The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-12-01

W0RSETHAN CHOLERA
A MrsTERlous VIRGINIA PLAGUE
We thfN.- f .rr NlHW0FHlN1 Ni''' "
Tint y Making q friEhttuli Harvest Of
Death-Whoie Families Swept Away
N The Earth parohsd and tho Cattle Ii
Dying by tho Hundred.

LOUISVILLE, KY, Nov. 2O.-Arthur A.
Loomis, travelling representative OF Il Now
York firm, is in the city to-day, having
Just returned from u trip ~torougl, the
plague.ssricken district OF Eastern Ken
lucky, i2i1F
Il was four days in Martin county with.
out disposins Of n single article. People
are absolutely crazy they have no use J, for
anything but collins. A great deal has
been printed in tho newspapers about tic
situation in Martin and adjoining counties,
but it has been All imperfect reflex Of the
existing deplorable condition. know Of
instances where whole families have died
within a week, where whole neighbor.
hoods have been swallowed up in graves;
where one man has survived 10 bury Ills
ininily and his friends, and then DO found
DEAD himself with no living creature near
nm, except In some cases Il faithful dog.
tIocks Of sheep and lroves Of cattle that
used to browse on hillsides and along the
range Of tho Cumberlands now Law dcnd
and rotting. White pebbles rlisien on
tho bottom Of creek beds. Wells 'nnd
clsterlis have been druined to the bottom,
ana springs are no. longer to be relied
upon for a supply Of water. The ground
is literally parched, and where vegetation
formerly bloomred luxuriantly there is
rething but decay. Thousands are said
to have died within the past two wceks."l
What, in the opinion of the natives, ia
tho cause OF this fatal calamity :"
1t IL very evident that the chief agent
o. death is starvation. People in those
districts are almost without counmunica.
With the outside world. An OCCASIONAL
drummer, like myself, strays among them
once 4 year, and few Of the most prosper.
GUS visit some large cities onctin A life
time. A good season brings with il boun.
titul crops. Wool and other native pro.
ducts are rudely manufactured into cloth
ing. But when crops fail them the order
OF things is reversed. am speaking now
OF back woods n%eighborhoods, where I'M
plague las ragged with the greatest fatality.
l learned while in Martin county TINT Inc
crop yieldfor two successive seasons had
been q failure. The natives are without
money ana without means 10 pur-
chase bread. The shutting of OF
the water supply has brought 10
NE surface II poisonous liquid.
tatn'shed for water the people drank, and
me consequence was death. The symp-
toms are violent gripings, and alter this a
raging headache. Hot fever ensues and
the patient usually lingerstwo day VS., sufer-
ing mental agony before death. ! under
stand sever al physicians have been COM
mlsSlnned ny the State to make II careful
analysis Of the water and describe Tia
poisonous ingredients. Relief has recent.
y beer dispatched to Martin from neigh
boring counties. Before l LIFT there was
q light rainfall with prospects Of continued
falling weather. The opinion prevails
mat the plague has passed through its
most dangerous stages, and is now on the
wane. During the last two DAYS OF. my
stay ! heard Of very few dqaths.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn, Nov. oH.@TLte first
min, in lninm weeks has Just fallen in
southwest Virginia. ~ re