Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

THE CHOLERA OF 1867. 423
the putrid weight with their arms outstretched, and their faces
turned away, as the appearance of
those bodies was something
too terrible. At every jar they received, a green matter ran
from the mouth and ears and spread over the faces, and the
black skin of the dangling arms and legs seemed ready to
detach itself from the bones and dissolve entirely. Cangiano
sent four soldiers to gather wood from the few deserted houses
near by. The latter, not finding any thing else, took tables,
chairs, blinds, any thing that would burn, and piled every
thing up in the middle of a field, a short distance from the
church. The bodies were carried out one by one, and thrown
on to the heap ;
fire was set to it, and all were burned. There
was not one body left in all Campofranco. Between those
buried and burned they had disposed of more than sixty.
When Cangiano saw the first flames starting, he returned
to fhe town, where he continued, in an indefatigable manner,
the good work he had begun, until a captain arrived
from Caltanisetta, with a good supply of food, medicine, and
money, and with these he went from house to house, through
all Campofranco, helping the poor and sick, reassuring those
who were frightened, and filling all hearts with hope and peace.
In a short time all
the fugitives returned, the municipality was
reorganized, every one resumed his former occupation, the
town changed its aspect, and Cangiano and his soldiers returned
to Sutera, accompanied by the benedictions of all. In
Sutera, too, the epidemic was raging, and there also Cangiano
performed miracles in the way of charity and courage. On
the eleventh of August, the municipal body of the city unanimously
acclaimed him the benefactor of the place, and expressed
the gratitude of the citizens in a letter full of enthusi-