The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-11-27
THE TALE is TOO TRUE
ABOUT THAT AWFUL EPIDEMIC.
A Courier-Journalist Disproves the
Charge That Joe Mulhatton Faxed
About It-Hundreds of People
Dead and Others Dying.

LOUISVILLE, Nov. 26.-The Courier
journal sent staff correspondent up to
investigate the reported ravages of the
dread disease in eastern Kentucky and
West Virginia, and the correspondent
sends the following from WILLIAMSBURG
Kentucky: w. G. Lester. a prominent
attorney of this place has lust arrived
from Mount Pleasant, the county seat OF
Harlan, where he has been for two
weeks past at court, as acting prosecu
ting attorney. Mr.. Lester has informa.
ton of prey ailing plague, principally
from Harlan, Letcher, Perry, Leslie and
IL ounties, and says in Harlan it APP
pears to be the worst, 1t is tho most fatal,
and prevails to the greatest extent mn
about the head waters OF Poor Fork ard
Glover creek, in the mountains, n dis
lance OF about twenty-five miles
rom Mount Pleasant. A large ter
ritory is being terribly afflicted
and people are dying very rapidly. In
one neighborhood twelve persons died
in a single day, the latter part OF last
week, and there were scarcely well peo
Pile enough to make them collins of
rudely hewn boards and bury them.
On Browns creek, which rises In Har-
Ian and empties in the Cumberland
river, in Bell county, the disease il rag
ing with frightful fatality and there Ia
no way. to keep a record Of the dead. All
along the banks of the streams the peo-
pie are sick, and physicians and medi
cines, outside of herbs and roots.
with whose curative properties the ma,
tives are acquainted, are unknown and
unp btainable. The epidemic is rapidiv
spreading in Harlan, and so far tbere
seems to have boon nothing discovered
TO check or cure 1t, those afflicted either
dying in short time, or nature in saving
them from death only leaves them such
physical wrecks that they are helples,
Tor weeks. In the district covering the
southern portion of Letcher and Perry.
the whole of Leslie and the northeast
portion Of Bell the plague has obtained
foothold, but reports rs to its yiolence
are very conflicting.
Mr.. Lester thinks from what he was
able to CLEAN of Mount Pleasant that the
deaths run up into the hundreds, while
the numbers of those attacked cannot
he estimated. The disease does not pre-
val NJ Mount Pleasant, but the session
OF the circuit court was complete fail
ure, scarcely case being called hut
what it ma to be continued because of
the illness or death of either the defend
ant or witnesses.
Mr.. Lester further said no one seemed
To know the exact nature OF the pesti-
lence. Most people call it tlux, anu IL h,
probably very aggravated form OF that
disease. 1t begins with gripping pains In
the stomach, followed by facilitating
diarrh9a and swelling Of the throat, and
II not fatal in three or four DAYS the
patient RECEIVERS. All reports agree as
~ the cause OF the epidemic, IL heing at
triouted to the use OF impure water by
thu natives. The season has been un-
usually dry, the streams, as a rule, CON
sisting ofnarrow threads OF murky foul
smelling and foul-tasting water, with
an occasional pool OF some poisonous
stun. The corn crop in all the counties
named IL good, and starvation and want
only exist because the people can spare
no time from sickness TO gather IL. No
mills are running on the smaller
streams.