The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-05
The Dying and Dead Left Without Attend
ants-Corpses Exposed to the Sun
and the Air Fetid with Poison.
One Hundred and Twenty-Five Deaths
at Damietta Yesterday.
The Loss of Life by the Daphne Disaster
Reported at One Hundred and Fifty
Other Cable News.
THE CHOLERA.
Deplorable State of Affairs in the Afflicted
Egyptian Towns.

Cable Special from Cairo.
The situation between here and Port Said
in one direction, and Alexandria in the other,
is deplorable and can scarcely be exagger-
ated. The extent of the cholera plague ow-
ing to government precautions is not actu-
ally known, but the statements of those who
have escaped from the infected districts, and
whose presence is Stunned by almost every
one, reveal a terrible state of affairs. There
are scarcely enough we'll natives to bury the
dead in some of the comparatively isolated
villages along the Mediterranean, and in the
| low Nile delta districts, between Lake Men
zalen and Lake Boorlos. Deaths are
announced at Ell Burg, Shirhin, and
other new points, the numbers not being
stated. There is not believed to be single
| foreigner in the district, except few self
| sacrificing physicians, English, French and
| Greek, who, besides risking their lives, stay
under very discouraging circumstances, as
| they can secure remedies onl " with difficulty,
and are met by undetermined opposition by
| the native doctors, so-called, who are the
only ones who collect any fees. Their pres
ence is everywhere resented by local officials,
since they alone are likely to give any infor-
nation of the extent of the epidemic while
the government, by the most strenuous ef
forts, is trying to keep every fact out OF sight.
| Two foreign physicians have already
sacrificed their lives, DIR. Laird, a Scotchman,
who had been thoroughly acclimated, and
| DR.. Ernst q German from CoblentZ. The
intelligent native classes were anxious to
retain the English doctors, but, influenced
| by danger and opposition, most of them
| have left the infected districts, and many of
| them have left the country or are at Alex
andria awaiting an opportunity to do so.
! Many terrified English and French families,
Of latra haI ala ioal
other government employment, are also
there awaiting remittances to enable them
| to return home. Several English soldiers
| have died at Damietta, a fact which English
| officials have endeavored to hide.
| The natives blame the whole matter on the
| English for having failed, in the presence of
abundant warning, to prevent the outbreak
| of the disease in the first place. The spread
| of the infection is, however, due to the habits
of the people, the filthy condition of the viii
| lagos and the ignorance of the natives and
| the preudices of the local practitioners. The
| atmosphere at Mansoura, where Hamondyi,
the famous Arab physician, died is said to
be absolutely fetid. The dying have been
| left alone in their houses, friends and rela-
tives fleeing and their bodies have re-
manned unburied for days Dead bodies in
J some cases have decomposed in the sunshine
in the streets of villages, deserted by all ex-
cept the dying and the convalescent, while
many of the latter were helpless and starry
| ing. Anything like graves has been I'M
thought of for fortnight and in the low
| delta ground, where water is found at a
| depth of two or three feet the trenches have
been dug so shallow and filled so full that
the first wind blew away the covering of
| sand as the first rain washed away the earth.
| Even where the decomposlng bodies were not
uncovered and exposed they were so near
| the surface as to rot under a hot sun and
allow the gases to filter to the surface and
| poison the air,
Preparations ana Preventives at the Port
of New York-No Fears of a Visitation.
| New York Tribune.
| A Tribune reporter visited DR.. w. M.
Smith, health officer of the port OF New York,
at Quarantine, Staten Island, and asked him
what had been done to protect the city
against infection from cholera, which is cpl
demic in Damietta and other ports near
there.
Orders have been issued to pilots" DR..
Smith replied, "to take all vessels coming
hither from Alexandria and ports on the
east coast of the Mediterranean to lower
quarantine for examination by the officers
there If the epidemic should spread to Eu-
rope the same rules would be applied to yes
sells coming from European ports
also. l cannot form any definite
opinion as to the probability of the
disease spreading to Europe, nor
| do feel confident that we can keep it ont of
| this country. Our quarantine system is bet
ter than it was in 1866, however when the
epidemic visited us before and the sanitary
condition of our cities is much better than in
| former years; so that it will be easier to pre-
vent the entrance of the disease or to miti-
gate its severity if it should escape u.s. We
shall examine vessels coming from infected
ports with reference to the health of the
crew, the nature of the cargo, and the general
sanitary condition of things on board Car.
goes Of rags which come from Smyrna, Alex
andria, Damietta and neighboring ports
are more likely than any others to
bring the disease, and vessels having such
| cargoes will be examined with especial care
| If everything is not satisfactory on board,
! the vessel and its cargo will be thoroughly
cleansed and disinfected and any sick per-
sons will be sent to the hospital If the iso-
lation of the sick and measures for disnfec-
| ton have been attended to for a time ex-
| ceeding the extreme period of incubation of
the disease, which is from eight to ten days
in cholera, the vessel will be allowed to pro-
coed. But if sickness or death has happened
in the incubative period without proper iso-
lation of the cases, the passengers will be re-
moved and will be kept under observation
long enough for any infection which may
have been transmitted to develop. The most
| searching vigilance, however, may not pre-
! vent the disease from coming in, as it is ex-
tremely erratic in its nature. The infection
is often carried immense distances by the
currents of the air"
DR.. Woolsey Johnson, chairman of the
sanitary committee of the health depart
ment, was asked if there had been any recent
discussions In the department regarding