The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-20

TRAVELLING UNDER
DISADVANTAGES.
Experiences OF IA Trip Through the
yellow Fever District.
one who has Travelled through the South
| during the prevalence of yellow fever
| epidemic is apt to have experience which
| he will not readily forget says the Mil
waukee Sentinel l retain vivid recolcc-
| tions of a trip | made over the Illinois
| Central railroad from New Orleans TO
| Memphis, Tenn, during the awful cpl
| demic of 1873, when the fever ragged in
| every town along the line and people
| were dying SO fast that the disposal OF
| their bodies was a trying problem. Traf-
| tic, of course, as demoralized, and there
was only one passenger train daily out
| from New Orleans. The train moved
| along at the provoking rate or twelve
| miles an hour, being under orders not to
| 20 faster Marks of the devastating epi-
| demic were to be seen on every hand At
| intervals of few miles were found quar-
| antine camps, where men i'm their shirt
| sleeves and with shot-guns on their shoul-
| ders paced up and down defined lines,
| while a little further on would be a huge
| column of smoke arising from atire fed
on bedding, clothing and other infected
materials. our train sped through the
| towns without stopping, and i'm spite of
| intense heat the car windows were lower
| ed as we went through the fever-stricken
communities in order to. lessen the danger
| of coming in contact with germs
| o
We were to stop at Holly Springs,
| where the fever was particularly bad in
the early morning, and after carrying us
| three miles beyond the depot the con-
ductOr stopped the train and put us off in
the woods. We walked back to the city
over, the railroad track. In Holly Springs
we found that about 80 per cent. of the
! population, normally, about 1000, mad
fled at the first sound of alarm, the great
er part of those who remained had died
and most of the others were taking their
meals at the one hotel which remained
| open. All business was at a standstill,
| shops and stores of every description had
been deserted. and supplies of food, medi-
| cine and clothing were distributed daily
| by committee whose duty was to see
| that nobody suffered for want of the me-
| Cessities of life At the hotel we were
| told that we were the only outsiders who
had come into the city for several weeks.
The town at that time was pretty nearly
cut off from communications with the
world. The one telegraph operator who
| had stuck to his post heroically day and
| night for weeks, was about to suCcumb
and it was impossible to get a man to
come'and relieve him. Six operators who
had preceded him during the epidemic
had died one after the other and it was
a difficult matter to. find volunteers tC
face what seemed to be almost certain
death.
Arriving in the stricken city of Mem
phis, we found the pall of fever covering
| a community of about one-third the nor.
mai population. All who could do so had
gone North at the first alarm, and of those
| WHO remained only',a few esca1ed the
! ravages of the plague. Business was sus.
pended and business houses We're closed
| The supp lies necessary for the sick and
their nurs es We're sent in from other cit.
| les and arrived Ly the carload daily
| These supplies were distributed TO relief
depots opened in various quarters of the
city, and were given out upon requisi-
tions signed by physicians and members
of the Relief committee. The doctors and
nurses sent in from other cities were en-
| tertained at the expense of the city, and
one could start from the hotel and walk
| for miles without meeting any one but q
physician hurrying from patient to pa
tient, or the drivers of express wagons
| loaded with cOrpses in rough pine boxes
| being driven to the common burying
| ground. This bUrying ground was an old
| cotton patch in the suburbs of the city
| and here the corpseS were deposited in
| long trenches dug to a depth of six feet
and covered over without any attempt al
| the regulation mound. The important
| object was to get the bodies under ground
| as quickly as possible, and delay was of.
| ten occasiOned because of inability to Sc
cure men to dig graves. The corpse-ladcr
| wagons made a constant procession from
| the fever hospitals, and the coffin, EN-.
| blematic Of the city's distress, was to be
| encountered at every turn. At one time
| during the epidemic there was a meal
| famine, and for a fortnight the only
| meat eaten by guests at the Peabody was
| chicken, The demand for quinine, q
staple remedy in fever epidemics, was sc
great that the price went up to siXteeT
| dollars an ounce
The publisher of a weekly paper al
| HandsbOrough Miss, when the fevel
was announced in that town, moved his
| family, type, press, etc, to house about
four miles away in the woods The sol
was stricken down a few days later ant
'all the other members of the family were
taken down very quickly. | was called il
to look after the boy, a former school
mate, and saw him die within twenty
four hours, The next thing was to get
grave dug, which proved a matter of con
siderable difficulty, as the men VINO usual
ly could be depended upon to do suCf
work refused to go anywhere near
| fever-striCken household, COntending tha'
| they would get the fever soon enough
without going to il. Finally after visiting
| marlborough and Biloxi, the services
of two colOred men were secured, one o
whom had had the fever and was pro,
fessional nurse. The other man consented
to act as gravedigger on condition that he
be permitted to retire to a safe distance
before the corpse was brought to the
grave, and that the coffin be covered to
depth Of two feet before he be required tC
/ resume. The gTaVe-diggers did theil
work by the light OF lanterns, and abou
midnight the body was placed lin a pin,
box by the nurse and the writer. Tht
mother crawled from her sickbed in ur
Eadjoining room to take last look al he,
boy, and she herself was carried to hc
grave a few days later. The pine bo,
was put on cart and lantern Lighted
the way to the grave. The old coloreC
gravedigger retired several hundred yarIl
away as the corpse approached, an,
when several feet of earth had beeI
| thrown into the grave he was summoned
| by whistle. He got 81 for this night.
| work. This is one of many incidents of ;
| similar character which accompany
yellow fever epidemic.
- -
BUNCoERS ABROAD BEWARE
1t is the trick OF the Bryanized De
mocracy this faI to make fals
charges against Republican methods
raise a big dust, hire Republican nal
contents to organize Republican bolt