The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-31
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UNDER THE YELLOW FLAG.
LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS DURING A
FEVER EPIDEMIC.

The Fever OutbreaIS-A Vivid sketch
of Life In the stricken City-Pre-
cnutiOns Adopted Too Late-Thc
Sanitary CHmDnign-LessOns That
Have Been Learned.
From the New York Post.
New Orleans, Oct. 22.-The almanac told
us that the autumn of 81 had arrived We
did not believe it exactly, for we who live
i'm the south are aware of the dawdling
habits Of the southern summer and of the
fashion that 1t has of spreading itself out
over the two adjoining seasons. We knew
that the September sun would glow far
a while with the heat of July, but that
after that a soft haze would veil its cop
perry glare. Then would follow delicious
days. when the gardens would be blush
ing with roses or blazing with chrysan-
themums, and balmy weeks, growing
gradually cooler. would elapse before the
frost would come to sere the greenness
of a single ueaf.
Passing the residences of absent friends,
we would anticipate. pleasantly, the time
when the long-closed doors would be open
ed, and when the familiar faces would
look out al us from windows that had
been darkened for months. From the
north and the west, from Europe and our
own Gulf coast, they will soon be return
ing" so we said. Before long the streets
will be thronged with school children, the
buyers will jostle each other in the shops
the idle will hs bJtg Of "A
cotton floats will go laundering over the
granite blocks laden with The snowy sta
pie that brings so much Of prosperity to
New Orleans" For, that this was to be
a prosperous winter, all men agreed
But, in the midst of our cheerful imag-
inings, there came n note of alarm from
"Over-the-Lake." There Is a fever of a
suspicious nature at Ocean Springs" so
the first rumor ran, and, alert with ankle
ty, We waited for the next news. But the
physician who investigated could discover
no ailment more serious than the harmless
dengue; so, like soothed children, we hush
ed our murmurings, and went on with our
buying and selling, our working and our
dreaming. Soon, however, there began 10
be deaths among the victims of the limo
cent dengue; and this time the cry OF
alarm was louder than before. Experts
went over from the city to determine by
autopsy, the nature of the disease and to
decide as TO the ACCESSIBILITY of declaring
quarantine. But the citizens of New Or
leans who had been summering a the lit
tie lake-shore resort panic-strlcken mot
so much from fear of the fever as from
dread of being shut out indefinitely from
their homes), did not wait for the profess
sional verdict but packed themselves into
trains until there was scarcely space to
hang precariously upon the steps of the
platform. There was room enough, how
ever among them for one invisible trav-
eler He may have hidden among the lug
gage of the frantic crowd; he may have
lurked In the blood of even the healthiest
seeming; but assurediy, as a passenger on
each of those trains, the yellow fever came
to New Orleans
Even when a death occurred, we could
not believe that the disease would spread
Our long security had made us oVer-con-
fident, and our sense of establishment was
greater even than our feeling of dismay.
yellow fever!" 1t was a cry that we had
never expected to hear again. A young
generation had almost attained its major
ity since the last visitation of the pesti-
lence; and the gruesome tales told by their
fathers Of the horrors of former epidem-
les seemed as unrealiZable as the ac-
counts of the plague in London. We lulled
our fears a little longer. There is only
one focus to guard" so the newspapers
declared at first, and with proper pre-
cautions there may be the beginning and
the end of the sickness" That word 80
Gus" however, ell too soon assumed its
plural form, and the town was fully aware
of its danger
Then did we begin to do what we should
never have left undone. Frantically we
seized shovel and broom and tegan to clean
our streets. Many citizens volunteered to
have a certain number of blocks put in
order; and, under their immediate super
vision, the work was done 50 systematic
ally and so thoroughly that even the city
gangs became mbued with the spirit of
emulation; and, after scraping the cutters,
removed the piles of refuse matter, thing
which they had never done before within
the memory of the living. Lime by the
barrelfuls, was sprlnkled everywhere, and
the town, underneath its blazing sky,
looked as though faxed with snow.
While housekeepers all over the city
were busy putting their homes In order,
and while the better class of citizens were
cleaning the streets in the more respecta-
BILE parts of the town, they were confront
ed with a new cause for alarm. A death
occurred In a tenement of the Italian quar-
ter. The officers sent to investigate dis
covered a scene of filth and squalor which
appalled, them. To allow the fever to gain
Roadway there was to surrender the city.
Autocratic measures were adopted. The
people were compelled to abandon their
houses and were conveyed in vans to a
camp established for them. and still sup
ported at public expense, while the novels
which were their homes were purified by
water and by fire. Entirely unacquainted
with our language as most of these poor
creatures are, and filled with the suspl-
ciousness of the densely ignorant, it is
small wonder that they became frantic
with fear, and were uncomfortable, except
by the Italian priest; that they refused the
mlnistrations of any doctor except one
Of their own nationality; and that, al
though destitute, they would refuse food,
unless furnished through the Italian Be-
nevolent Association.
Having thus instituted precautions to
prevent the spread of the disease, our
thoughts turned then towards the question
of medical attendance, in case our efforts
should prove unavailing. There are with
us many old physicians, who hold daily in
tercourse with ex-patients whom they
saved from the perils of '67, or even of
'53. These aging doctors may have begun
to feel the pathetic sensation of being SUI
perseded in usefulness by younger practi-
tioners; men who were wearing knicker-
bockers or kits, and spinning tops during
the endemic Of '7S. If, however, these