Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-07-01
THE CITIZEN
A Cholera Story.

Here is a story from the New York |
sun.
"A generation or 50 ago the arrival of
railroad train at rural stations was a
thing of much greater rarity than 1t Is
today" said a Pennsylvania Railroad
employee, and il was invariably greet
ed by the gathering at the station of al
most the entire population. One morn
ing in the summer of 1852 was one OF
a group Of thirty nine just such curious
folks mostly men, but there were three
or four women, who were gathered at
the railroad station at Columbia, Pa,
awaiting the coming of the immigrant
train from Philadelphia, which
was due at y VI. The train came in
a. usual and three weeks from that
day every one Of that group of thirty
nine persons was dead and buried, ex-
cept myself. The conductor Of the
train helped from it at Columbia wo-
man with two small children. The wo-
man was a German immigrant, and
both she and her children had been
| taken very i'll on the train, and the con
ductor had deemed it best to leave her
at Columbiafornedical treatment. Tel
| egraphic communication was not estab-
lished there with the outside world, and
daily newspapers were a rarity Chole-
IA had been raging at the seabOrd cities
! but the extent OF the calamity or its
possible spread through the country
was not appreciated in the rural dis
tricts. The suffering woman was help
ed by sympathetic hands to small
frame building near by and some one
ran for a doctor 1t was some time be
fore the doctor came and in the interval
every one in that crowd had come IN
contact with the suffering immigrants
in efforts to help their intense suffering.
The doctor arrived at last, but the
mother Of the children had become
worse 50 rapidly that she was in the
throes Of death. The doctor had no
sooner seen her face than he turned
frantically to the crowd, exclaimed
50 Cholera, My God CholeraI
Instantly we fed. remember that
! found myself hiding behind pile of
lumber long way from the station.
/ was in those days a clerk in a store at
Columbia l was only young chap,
but had sense enough to say to myself
that if | was doomed to get cholera II
would be Just as well for me to remain
in Columbia as to go elsewhere and so
I STAYED. But when the awful news
spread-the two children of the German
woman having died not long after she
died-the people began leaving Colum-
bia pellmell TO escape the dreaded conse-
lauences of that accidental infection.
This frantic exodus lasted but day,
however, for the people Of the outlying
country placed ON the people of Colum-
bia was perhaps the most effective
Quarantine that was ever placed on any
people in this or any other country.
They stationed cordons Of armed guards
all about Columbia, with instructions
TO shoot down any person who attempt
ed to pass from that infected town to
neighboring towns. Before this had
been done, though, many Of Columbia 3
residents had fed 10 York, Harrisburg,
and other towns. and as the result prov
ed, inefected those places
Within three days after the death Of
the German woman and her children
cholera had possession Of the town. 1t
was the custom then in Pennsylvania
rural towns when n person died, for
the sexton Of some church TO toll the
bell a stroke for each year that the de
ceased had lived, and the cholera
epidemic was soon such in Columbia
that the tolling Of the church bells be
came continuous The deaths were 50
numerous that for three weeks, day or
night, there was not n minute when
the church bell were not tolling. Some
one had suggested early in this awful
time that the burning Of soft coal and
| pitch in the streets would 80 purify the
air that the result would be the staying
Of the spread Of the pestilence. We
\ had no anthracite coal then, and soft
coal and pitch were heaped NJ every
| street corner and fired The heavy
| black smoke from these fires rose and
hung over the place for weeks like
pail Whether it did any good or not
! cant say but ! know that it added to
the gloom Of the scenes we had to wit
ness daily.
| said that ont Of the thirty nine peo-
pie who met that emigrant train on that
beautiful summer morning only myself
survived, but / did not say that helped
in the burial Of every one Of them,
among them my brother and my father
Deaths were 80 frequent that we all be
came hardened Instead Of fright an
utter disregard Of the value Of life gov
erned every one I met one day the
man ! was working for.
How are you?" he said
"All right thus far ] replied
"One hour later ] helped lower his
body into trench.
An old darkey was the grave digger
Of the village and when the demands
| on him became 40 great, and no one
seemed willing 10 share the task with
him he was by common consent permit
cd 10 charge 80 for every body inferred.
He worked day and night, and when
months afterward when his services
were paid for, his widow received 81,
900. Had the old man lived through IL
all he might have received more than
twice that sum, but he died Of cholera
in the midst Of it all, and he was buried
in trench he himself had dug. In one
day we buried 1870 victims Of the scourRe.
don't believe there il another place in
this country, considering its situation
in the most healthful region that can
be imagined, that ever was the victim
Of such pestilential visitation as that
More than 800 persons died.
-------za--z-a---
Port Grape Wine for the Sick.