The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1879-03-07


travel fur from the coast, because food and
water were as utterly unattanable "a they
would be in the Sahara. | have couversed
with man who made the journey to Crato
in November; he described bowling will
derness, where one sees only deserted hous-
es and leafiess trees and crosses by the road
side. With our genial climate we cannot
understand real drought. In Ceara birds
and insects died during the first blazing
summer Imagine what the plains must
have been with second dry year. The
whole population was gathered in n strip
not more than scvcnty-fve miles in its
greatest width running along the coast
The people were crowded about the cities
and villages, living in wretched huts and
drawing government rations. At one time
there were 100000 of them at Fortaleza,
$4,000 at Aracaty, and so on for other pla-
ceS.
BREAKING OUT OF SMALLPOX.
The people had food enough, but still the
death rate increased steadily In Fortaleza
it had reached 200 per day, even as early
as slay or June. In Aracaty it was hard
ly less. There were pcrnicious fevers, bori-
beri, little cholera. Yellow fever disap-
peared with the spring months. But above
all other disease the smallpox began to as.
sumo terrible pre-cminence. 1t was
worse at Fortalcza. Very few of the pco-
pie were vaccnatcd. Isolation of the sick
was never enforced. The pestience, con-
fined at first to the refugees, soon spread
to the richer classes. BY October the 80
OO0 adventitious population had dwudlcd
to 10000 or 10000, including the towns
people many had died, many had emigra-
ted. Among those that were left the pes.
thence was stalking and marking its VIC
Tins. On November l, 80 persons died of
smallpox in Fortaleza; on November 2, 124.
and this ont of population of only $4,000.
Your yellow fever deaths never reached
on increasing rapidly. Two hundred,
three hundred, four hundred deaths day
toward the end of November the figures
ran above five hundred. On the Both
there were 574 registered. but this includes
only the interments insthe public grounds,
There were fpmilif cpgla; afnta q
l0Espeasash Wko Wsas aid il the the
thick forest or carried out to sea on cata-
marans and sunk there.
APPALLING DEATH LISTS.
The whole number of registered deaths
in November for the two cemeteries in
San Joao Baptista and Logoa. .funda vas
l1,O75. OF these 9,27O were smallpox ca
ses But think We must add to this at
least one thousand buried in the woods or
sunk at sea. At this time there were 30
600 sck-mOre than a third of the popu-
lation. Still the death rate increased. On
December 10, SOS smallpox dead were bur-
led ir the cemetery of Lagoa funda, at least
IS in San Joao aud probably $50 in the
woods and the sea-a total death record of
over 1000 in single day-and this out of
a population (now reduccd) Of only 10000
The great plague. at London reached this
death rate, but that was from population
of 100000. After this the mortuary ratio
decreased, but only because the disease had
nothing more to feed on. A certain per.
centage Of Il community are exempt from
smallpox. A few, no doubt, were saved by
vaccination. by the end of the year the
death rate had gone down to 200 per day.
The entire number Of deaths for the month
was not far from 1000 In all great cpl
denies, it is said, the people become indif
fcrcnt to their danger. In Fortaleza this
indifference was sufficiently astonishing.-
When reached the place on the 10Th of
December the death rate was 400 per day,
but business was going on much as usual
and hardly anybody had been driven out of
tho city by the danger.
APPEARANCE OF THE BLACK PLAGUE.
l could write much more of Ceara and
the good and evil saw there; the evil,
alas, too sadly predominant! Only one
thing more | will note, for it may be the
sign of another scourge in the future
When l lefs Fortaleza people were talking
of disease which they called black small.
pox. 1t was utterly unlike the ordinary
smallpox. Tho patient was seized with q
sudden gidduess, fever and burning of the
tongue; then dark spots like bruises ap-
peared on the body, and in twenty. four
hours all was over. l surmised from the FIRST,
and believe there is now no doubt, that
this is the terrible black plague, the scourge
that has SO often swept through Europe and
f'Asia, but which, so far as l know, has rev.
or appeared before on this side of the At
lantic.s The cases were already numerous
at the beginning of this year. One of the
first victims was the wife of the provincial
president, Senior j ose Julio. She died in