Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-12-06

ed and that the citizens and relations
showed so little regard for each ether
that "a brother, fed from his brother. a
wife from her husband, and a parent
nom its own Child The condition Of
the poor at that time was much what to-
day 1t appears to be at Naples. with
regard 70 the lower sort and many of the
mlddling rank. says Boccaccio. IN his
introduction TO THE Deeamer0n % "the
scene vas still more edecting, for thew,
staying at home, either through poverty
or hopes of succOr in distress, fell sick
daily by thousands, and, having nobody
TO attend them, generally died, some
bresthed their last IN the streets, and
others shut up in their own houses,
when the stencil that came from them
made the first discovery Of their death
in the neighborhood."
Things are not quite so bad to-day;
even in Naples there is some progress
The disease which showed itself in ga
sad and wonderful manner" snatched
away over 100000 victims between
March and July of 1913; the deaths from
cholera during the last fortnight have
not been much over 2, 600 in Italy.
A striking picture Of the plague strick-
en- Naples, which is almost equally famil
lar, is given in Mr.. ShOrthouse's John
Inglesant," which for the sake of its
grim and CHASTITY beauty, we take the
liberty OF reprinting: "In 1887, hu-
man precauti0n and terror became
cruel and merciless, ali bonds of fellow
ship and of society was lOOsened, and
Naples, a city of thoughtless pleasure
and of reckless mirth, a city lying under
blue and clOudless sky, by an azure
sea, glowing in the indispensable bril-
hancy and splendor Of the sun, was
turned into a charnel-house-nay, into
hell and place of torment"
The Naples of to-day, although not de-
vastated in the same degree as then,
bears some resemblance to Mr.. Short
houses description of the city at the
time OF the plague: "Ihe streets were
full of peOple-m9re so, indeed, than is
usual even in Naples; for business was
at a stand, the houses were full of infec-
ton, and a terrible restlessness drove
every one here and there. The stately
rows of houses and palaces and the lofty
churches looked down on changing,
heeting, restless crOWd-unOccupied,
speaking little, walking hither and thith-
er with no aim, every few minutes re-
tracing their steps. Every quarter of an
hour or Whereabouts q confused pro-
cessiOns Of priests and laymen, singing
dOleful and despairing misereTes, and
bearing the sacred host, with canopy
streets or out of the churches, and pro-
ceeded along the Strada. AS these pro
cessiOns passed, every one Frustrated
themselves, with an excess of desperate
earnestness of devotion, and many fol-
lowed the host. \ In this city
the mighty, unseen hand suddenly struck
down it's prey, and without warning
seized upon the WTetched conscience, all
unprepared for such q blow. The cast
of a pantOmine is a strange sight be-
meath the glare and light of midday; but
there were quacks and mobiles, jugglers
and soldiers, comic actors and 'hlOsof,
pleasure-seekers and monks, gentry and
beggars, all surprised, as it were, sud-
denly by the light and glare of the dead
angels torch, and crowded upon one
level stage of misery and despair"
It appears that then, as now, the priests
were the greatest benefactOrs to the peO-
pie; no opposition was shown to them, as
there was to medical men, and the good
work done moe than three centuries
ago seems to be repeated. Some Of them
fed at the time Of John Inglesant; a
great many died, but those that were
left behind, we are told, "ran to all
houses that were most infected, and to
those streets that were most thrOnged
with purified bodies, and into the hos
pitfalls where the plague was hottest; and
cOnfessing the sick and attending them /
IN their last gasp, and receiving their |
poisonous breath as though it were the /
scent of a rose" And as in the nineteenth |
century the opinions differ on the cause |
and spread of cholera, so in the sixteenth /
century, when the NeapOlitan physician 4
says of the plague: at is a terrible enemy |
10 mankind, that walks stained with /
slaughter by night We know not /
whence it comes. Before it are beautiful
gardens, crowded habitatiOns, and pOpu-
Gus cities; behind it unfruittul empti-
ness and bowling desOlatiOn. Before it
he guards and armies of mighty princes
ire as dead men, and physicians are no
protection ther to the sick or to them
selves. Some imagine that it comes from
he cities Of the east, some that It arises
rom poverty and famine, and from the
ainted and perishing flesh and unupe
ruits and huFtful herbs which, IN times
If scarcity and death, the starving people +,
,reedily devOur to satisfy their craving
lunger. Others contend that it is infict-
ID Immediately by the hand of God.
These are mostly the priests. When We
nave puzzled our reason and are at our
Wits end through ignorance, we come to
hat"
'See Naples and die" was the old say
ng. It might be applied to the fair city
# southern Italy to-day, but not IN its
original sense.
wit and HumOr.