Smyrna times. [volume] (Smyrna, Del.) 1854-1987, 1884-12-03
Death in the Mountains.
ALMOST DEHoPULA-
TED.

TED.
HINTON, w. VA, Nov. 26.-New
rumOrs of the plague in the extreme
southern part of this State, in Western
Virginia and in Eastern Kentucky are
fast giving way to startling facts. The
centre of the afflicted district is in the
centre of Dickinson County, Virginia,
in the midst of the Cumberland Noun
tains, and over one hundred miles from
the nearest railway station. The
greatest restitution prevails, and the
cold weather is sure to cause such
mortality as even the present state of
affairs has not begun to equal. The
last rainfall was on August 3rd, unless
it has fallen within a week.
The last person arriving here from
that section was commercial traveller
for Baltimore house, who left Lees
burg one week ago yesterday. He
says business is at a standstill. Crops
are a failure Many families have not
a bushel of grain nor head of live
stock left Medicines are exhausted
and physicians are nearly all dead from
overwork. Corpses lie for days un-
buried. In many instances water is
carried three and four miles in buckets.
There is 10 running water left, that
which is used being found in pools in
the deeper holes in creek bottoms.
Louisa River has not sufficient water
in it to float chip, save in pools. The
fish are dead by tons. Indeed, it is as
serted that there is not a live fish in
six or seven counties. As the water
eVapOrated, that which was left natu-
rally retained all the salts and miner
ais. It is believed that drinking this
water produced the disease.
The disease is not contagious. That
belief arose from the fact that every
body was taken with the same symp
toms, the ignorant population no
reasoning as to the real cause. Lack o
sufficient and proper food greatly in
| creases the mortality. The latest esti
mates place the number Of deaths a
1000.
The patient is seized with vertigo
heavy fever, complete uncOnciousness
with involuntary discharges much col
Ored with blood. Death ensues il
about ten hours, the victim suffering
intensely. The scenes of distress ar
terrible. All the people are poo
mOuntaineers, most of them living il
log houses of two rooms, occupied b,
from two to dozen persons. In som
instances the disease has swept o.
whole families, the last members t
die being left unburied.
Up the mountain passes and alon
the small streams in the valleys are t
be found scores of houses unOccupie
because their owners are dead. An
mails suffer the same symptoms as mel
The cries Of the children, begging fC
food, are pitiful. If relief is sent
must be soon, before the roads al
blocked with snow. There is little
the plague in Wezt Virginia, only po
, tions of Mcdowell, Mercer and Loga
counties suffering The deaths thel
do not exceed 200, but the loss to stoC
and crops will be 100000.
RAVAGEs OF THE DISEASE IN KEl
lucky.
The Louisville COUrier-JOWnGL r
: Gently sent staff correspondent to il
vestigate the reported ravages of tt
disease which is prevalent in Eastel
Kentucky and Western Virginia. II
correspondent sends the following fro
Williamsburg, Kentucky:
w. Z. Lester, prominent attOrnt
of this place, has just arrived fro
Mount Pleasant, the county seat
Harlan, where he has been for ty
S, weeks past at the court as Acting Pro
ecuting Attorney. Mr.. Lester has
formation of the prevailing plagl
=. principally from Harlan, Letch
. Perry, Leslie and Belle counties.
: says that in Harlan county it apes
u to be the worst. It is most fatal al
= prevails to the greatest extent
about the head waters of the Pc
Fork and Glover Creek, in the mot
tains, about twenty-five miles fri
Mount Pleasant. This large terrific
q is terribly afflicted, the people dyi
d rapidly.
I'm one neighborhood twelve p
sons died in a single day in the lat
: part of last week, and there w
> scarcely we'll people enough to ma
them collins and bury them.
, Browns Creek, which rises in Harl
,, county, and empties into the Cumh
l1llu 4klNCl3 III DClAC COunlyg Vic
ID ease is raging with frightful fatal
and there is no means of keeping
record of the dead. All along
banks of the stream people are sick {
physicians and medicines, outside
herbs and roots with whose curat
p ne properties the natives are acquaint
nd. are unknown and unObtainable.
to epidemic is rapidly spreading in II
err lem county. In the district cover
for the Southern portion of Letcher
Perry counties, the whole of LIE
yes County and the northeast portion
WI WI Belle county, the plague has Obtai
) Of a foothOld, but the reports as to its
lence are conflicting. Mr.. lie
thinks that the deaths run mp into
hundreds, while the number of IL
/. attacked cannot be estimated.
- disease does not prevail at Nc
Pleasant.
Mr.. Lester says that no one seel
to know the exact nature of the pc
ence. Most of the people called
'flux,' and it is probably an aggri
ted form of that disease. 1t be
with gripping pains in the stomach,
lowed by facilitating diarrh9a
swelling of the throat, and if not
in three or four days the patient
rule RECEIVERS"