The Typhus of 1847

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pastors, were the first to run to the ships. M. John RICHARD spent the first night there, administering the confession to all those in danger of dying. M. the Superior of the Seminaries did not hesitate in joining MM. Morgan, Carrof and others who speak English. Mgr. Bourget, Bishop of Montreal arrived from his second voyage to Rome. Barely recovered from his fatigue, His Eminence occupied himself, with <PAGE BREAK> THE TYPHUS OF 1847 his coadjutor Mgr. Prince, with ways to relieve the poor children of Ireland. We will soon admire his great devotion towards them. Towards mid-June, 6,000 Irish disembarked on our shores, 3,500 of which stopped at the sheds or ambulances. 2000 disappeared in search of more favourable pastures; many died. There nevertheless still remains 250 in the shelters. On June 25th of this same year, the sick numbered 850 in the shelters; around twenty were dying each day. July 2nd, the sick numbered 1,300, the number of those who died went from THIRTY to FORTY a day. Death did not only prey on the ambulances, it also victimized those in the city, as the contagion began to spread, and spiritual relief was becoming more and more urgent in several neighbourhoods. To meet this need, M. Billaudèle, Seminary superior, closed the College of Montreal and called on principals and professors to come to the aid of their colleagues, which brought shortly thereafter the aid of MM. of Charbonnel, P. Richard, H. PrÊvost, Connelly and Picard, and later the good Granet and Toupin; but such relief did not appear to be sufficient to the sensitive heart of the good superior, he went knocking on the door of the son of Saint Ignace with confidence, and the house of New-York sent him the RR.PP Mignard, Duranquet, Driscoll, Dumerle,


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