The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-05
THE BLACK DEATH.


pany with GribanoH tthe schoolmasterl, whel
Tllusha ID young peasant about sixteen YEAR
Uf nge, and tho best pupil In tho school rai
Into the garden and up the steps Of the bal
coIy To where WE wore sitting.
"Oh, Dmitrl Ivanoyitchl" he cried to th,
doctor, '.come quick there Ia something tht
matter ln the villagep
"What ie itl' we both asked. "Has on &C
Cilert happened2"
swell, yes," the boy answered; nobody
Knows what 1t r.. The old Akulina was Out
On her field, reaping corn. Az she did not 10
turn after sunset, her little ones Mt home be-
came uneasy, and ran to the neiGhbors, cry
iug and all In furry. My father and hat
lust came home with the cart, when tho chill
siren come to our isbd (cottage) SO VIC jumped
An again and drove out to whore Akullna'f
field Id. And there we found her, sure enough
4 lying on her back, motionless, breathing hare
and oil livid In the face. We lifted her int
The cart and brought her home, where she Il
now living, still insensible. Now. come, doc
tor, there 10 no time 10 lose."
The doctor snatched UP his cap, ran inte
Che house to fetch few medicine bottles, ant
Vi moment after we were all three ON our way
III the village, about half q mile distant from
the house.
ssWhat do you think about ii r asked my
friend In ON undertone,
.sCholera |" he answered. "There can be nc
doubt about It. Our turn has come now" he
added with deep SIGH. "PoOr peopel"
On reaching the house where the sick wo
man lay we noticed from outside that. nc
cnrding To the supersttlous custom Of the
Russian peasantry, oil the windows Id the
cottare were closely shut. Fresh air is pot
son for the Slick says the motvih.
We entered the front room OF the house
There 81, the floor lay the patient, breathing
hard, and shiver shaking her body. Hei
eyes opened and closed repeatedly with AL
unconscious, convulsive movement; her face
hore liyld hne and, On touching her hand
wa found 1t cold as Ice. Tho atmosphere III
y the close. miserable room was shilling and
mephitleal To the last degree. The children
q were NIL hnddlad together la corner. crytna
bitterly, and evidently In the greatest awe
An old woman, Tliusha's grandmother, hal
accompanied us into the house, but. on see
N fsn,r the prostratn body OF poor Akulina, she
Y aI led aloud: "aod have mercy Oh ia
4 III ID the Black Dsathp and ran out into tie
~Rtreet,
RE first thing we did was to throw open all
The windows and doors and order ail the chill.
4 firen out of the house. The doctor poured
+ some opium drops through the firmly set
y teeth III the patient, and then ran out To fetch
the necessary materials for hot congresses,
bidding me- keep watch In the meanwhile In
about d quarter Of an hour he returned In ar
awful state Oh wrath ind excitement.
saIEe cowards!i' he exclaimed. "The news
4 ssf the black death having made It's appear
ance has spread like lightning through the
whole village. Every one rai, away from me
and holted his door against me, us Ii / were
Akullna's children shared the same fate
with the doctor. No one In the village con.
scented To shelter them. | was obliged 10 take
the care of old Gavrilytth, the servant, cook
major domo--in fact. the general tyrant 81
our household old pensloned soldier, who
had looked death Id the face Id ut least b
score of battles, and on whom oven the
Thought oil the cholera was unable to produce
the sIightest impression.
You are not afraid, Gavriytch2' | asked
the veteran with u smile.
'Afraid?a he answered, laughing contempt.
Ously. .trhe moalik Ii afraid, because The
an0aiir is by nature stupid and uneducated
but lre The always spoke of himself MS of d
whole regiment 1--WE are not so easily fright.
ened.
Before returning TO the village dispatched
- messenger to the district town with short
written report about the outbreak of the cpl.
denic, addressed to the district sanitary de.
partment, and requesting The immediate sup.
ply OF medicine, dislntectants, and the help
or an extra physician. L then ordered the
fetsikr tbuggyl to be got ready, gathered all
u the supplies OF carbolic and sulphuric acid
we had IN the house, and drove back TO the
village.
1 found the doctor busy with the patient.
On my asking what no thought OF the case
he shook his head and said In low tone
She will die In two or three hours. There Is
nothing for us to do here. Let us 20 to the
priest and the hailiff. She must be buried be-
fore dawn tomorrow, and all the village must
be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected."
But this was more easily said than done. A
panic had evidently seized on the whole vii
lage. The doctor and [ seemed to have be-
come objects OF universal terror. The peas.
ants we met Id the street carefully avoided
coming near us. The priest himself showed
at first very little inclination 10 let us into his
house. and only when the doctor assured him
on his word Of honor that cholera was not
contagious did he gain courage enough to open
The door for us.
\ Excuse me, gentlemen" he said, in dep
Tecating tone. You see, am 4 father. God
has blessed me with two children, and | am
responsible for their welfare before heaven n
In u few words we explained to him what
s.The case Is a bad one, said the doctor, til
conclusion. 1.-THE maiady has appeared
among us In Its worst form. but 1t may still
be- effeetually checked II steps are immediate
stop the panic now spreading among the peas
ants by giving good example ourselves.
You agree with me. Gatinshka.'
.0h, certainly" answered the priest, some
what TREMENDOUSLY. "We all rest iii the hand
WI Gud-all lii the hand of Godn
This was said In tone as If the worthy
priest were far from considering the resting
place In question as being particularly COM
Portable or reassuring.
s'Ihen we will await you tomorrow morn
ing at o'clock for the huris,l," concluded
the doctor, land next Sunday you will per
haps find occasion to introduce few reas-
suring remarks and admonitions into your
sermon
The priest promised to do both, and we
left him to seek out the chief village digni-
rary.
The bailfff of Dubrovo Was a lean, seedy-
looking old man, scarcely five feet high, one
o. the poorest and least remarkable peasants
I'LL tie whole village. "Wny do you elect old
Michel Tor your baillIan ! once asked u