Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1884-11-08

ings in the 2eighbOring villages are OBJ
tanned only at fabulous prices. Some
times az high as 5GOf a month for a sim
gie room is ~declande1. The better sec
tionsof the town ore deserted and all the.
shops in the Toledo are closed ut 4 in
the afternoon. The theatres are al shut.
Many Of the poorer streets are as silent
as death. Even the cafes are closed,
and the only sign Of life is the l%oiners
bammering the rough collins together.
Hn come Of the streets absolutely every
srly is either dead or is sick. In one
street.-the Via Duchessa-thirty cases
occurred in a single house. The smell
II burned sulphur Is everywhere, and
me wretcheF people of the poorer
classes are either stupefied or frantic.
Meanwhile the devotion and daring Of
the King and the Archbishop have had
The effect Of dispelling somewhat the
superstition about poison and a~llaying
the class hatred which ragged at first.
Bat the public morale, is still worse thar
Z is possible to describe. Amob attacked
IN the Via del Pnrgatorio a man whom
they suspected Of throwing poisonous
powder over some cakes exposed for sale
on the piazza, dragged him back and
made him eat the cake until the owner
tnterfered in self-defencc. Out Of sheer
generosity the people eat more fruit and
vegetables than usual. In the piazza in
front of the Municipal Palace two loaf
ers got a big basket of figs and in the
presence OF a large crowd began to eat
them on a wager. The police marched
them off to Jail. A woman who was
selling fruit On the corner of the Piazza
del Martini fell over dying of the chol-
era. The crowd made q bonfire of her
chair, stand, and fruit, and her left her
70 die. Nobody would carry her t. the
hospital.
Although the disease is generally Of a
mild character compared with the num-
Der Of cases, there are many instances
ute the foregoing of its startling sud-
d"ness. Several people have already
fallen down in the streets and been car
ried off dead. A lady who was taken
with vomiting during mass died before
she reached home. The terrors of the
plague have been intensified by the
s%coundrelly action of the butchers, who
trebled the price of meat as O as the
panic began, but the King was followed
In his carriage by a mob of m
shrieking to have the price Of meat re-
duced, and the officials accordingly took
steps to import cattle and reduced
prices. People in the slums still defy
the laws boldly. The body of a woman
was buried in the little garden Of her
home, and when the police arrested the
husband n great mob threatened to
rescue him. Under the inspiration of
the Archbishop the priests are now ex.
erting every effort to discourage process
sions and the like, though with little
tHccess.
There has been An enormous revival
of religious sentiment in Naples. The
street shrines which we're walled up by
Garibaldi in 1860 have all been opened,
and the whitewash scraped off the holy
pictures. Crowds wild with JOY watch
she work and hail with shouts each
restoration. The professions are con-
tinued III the poorest streets, chiefly by
women. The churches are thronged
un,} strsat oltorS ora nrao{al Tho nOl,0a
do not dare interfere with the altras.
Most cxtravagant stories of miracles
worked are received with credulity by
the popnlace. The hospital and ambu-
lance system have been overpowered by
The awful increase in deaths, and for a
lay or two il has been necessary to
leav" cerpses waiting so long that they
became putrid. thus adding vastly to the
contagion The situation in this respect,
however. has been improved By the
Kings ordering the military TO give as
>,~tance. Scores o. old omnihuses cox
cred with black have been converted
INTO hearses.
The heroism OF King Humbert makes
me most welcome royal picture Esrrore
has looked on for years. The King is
accompanied always by his brother
Amadeus. He has visited all the hospi-
tails and the afflicted quarters. scatter.
ing money and kind words right and
left. He wished to explore the Fondaici.
containing probably the most hideous
human habitations in Christendom.
with Its narrow courttards. its houses
eighty feet high, the sunlight and air
excluded, and the filthiest rooms, each
with a dozen or fifteen inmates of both
sexes. There is no water there to wash
with; the place is alive with vernlin: it
Us a literal sink of pestilence. and con-
'ains fully one-fourth of the whole
population OF Naples. All efforts to
dissuade the King from going had
tailed, when a despairing official cried
out: "You have no right to comm,
suicide. Nor have you a right to de-
hoefately murder many of these unfor-
(lnafa nQnnfa uhN will S1z-