means of transmission IN
the coffee imported into our coun-
try. AS four-fifth of the coffee con-
sumed in the United States comes
from the very hotbeds of the yellow
fever pestilence, the following ex-
tracts will be read with interest:
I'm 1867 the town of Liberty had
declared and was enforcing quaran-
tine against Galveston, where yellow
fever was prevailing. and it being q
small town, and everybody on the
alert, a stranger could not have
come nor goods been imported
without being known. The steam
boat Ruthven came from Galveston,
and when within mile or two of
town, was ordered to stop, and the
captain stated that if he WAS allow
ed to land on the bank of the river
sack of coffee that he had Oh board
for Mr.. Kicker, he would take his
steamer down the river. This per-
mission was granted, and the sack
of coffee waa placed on the bank.
and the boat Immediately left. The
coffee was hauled to Liberty and
opened by Mr.. Kicker at his store.
and in few days he was taken sick
with yellow fever and died. His
wife and servants were the next
cases, and then it spread all over
town. In this instance the yellow
fever was clearly tracsable to the
sack of coffee"
The second instance is as follows:
"In 1870, in passing through Gal
weston on my way to Corpus Chris
ii, met Hon. E. B. Pickett, who
gave me list of names of families
who had moved from Liberty coun-
ty some years before, and had set
tied ON the Nueces river, near Cor
pus Christi. On reaching Corpus
Christi ] visited the settlements
mentioned. and learned that nearly
all the families were dead-had died
of yellow fever. The story as re-
lated to me by several parties living
i'll the neighborhood, and by few
members of the stricken families
who survived the scourge, is as fol-
lows: During the epidemic of 1867
coffee gave out in the neighbor-
hood, and a man who had had the
yellow fever was selected to go To
Corpus Christi, fifteen miles dis
tant, to buy sack of coffee and
drive to certain mesquit tree III
the Nueces Valley, near place
known as Meansvllle, and there to
divide the coffee into separate sacks
which had been previously deposit
ed in the tree top and limbs. In
twenty-four hours after the coffee
was thus divided aud suspended in
the tree top, the several parties i'll
terested went there and got their
respective portions of coffee, aud
into every family in which this cof-
lee was introduced, In a few days
yellow fever broke out and rugged
with fearful fatality. / felt u deep
interest i'll the matter, and was very
particular in my Inquiries, and the
testimony OF all parties proved be-
yond doubt that 1t was the sack
of coffee that conveyed the disease.
for not a family escaped who used
the coffee, and other families es-
capped who lad no interest in the
coffee aud received none, and from
the further fact that the families
were all attacked about the same
time, and NO other communication
with Corpus Christi or other place