Martin County Genealogy Trails
News Articles
Transcribed from: The New
York Times November 30, 1884 by Nancy Hannah
THE PLAGUE IN KENTUCKY.
DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE IN THE STRICKEN DISTRICT.
Louisville, Ky. Nov. 29. - Arthur H. Loomis, a traveling representative for a
New York firm, was in this city today, having just returned from a trip through
the plague-stricken district of Eastern Kentucky. Mr. Loomis said: "I was four
days in Martin County without disposing of a single article. The people are
absolutely crazy. They have no use for anything but coffins. A great deal has
been printed in the newspapers about the situation in Martin and adjoining
counties, but it has been but an imperfect reflex of the existing deplorable
condition. I know of instances where whole families have died within a week;
where neighborhoods have been swallowed up in the grave; where one man has
survived to bury his family and his friends, and then has been found dead, with
no living creature near him except, in some cases, a faithful dog. Flocks of
sheep and droves of cattle that used to browse on the hillsides and along the
range of the Cumberland are now lying dead and rotting. White pebbles glisten
on the bottom of the creek beds. Wells and cisterns have been drained to the
bottom, and springs are no longer to be relied upon for a supply of water. The
ground is literally parched, and where vegetation formerly bloomed luxuriantly
there is nothing but decay. Thousands of persons are said to nave died within
the past two weeks.
“What in the opinion of the natives is the cause of this fatal calamity?"
“It is very evident that the chief agent of death is starvation. People in those
districts are almost without communication with the outside world. An occasional
drummer like myself strays among them once a year, and a few of the most
prosperous of the people visit some large cities once in a lifetime. A good
season brings with it bountiful crops. Wool and other native products arc rudely
manufactured into clothing, but when the crops fail them the order of things is
reversed. I am speaking now of the backwoods in the neighborhoods where the
plague has raged with the greatest fatality. I learned while in Martin County
that the crop yield for two successive seasons had been a failure. The natives
are without money and means to purchase bread. The shutting off of the water
supply has brought to the surface a poisonous liquid. Famished for water, people
drank, and the consequence was death. The first symptoms are violent gripings,
and after this a raging headache. Hot fever ensues, and the patient usually
lingers two days, suffering mental agony before death. I understand that
several physicians have been commissioned by the State to make a careful
analysis of the water and describe the poisonous Ingredients. Relief has
recently been dispatched to Martin from the neighboring counties. Before I
left there was a light rainfall, with a prospect of continued rainy weather. The
opinion prevails that the plague has passed through its most dangerous stages
and is now on the wane. During the last few days of my stay I heard of very few
deaths."
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