The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-10-16


e to use the different medicines, com
o presses, &C., and left her in charge o
e the new patient. The Doctor had ye
to visit one or two neighboring vii
lagos, and returned home, and afte
0 taking few hours' res, started {abou
0 midday in our telejka for the distric
! town to see for myself what could b.
: got of the Sanitary Department.. -
/ found things there in a wretched
, condition. The town iisen was badly
4 strickenwith cholera and half deserted
by the inhabitants. tTse,supplies Of
opium and chOlera drops 1T the drug.
gists were nearly exhausted, and q
panic seemed 10 have seized every
body. In many streets large fires had
been lighted and the Inhabitants clus7
tered around them, OCCASIONALLY even
I humping through the flames. in the be,
lief that the smoke was . preservstive
against infection. Ofall the members
Of the Sanitary Department I succeed
ed in hunting up but twoTthe rest
had fed, A few moments conyersa-
lion with these worthy officials con-
vinced me Of the utter impossibility
of getting any help from that quarter.
After buying as, great supply or
cholera drops as I possibly could AZ
ford, I climbed again into my teleika
and drove home. ., -
There found things getting worse.
The house next to the one in which
old Akulina had died was now strick.
en- by the epidemic. It belonged to q
young couple who had been both ont
at work, and who had been suddenly.
taken i'll. The husband had carried
his wife home, but was himself seized
upon q few hours later by the dread
full disease. In the evening the Doctor
returned, and we attempted, with the
aid of several young peasants, to clean
the yards in the village OF part Of the
manure which had accumulated there
during the year. We were, however,
obliged to give up the task as imprac-
ticable, for not only did the heaps Of
dirt which we encountered defy all our
exertions, but by stirring them up we
only evoked the foul gasses which yet
lay slumbering in their depths. ..,
1T is horrible 7 exclaimed the Doc
tor, in an agony of helpless despair
What can we do p We are but pig
mics fighting the Giant of Misery, Ig-
norance and Starvation!f Not the
cholera is our real enemy; it is the
food, the home our peasant lives in,
the air he breathes, the superstition he
cherishes. ALI we can do is to bury
the dead!'
These were sad words, but they
were strictly true. An epidemic
spreading during the harvest season
in Russia is almost sure to assume for |
midable proportions. Exhausted by |
hard work under the scOrching rays
of the midsummer sun, the peasant
and his wife know of no other refresh
ments than cold water, cabbage soup |
for dinner, and krdss "a sour, ferment-
ed fruit juice) with rye bread for sup
per. Never does q morsel of meat
pass their lips coffee is unknown, and
even tea, which is generally consider
ed national beverage of the Russians,
is rarely seen OH PEASANTS supper
table. Thus every epidemic encoun.
ters in the Russian peasant ply sical
fatally pre'isposed for
every disease and devoiG Of energy to
resist it.
. The two weeks which followed the
first appearamceso Of the cholera at Du-
broyoI shall never forget-in all my
ifc. The angel of death seemed to
hover above the doomed village,
every other cottage with its +
doomed BREATH One by one the cot /
ages, were closed up as their inmates
we're stricken down with the disease.
those whom the malady spared we
to q spacious barn near our
iouse, where : a temporary camp was
organized. -. slsi,io
straiD,egse, to say, the more the disease
Iained ground, the less the peasants
,eemed to fear 1t. That strange, half
Oriental. fatalistic feeling which lies r
It the bottom of every Russians soul
prevailed. Every trace of panic dis.
appeared. The well, went to their
york as usual, and helped us willing.
y in tending the sick. The patients
lied with that quiet fortitude, that
pathetic resignation, which is a char
cteristic featute of the Slayonic race.
About q week after the first appear
nee of the epidemic, I met in the
treets of the yillsge sStepan Ryji,'
Stephen, the Red Onel, one of the '
most intelligent, sober and orderly
'easants in the village. Seeing him J
tagger in his walk, went up to him, z
nd the sight Of his deadly pale face Q
nd distorted features at once told me q
vhat was the matter.
death has come for me Sergej Eg-
he uttered with difficulty.
God help me and forgive me my sins. q
1 took him home, laid bim in his
ed, and gave him the usual medicine
Ie lay quite still, no groan betraying y
THAT, he suffered. His wife sat also
1otionless, apparently unmoyed, at 9
be bedside. Our Sister of Charity, o
fary, the soldiers wife, slipped quiet
y in and went to the usual work of q
,ve. There was something unuttera- y
ly peaceful, simple and solemn in this
Gene. In flood of golden light from L
he setting sun, Death appeared as an
onored, not as dreaded guest-life Y
eemed to be so worthless, SO short, SO
Id. II
Evening came, and with it the balmy