The sea coast echo., 1897-09-11
AT TnE BAY IN ,zs.
"reminiscences of the Yellow Fever.
--PeopIe Made Light of the
Danger at that Time.

--PeopIe Made Light of the
Danger at that Time.
Times have change, and surely the old
population of New Orleans and the Bay
have disappeared from the earth or grown
skittish OF former well known acquain.
tauce. In 1878 Bay St. Louis had between
six and seven thousand visitors, and when
the fever was raging in New Orleaus the
people ofthe Bay and the visitors attended
to their usual business. Balls and part les
were of nightly occurrence, and hundreds
of persons who could have taken refuge
in fiightsdid not do so. Miss Anna de
Wolf a daughter of Judge deWolf of
Chicago, was visiting in New Orleans at
that time, and came over to the Bay to
spend the summer with her friends. Time
and again she was prevailed on to 90 home,
but she declared she was willing to risk
the chances. She was among the first to
die, but was never afraid.
The fever ragged ut Bay st. Louis from
the 10th of August until cold weather,
About 9S deaths resulted from the fever.
while nearly every family at the Bay was
striken before Yellow Jack departed. The
people of the place at first wanted to deny
the existence of the malady, and until
the last called it the prevailing fever or
that fever going around, never once was
II called by name, aud often when the
volunteer nurses were going about they
would say Jones OF Smith has got it -
and we are going there to sit tonight.
When hear of several hundred persons
beng sick with prevailing fever am
reminded Of ours at the Bay. think of
all the criminal thing IN the world it is
to try and hide Yellow Jack or any other
contagious sickness. Honesty and truth
is the best policy, and nothing under the
sun can bo hidden long at time.
If IA case fever develops here the news
should go rs fast as the wire can carry
it, and then If any one comes to the Bay
no blame can be attached. In 1873, during
the epidemic, there were two families at
the Bay who escaped the fever, both of
''-N"N 'N"IN "o'iiSp Ihhi w Hbu inc
disease first broke out they land IN provi-
sions for two, ,or three months and did not
permit any one to come or go from the
house. They did not write or receive any
letters and were dead to the outside world.
OF course the life was hard, but better
perhaps than fever and death. They ken t
tar burning and used disntectants enough
to keep all the microbes from lighting
around the premises.
DIR. Turner, one of the prominent ply
sicians here, says it is dIstressingly heal
thy so much So that the doctors are idle
half the time. And if the board of health
will only be vigilant there is every hope
that fever can be kept away from this
place. Fifteen or twenty years back the
natives here said yellow fever was not SO
bad as typhoid or chills and fever. And
as for getting frightened at it and running
away was something they never
dreamed about. In those days when o
patient was put to bed he was given a
hot foot-bath, dose of castor oil and Or
ange leaf tea, and good and careful nurs-
ing did the rest. In 1873 DR.. Latham who
treated hundreds of cases began the use
of calomel, which in nearly every instance
worked like charm. That was an in :
nova6ion to the old timers and the castor
oil, and when they saw calomel admins
tered declared the fever had changed and
was not one bit like fever of old.
In those days there was a lot ot the
good.old colored mammas who mads the
best nurses in the world. and the nursing
is more than half the battle when in the
agony of that sckenIng fever.
Tho natiye used to say that they conld
tell yellow fever by the smell the moment
they entered the room of patient, ana
that many were cured who never saw the
face of u doctor.
The signs ofyellow fever and the smell
too, must haye changed since it took all
the doctors OF three states six weeks to
determine the nature of the disease al
Ocean Springs.-New Orleans States: