Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-08-05
THE ISDIAN PLAGUE.
Devastation of "A ViIIsge by the
ChOlerI--A SOrrOWfuI Picture.

The INDIAN fLA6UEs
Devastation of VIIIsge by the
ChOIerd--A sOrrOwfuI Picture.
The Bombay Gazette describes as
follows a calamity which has fallen
on a village in India through the
ravages Of cholera: "One of the
dark spots in Indian village life is
the periodical visitation of some
epidemic which enters almost every
hovel and carries off one or more of
the occupants. The villagers may
have been living happily together,
their minds perplexed about moth
ing more serious than the state of
their crops, their cattle, or the or
dinary gossip Of their community,
when suddenly the destroyer ap-
pears, and the scene instantaneously
changed from peacefulness into
terror and confusion. A sad in
stance of this fact has occurred in
this presidency within the last few
days. Where there was once
thriving pleasant village situated
on the sea-shore, there is now a de-
serted collection Of huts. Not a
human sound is to be heard in the
place from morn till night. Most
Of the inhabitants are dead, the
victims Of Il terribly sudden inva-
sion Of cholera, and the survivors
have left everything in their huts
and fled to the adjoining noun
tains. 1t is one of the most alarm
ing, and we might almost say
awful, visitations which we know
of in the history of any village in
this presidency. Golwond, the
place we are referring to, is mid
way between Bombay and Surat,
land on the Bombay, Baroda and
Central India railway. Being close
to the sea, the officers of the COM
pany have hitherto looked upon it
as kind of sanatOrium, as it pos
sessed many of the advantages en-
ioyed by Theethul and Bulsar, the
recognized sanatoria of Guzerat
Here the guards of the goods trains
used to change, and many of them
had their residences near the sta
tion. Altogether the population Of
Golwood could not be more than
200. Last week cholera, which is
now preying around Ahmedabad,
suddenly entered the village, and
slew victims right and left. On
the 4th inst, the first day of Its
appearance, no fewer than 81 peo-
pie out of the small population
died; on the next day 20 died; 20
more died on the 9th; and when we
had our last advices from Golwood,
there we're IS new cases, Of which
three-fourths were hopeless. The
few survivors and every poor wretch
who could move have fled to the
adjacent hills, where they are now
huddled together and struggling
to exist on such food as they can
find in that barren locality. Such
was the terror and helplessness
of the people when the out
break occurred, that they did not
bury their dead, and bodies lay
rotting in the streets for two whole
days, during which the stencil was
abominable. No reason for the
outbreak has been assigned, and
the fate Of Golwood furnishes one
more instance Of the mysterious
movements of cholera. The misery
Of the people was aggravated by
the fact that there was no doctor
at hand. A Mr.. H. B. Wharton,
permanent way inspector on the
B. B. & @. |. Line, has a house
close to the village, and when the
epidemic appeared the people ran
to him for help. He was the only
European in the station, and they
naturally thought the Sahib might
be able to help them. He happened
to have a small supply of cholera
mixture and chlorodyne, but it was
soon exhausted among so many ap-
plicants, and Mr.. Wharton could
do nothing but listen helplessly
while the tales Of death we're being
told him on every side by panic
stricken people. MIR. Wharton says
the cholera was the most virulent
he had ever seen in the course Of a
long experience. He saw people
die within thirty minutes Of the
: moment Of attack. The village
was filed with lamentations, and
natives rushed wildly hither and
thither. Many people died in the
: streets; while running away they
9 were seized with the pangs of the
: disease, and dropped on the spot
: land soon expired.