Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-07-03
RAvAcES Of FLU
Among Labrador Es-
k.rnos Last Winter

|eon Of sstxiesnsux Of 100 Wipsd
ous by oissaas-Asports Of High
Morality IN Other Ssttiements-
o.re- STORIES Of Suffering
& Jonu'G- n. r, July "Details Of
ma .n-naus maas by tnaueuza among
snaar.sartn of Eskimo seftlemeuts IN
labrador last winter. and thu difficulty
q. d.sposlng Of tbs dead. are furnished
h reports from northern missionaries
I,sxlvec py the colonial secretary. They
|t.u story Of deuop1tation referred To
Es another step nearer the end Oh the
labrador Eskimo" and OF terrible c0n-
t.uoas IL tne wake Of the plague.
R.zaop Martin OF the MDraxian mis-
l,ou. writing from Hebron. said thai
IA o. ne LOO Eskimos IN that nartlesneuf
Ipsca-ae L. AND IN q week 8 died. iezv-
| M only eight children. I'VE women and
|one man
II the mission house." he continued,
Isl severely as the Eskimos. Al the he
GINNING Of the epidemic the bodies were
|pu. INTO DIR small dead huuEe, but
taa- wa soon filed up ana there was
|noooGy gtrong enough to remove the
1eao rom the houses. Most of the
EskInio nuts were filled with bodies.
tine Il su-v1vors found refuge together
II 0ur house.
'Fo- FIVE or Six weeks we were un-
Iars 70 40 anything in regard 10 the
nodes we were SO lew and too weak
IL an any hard work. Our situation
was awful Some men VINO survived
csnle rom Saegiek to help LIE clean the
houses ana the station.
After all the inhabitants of some
houses died the dogs broke into the
nus and ate some of the bodies When
|tae' rad done SO they got very VICIOUS
|tae station tabout 1900 but could not
|aestroy them all. Therefore the dogs
aaU the graves had to ne watched day
Enc night.
After much deliberation we de-
|cideG TO burv the bodies in the sea.
tn zee and to very deep water. made
i mole through the ice and buried
them there
Al one place in Eaegiek Bay. 26
persons died and more than 20 of
IT, bodies had been eaten by the
|10gy before a healthy man went
there TO kill the SO wild brutes.''
reporting that 70 OF the 80 in
EaDitants of the district of Sand
Flch Bay were victims Of the plagne
E.sv. Henry GOruons account SAID:
Returning from short sea cruise.
found Cartwright swept almost en-
Fi-elv off its feet. Out of a pnpu-
Eation of some 70 odd souls barely
HaE a dozen were able to be about.
found whole families lying helpless
GROUND their stoves, incapable OF pro-
rg-Ing WOOD or water. Day after
ia the number of our dead mount
p until q dozen lay in the grave
rarc
Ii little homestead. 10 miles 10
/ ne east Of Cartwright. a lad was
Eou1o watching over four cprpses;
Enis father mother, sister and brother
Nine miles across the Bay al North
|Rlvec. % cDrpses had been lying in
F7neE BEDS for a fortnight. the few
Survivors TOD weak to remove them
We dig q huge grave and laid them
BAL II il.
=; paradise. where there We're 20
|neac only three men had strength
|enoagn 10 get around. and as the
fpeople died they dug holes behind
|tnel- houses and dropped them in.
|Aos! Of the graves are very shallow
lanu with the bodies merely wrapped
Pr tten clothing, this means a great
|rist from proving beasts.
III nearly every case I was able
r. ge- neighbors TO help IN trans
porting The dead. digging graves. and
|dlsc-loutlng orphans among the diff
ieren, settlements"