The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-11-14
AN AWFUL EPIDEMIC.
opie P. Read, in New York Mercury

lopie r. Read. in New York Mereayl
 A writer in Ba4pkeai makes the start. ling announcement that Stu,teting Is catch ing. Thak thlS assertion is true there ts not tue merest pretense ot doubt. Stut- tering has been known to rage as an epi- dcmic, and, some time ago, x became so violent in Georgia town that tho neigh. boring villages were compelled to adopt an uneompromising system of quarantine. l vas in the town al the time. and shall never forget the wild-eyed terror and ut ter hclplexsness ot the stricken people. | boarded near the house where the disease first made its appearance. Oae events X member oi my Iandlady's family an awkward boy w,th yellow hair came home and said that Nat Proctor had be- gun ,o s,u,,e. so badly that no one could understand him.
 This created no alarm, but the next day at the table when the yellow haired boy asked me to "p-p-p.p pass the b.b' oread,' ieit uneasy, toT saw :h:: he had been seized. The next day be couldn't talk at all, and news came from across the street declaring that the entire Proctor family had been stricken down. l passed the house during he day and l shall never forget the sounds that greeted my cars, IL na fact that all stuttcring \ people like to talk, have known mod. est. retiring, taci,urn men to become great takers immediately after becoming sufferers Well, the Proctor family had assembled in the Allway and each mem Der was attempting to tell funny story, The old man wanted ,o talk about a r.Trtabbit. ar-TrTahblt that he once k-k-k-k, that he once kiCk-killed :" the old lady was attempting to repeat some thing that Mrs. Jackson had t-t-tlt-told. and all the boys were excited ln the a,, | tempted recital of recent adventures. Ny two o'clock that afternoon the hngual i plague had taken tongue rec! .n several families The board ot health met and issued an order compelling the plague. stricken families to hang out yellow flags The good people with whom boarded were soon affected. Maud Sparks, the elder daughter, and who was on intimate terms with her brother who had associated with the Proctors, was included among the victims. regretted this, for she had been charming converSationalist Al the table IL was now almost impossible to get anything to cat. The servants would come in and ask
 W-w-w-will you h-h-havo s-s-s-s--' bu, before they could possibly Re, ou, the words the soup would be cold and uncon genial.
 have never seen an epidemic spread SO rapidly, yet remained among the ie~ who escaped. The plague broke out n the county Greenback convention, which was then in session, and It Is upon good authority stated that the secretary labored six hours and ten minutes in trying to read A short resolution offered by a man who though. that ah the money in the world should be equally divided among the great mass of people who deligh, ln stunning every sor, of labor.
 Now, l am compelled 10 say something that will at first seem incredible. The plague struck the office ot tho /robi<'i 1 f,tend anu I/0m< C0mfoyfsr, il bighl weekly newspaper whose sayings are copied from the Atlantic to the Pacific The editor was affected, the composi,osa were affected, and well, everything In tho off e was affected. A copy of tha, paper now lies before me, and Tn substan- tiation of a statement which may appear to be overdrawn make the following quotations:
 "Unole B.b-b-b-Billy Jones Is In L., l. | town'
 Colonel J-iJ Jim Lacy is the h-h-h- happy father of n bb-bouncing b-b boy"
 The c-c--camp-meeting out at egg Gam the camp-meeting out at Cum Springs is a b-b-b-big success. Brother Marks, the re-re-Tevivalist. is A sn natcher from way up t-t-i-the creek
 Yes, without question, the writer who says that suffering is catching is correct.