, 1879-03-05
Tho Great German General Won Mo]tko's
Observations OF It In Com
~ stantinople.
How the Plague Acted---Con-
i. veyed by Contact and
in Clothing.
Singular Conduct Of tho Turks--.How tbs
- Greeks Treated Friends and
Visitors,

letter. will be read with particular interest at the
| prcaett moment:
CoNsrANr1NorLE, Feb. %, 1871 lave lust
finished my survey of Coustantinoplo; thcrc Is
doubtless no other Capital IN whose streets
could have dono my work with 80 ittle inter.
ruptton as here. Tnwards the end, however,
was compelled 10 look up tic movements OF the
ground Under the snow which covered IL; never.
ttsetcss It Is remarkable that tlla weather should
have continued so un!ntcrrupic,liy Anc TIL tie
beginning Of january rs to enable mo to use my
planc-tabac in the npen DIR. Now The spring
storms asu con,c upon lis; but the wllitethorn,
the cherry, n.l tho almond trees are II, blossom,
the crocns antl the psiInrosa are shooting W,
aud would send ahcn Constantinppnlltan
Violet, II 1t were not certain to be seized mud
detained at The Impertat-Lsoynt frunter
by The quarantine authorities m M object
capable OF transmitting the plague. As the
plaguc las now nearly ceased, Of at leaat the
danger Is now no longer greater than TINT In
whicheycry one lircs every yhour Of t!sltfc must
write tlice few straightforward words on this
subject, in order Tint tbou n1ayass be spared
unnecessary anxiety, for ouo always breads m
unknown danger most, because ono cxagYcr-
atcs It.
Whether tho plague comes from Egypt or
stuuA AlEu'"lNAt Vt A0" Hull WflEfH IT. lAS lis
origin, nbout all tint do not intend 10 say q
word. becauso neither nor any puc else knows
It. The plague IL an hitherto nudlyu1gef!seerct; !;
It Ia the riddle nropoutded by the Sphinx that
kills every ono who undertakes to solve 1t nn
fails. This Is what happened to tho French
medical officers Of Napo1con's ariuy in Egypt,
ansl very latcy ton young German Doctor who
exposed himself during thirty days to every
Imaginable test, tlIaily vent into Turk
Isl. stean1-batl1, laY in the bed Of Il
pasicnt suffering from tho disease,
nN was dead IN twcnty-sour houra. IL is
highly probable thut all I.e large cities of Tho
East, with sllctr narrow. strcalst aud w!shn The
limits Of certain lattudcs, are tile rea hus!,ela
temperature are hoth unfavoraplo to thu dis.
ease. II las scaEceiv cycr appeared in Persia,
and, hownycr scrcrely 1t has ragcli at tho mouth
OF Thu Nile 1t iias never sseendcd TO tic high
tho plague can oc brought Into EUROPE; but The
experience Of q hundred years, sI,lca Tic vstab-
lEsflsncllt OF rcguar qnurantines, proves t!,ut 1t
nrser las IT, origin there. It Is also Beyond
doubt that ihe disease Is communicated by tho
touch. a'ht tsiost Of tloso w!lo would tlcny ths
would carefully avoid contnct with patient
suffering from It. But the tliscapo is cnnltnunl.
cable by eoatact ouly within rcrta!n very nur-
row liuss. Eyen tho unfortunate case have
Just mentioned proves thss.
There lived in the plague hospital ot tic
Christians at Perm fur ,nany Ycurs Catholic
priest WHO nut. only performed ior the alex nil
tie uI'ices Of rsa,slou, hut touched them,
s!.angcd their rlothes, nrrsed. a.nl buried thea.
