The record-union., 1892-09-01
DYING OFF LIKE SHEEP.
The Epidemic at Hamburg the Worse
Ever Known There.


Ever Known There.
HAMBURG, Aug. 3l.-There is no ques-
tioning the fact that the present cholera
epidemic is the worst that has ever Wis
tied the city, and every hour the situa-
ton becomes worse. People are dying
off like sheep and the plague is still
spreading. 1t was thought early yester-
day that the epidemic was abating in
virulence, the number Of new cases and
deaths reported for Monday being far
below those for the day preceding. I'm
fortunately these hopes were not we'll
founded. 1t was only temporary halt
III the onward march of the plague. 1t is
now marching forward, moving down
its victims by the score. \ fearful feel
ing of apprehension hangs over the
whole city. The belief that the doctors
are helpless to fight the scourge grows in
strength. The people feel that they are
helpless in the face OF the fearful vista
ton that has come on them, and many of
them have given up the hope of escaping
the disease, This, in itself, is a calamity,
for courage is one of the essential factors
in fighting the epidemic.
representative of the Associated Press
has seen in the military drill-shed the
bodies OF 400 victims awaiting burial.
Owing to the red tape it is impossible to
bury all the dead under tire usual regu-
latlonS, for the law requires the produc-
ton OF papers of Identification before the
body is consigned to the grave. Under
ordinary circumstances these papers are
easily procurable, but now, when whole
families have been carried off by the
scourge, the greatest difficulty is eXpe-
rlenced IN getting the papers.
Unless the frightful mortality abates it
will be necessary to shortly set aside the
law and bury the victims as hastily as
possible. Already it is believed chat in
lection has been spread by the dead.
Bitter imprecations are heaped upon
the authorities for their pig-headedness
In letting the victims lie unburied to
scatter contagion among the living, while
they hunted for papers to show the age,
occupation, ETC., of the dead person.
reign of terror prevails and every
person who can possibly do so is fleeing
from the city. An exception must be
made, however, TO this assertion. Those
whose duty calls them to attend the
sufferers, the physicians and those who
have nobly volunteered their services,
are doing the work that requires the eX-
trenle of heroism. -
Among the hospitals everywhere, where
they can help, the physicians and nurses
take their lives in their hands without
the hope of fame and reward, and do
their utmost to alleviate the awful suffer-
ings of the plague-stricken victims.
The ordinary form OF burial will soon
have to be abandoned, and trenches filled
with quitk-lime will have to be re-
sorted TO.
In many parts of the city the shops of
the grocers, the bakeries and the butcher
shops have been closed by the police,
their owners and their statesmen having
been stricken down while attending to
business.
The registers who record the deaths in
the city will keep their offices open until
10 O'Clock every night.
BERLIN, Aug. 3l.-The Imperial Board
of Health reports that there were 425 fresh
cases of cholera and 2l9 deaths at Hamburg
yesterday. In Berlin there were three new
cases and one death. Two isolated cases
occurred in the Grand Duchy of Meek
lenburg- -Schwerin and Duchy Saxe-AI-
tenburg.