, 1879-02-20
THE ASIATlC PLAGUE.

Tho Hev. Henry II. steasup Declares THAT
Hot Weather nnd IA strlut Quarantine viii
Always Cl.srk IT.
NEW YonK, Feb. 14.-7o The Editor Of the iVtp
York Tribune: There are two facts with regard
to tilt Asatlc plague which your readers may
DO interested to know. Havtng lived In syria
for twenty-tllrcu years, have lloarl much witt,
regard to this dreaded scourgc, although dur
Ing this whole period It has not once Visited
either Syria Or Egypt.
THE plague cannot exist In lot weather. In
Its whole history In Syrta, as far as have been
abfc 10 learn, 1t has generally made its appcur-
anco in wintcr mult1ls. and always suddenly
NM absolutely disnppcare1 on the ndyent of hot
II has tcn llccn dornla,. until The following
january Or February, when II would reappcar.
During the past few years it has brokel ont
reguiatiy in baEiMl during The winter, but
about. Tile syrlns haye no fear Of plagus in
hot weather. Hcnt seems to burn It ont, asd
destroy Ills power os INJECTING TIC bodies, tlle
cl1thi'ig, or the houscs of men.
conlp!cteIy check tiu plague as,u stump II out.
lily cholera Will oVcrlcap quarantine walls n,tl
travel through thu utr; the plague travels nuly
By contact, b. bclng carried from Que body Or
oo|ert to anolier. From thu time Of the rsial,-
i!shncnt Of strict qnaranttnc. In The Turkish
perllous proportions. When Il broke out Il,
ba.aa4 y was confined to bugtlnd and It's tulme-
ltnte victuity by tle Turkish quarantine. Tbs
Alas.omctHns do not believe in quarantine mil
fought ngainst them ut ilrst With lauatlcal stub
hurnncss. Yeara ago the City ot Irspo,l IN
syria was tho capital Of The province, but wlle,,
tiic sultan proposed to estaltsh lhe general
quarantine station for !lsc Syrian eoast Al shat
point, tic tanattca( Mos!cm threatened violence,
nna compelled the authorities to establish 1t at
Beirut. From tlnt TINS 'rripo1i sank into CON-
parati1c i'issgntcallee, and belrlt becan.c
Of fats makcs the sloslefns stoicaliy
indifferent to uestlicncb; tllll uyen u6 lntu
rs he cholera ysitat!on Of 1915, thousands died
IN Damascus without calling for plss,vtan or
tue Koran 10 rim away frot pcstleuro ,'r Seslst IS
II. But the Sultan, under pressure from thu
Europcan Powers, hus chlorcel quarantine
throughout the Empire, SO TINT even tlse hall
Civilized masscs OF the Turkish md Arab pupll-
futty years aEu.
Hot weather nnd quarantine then are the two
focs of TIC pIaguc. Should the plague appear
soluteIy confined to liz town by risii l. atul III.
taltbfuf quarantine. tsairoads arn tll. iI!ust
dangerous uissctutnAtors oi infectious discusses.
They connect provinces ana cmrircs. alid carry
Mksengess "'ti frctgnt 50 rnpidly by day ami
night that nothing hui Mutual cessntion Of
travel aud traffic will tlsarln their power fur
evil during the existcncu uf the ptnguc. During
tho prevalence of thc p1ague In BaElat1, the
ustial cHrayans from Baglal to Damascus we're
suspended, und the dates MtNl tobucco Of Bag
dad foil Into dlsrepute. 1lle prcsent severe
quarantine regulations IN Russia uguinst Astra-
khut, nn III o:ller countries against ilussIa,
ars cIt,incntly wise II tho plaglie can be con.
lined to Astrakl,an until July the Danger to
Western Europn will probably be over for this
year. Henry Fl. JEssur, OF Beirut, Syria.
[stF. Jessup's statement tint tho plague can-
not exist IN not weatt!cr Is entitled to ruapcet.
though contrary to Tho sommonly-rcceiycI
plague Of London IN 1858 SHOW tllat the deaths
IN August md September vastly outul,mhcrcu
those Ill cooler months. On, Tie authority Of
''sChamhcra' Encyclopaedia" the deaths frun,
August, eo,Uis}; IN aoptcu,bcr G,223,0: In Octo.
ber, l4,313; In November, 3.44D; Ia December,
less than 1,U0u-ED.1 ..S