This brave man Is stout md fat; atn1 must con
fcss that his courageous alsl truly religious deyo-
to anpcats to tsle to BE- more hcroic than innry
famous decd Of arns. This priest believes
that he suffered from tho nla1atly IN hts early
youth; hut II tas BEEN proved That this II no
Protection MEntEst Subsequent altanas Gcstalp
y Is t!'at somtn'at prolonged contact will, tho
akin wiscn III Il warm state, md In addition to
thls predtsposltIon OF the whole body, nre re-
4utrcd fur 'l.e ploDsgatfou Ut tho .lseasu; md
1t Is precisely for this reason tlnt inauimato
objccta tsuell Id clothing, bedding, etc.>
arc more dangerous than human betugs
TIC great majority ot cases hare their origin m
articles That have been purchased, s1cl, us old
rlothcs nta cotton goods hawkcd by thu Jows,
1t would require au unusliai combination 0t
unfortunate nccidohts to render thu mere meet
inE with person suffering unacr The dlacasv In
fictitious. During lhe plaque Of this year (is,7j,
tho most ylulent tl,at has ragged for ttie Inst
twcnty.ttyc years, sucnt whole days In Eong
about IN the narrowest streets mn. passages Of
the city and suburbs. went even Into tic
BY q crowd OF people bent Oh satisfy
illg their eurloslty. | met tho dead mid
tho dying, alsl an convinced tt,at In so doing
ftst sxp1se aerq4{ 5sa ts.g.. e yS5s t9 danger e
reaelli''E NY uw1' llouso clangcd I'LL my linen
and clothes from heal 10 fook; ufltl the lattcr
Merc lcle hanging In tho open windows MI uight,
he very great willie Of tug simplest precautions
to the plague tllnt nro cArrled OIL u1noug the
Franks, Nllifo tho Turks aud the rayulss {iHttYe
Christians, etc.. dis BY thousands. NotNitl-
stumbling the wide diffusion anu ylTulcncu Of tlu
plague Of tllis year {lSf1}, which has becn IN
c9ualcti In these respects since 1879, only from
eight To twelve Frank families werc Nttaufscd by
II, an4 then u WAS alinoal invariably the scsv-
ants n'ul children, For centuries since thu
1fnttt Rfera
tho Turks, ony opc instance is recorded 1t,
whict, ono Of ll,rsc officials WAS seized with tlu
!tscasc. a stranger can aearcely avoid bittLng
down on dtyan lust wtcru some raggc1
also smoke tic pspe Of eonso Turk who
never uses the slightest precautou; un still l,o
escapes Infection ntnety.nino ttltlcs ont Of q
hl,'lt'rcd. But II one Frank 10 onro caught moro
auccumb to their .kissnrt, or destiny. Wller.
ever the disease has once appeared .Ee most
serious measures should i,o adopted. All
clothing beds. md rarpcts must be well washed,
uni the l!oors secured. What all tiMt nleans III
large household thou canst well ill,agine;
wllooFer Is once "comproIulse1," to ,lsc the
teehnea} expression, Ia Us badly OF as II h!s
Among tlp TURKS tho matter is quito differ
cnt. Thcre no one puts thu question 10 himself,
whether one gets the p!agc from eoutact with d
persoa suffering f1on II; but ra,I.es, cau amy
y! uA9ilAA l+tfcl1k nu earthly
ryilf 1t Is astonishing how strongly they nrs
convinced Of the contsary. In a battery not fur
from this hospital for plague pntiunts was SGT
up; almost two-thlrds OF the battalion died.
hute u,ors than once met Tho eoldiers who had
Just buried cou,talc, kallntcring honu
slnsiGs tlelr ts'mplo songs, with tic
nall sluns caFcleas!y over The shoulders Of ono
Of tile party. When they rot tn.o barracks
they divided the clothing Of thu detuuet amongst
them, Rs,tl wcro greatly pleased tf they got a
jacket or pair ot trousers. which vcry probably
caused their death IN two or three lays. The
dreadful ,nurtaity, The duly recurring Examples,
thu patent proofs Of infcctlon-nonc Of ali this
was capable of IcpriY!mg these pconlo OF their
hclluf; Alluh ker!H "-God Ia u,ercttuI-unl
dcsttny cannat be shtrkc.l. Tho b!u,basl.i Of tho
battalion, who Ind bren corrupted hy intur-
course With the Glaours introduced afl kinds
u precautions. Thu soldiers submitted only
with tile Ercatcst INVERSION; oil ttut could l,o
done mas tn nali q verso fron the Koran 10 tlu
harsaekt.atc. ala!anlmed Was no doubt quito
right when. utter finding that hp could mt sayo
l,s peop!e from the dreadful plague, ho inspircd
tilc}n with snprclMe contempt 1ur It. To The
stot1em thr pia.ue Is not y.sitatiuD, but rather
q steria' grace from tiot, mud those who ttlo Of
i are explicitly termed martyrs by tic Kuran.
Dread III tho n(AHHu uIi ali iyrecntfons u,.sttst