The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-31
THE TWIN
Previous Epidemlcs of Yellow Fever and
Cholera i'm the United States.
in Cincinnati News-Journal.

fever" broke out in Massachusetts,, and re-
NAMED epidemic in several of the Northern
States during a period of ten years, being
remarkably fatal in its results. In Vermont
1t was the most alarming disease ever known,
and proved f~earfully fatal to several regi-
ments of United States soldiers ouartered
there. 1t appeared in large red spots upon
the body, and usually attacked the most
hardy and robust of the population, result
ing fatally in a few hours. In 1922 the vel
low fever again appeared in New York, but
was not so fatal as in the former period.
In June, 1882, the AsiatIc cholera, which
was virulent in Europe and Asia, made its
first appearance in the United States. The
strict quarantine at our principal seaport
had prevented its entrance through the nat
ural avenues, and it surreptitiously crept
upon us from Canada Buffalo was first in
vaded, and from thence it spread with great
lrregularity, skipping one town and injecting
the next, sometimes leaping long distances
without affecting intermediate points until a
subsequent period. The first case in the city
OF New York occurred on the 9th day of
June, and in two months there were 3,400
deaths. At the same rate, with the present
population, the deaths would have reached
more than 10000, or fully 500 per day. 1t
commenced in Albany about the same time,
with the same fatality.
In a few weeks it stalked into Philadelphia,
and a thousand victims were garnered in a
few weeks. About the same mortality &C.
Cured in Baltimore and Washington, 1t
reached Cincinnati in July, where there were
scattering cases until September, when it be-
came epidemic and continued through the
winter and following summer, a great many
deaths occurring. In the Southern States its
ravages were frightful among the slaves.
whose habits of life made them an easy prey.
In New Orleans and st. Louis the malady
was fatal beyond all precedent, and the Mid
die States never knew so terrible visitation.
From the North the disease extended along
the borders of the great lakes and reached
Detroit and the cities upon our inland seas.
Only the six New England States escaped.
The scourge again appeared in America in
1913. This time it entered through the port
OF New Orleans and continued through the
winter OF 1913 and 1919. So frightful were
Its ravages that il decimated entire wards of
that city. 1t reached New York in May,
1S49, and so violent was its spread that dur
ing the week ending July 81, more than 700
deaths occurred. The mortality of that
H1ek, in the metropolis, was greater than
HaNaver before occurred in an American
Tsy6 ~ing more than 400 from all causes.
IN DostSn there were 600 deaths from the
ulseaSe qnAng four months, but Cincinnati
and St. LOU were by far the greatest suffer
- eao' otSy Hsing upwards of 5000 of its
SStL1enS. 0Feral the Middle and Western
o "1Te tus ueStroyl'g angel spread his wing,
% ~ II 09u'h ieit tte full fury of the pitiless
-" ~ the aWful CALAMITY
which had settled upCn tbe nation the
President appointed a dar of fasting and
prayer, that God would 'ayert the nesti-
lence which walketh IN darkness and the de-
struction which wasteth at noosdavn
Fearfully as some of the American c;ties
suffered, they bear no comparisos to tbs
devastations in the cities of the old worId
especially ond and Paris. 1t is imSossi.
BILE to conceive how terrible the panic oeca-
stoned by these epidemics was, and to what
unnatural deeds men and women were
driven. The utter s%elishness of poor hui
manity was never so strongly developed.
Carey, the historian of that period, saws of
philadelphia that "the dread of the scourge
drove parents from their children and even
wives from their husbands. All the ties of
affection and consanguinity were rent asun-
der, and humanity was left to mourn over
is own selfishness in the a-dor of self preser-
rMtion. Most OF the inhabitants who could
ny my means make ii convenient, fed from
tne uty. Ofthose who remained many shut
snena1lVes up i'll their houses, being afraid
10 walk he street."
hnoChe writer says that panic stricken
mlhisters oclined to go to the bedside of
ene " lns, 1lnven to attend their sanctu-
ares lot p9oIlcworship. The one faithful, |
neIoIo a.! was re doctors, who unhesitat-
lngly remained at heir post, although scores
OF them fell martyreto their bnmane div
Of course there were xcentions and history
contains no record of aharo;sm and sacr;6ca
more noble lhan thas ulslayed by the vol
uheeer men uhu women W. took charge of
t u no nr 49, = ""o '"A the peril OF
In the infected districts as tob.co ,n
posed to be a preventive, men. omen and
children engaged in smoking, and Sa houses
we're constantly full of the fumes 81 the
weed. Gunpowder and garlic WEI ,aIso
thought to be efficacious, and people rant
about chewing the former, while the air .as
i~mpregnated with the fumes Of burning sdH
peter. People who went abroad carried
sponges filled with camphor or vinegar to
their noses, others carried tarred
rope in their hands and had camphor
bags tied around their necks.
The season was a grand harvest for quacks
and patent cholera cures of all descriptions
flooded the market. The most popular OF
these impositions was the decoction known
as Thieves Vinegar" 1t was q liquid car
ried in a smelling bottle from which frequent
Limitations were taken. 1t was introduced
with the following romantic legend: Cen
turtles ago the dreadful plague visited
Marseilles. The people fled and the city
was visited only by Jour thieves, who en-
tered daily, robbed the houses and carried
their plumber to the mountains. The as
tonished citizens who had hid themselves in
the dens and caves of the earth, for fear OF
the disease, saw them pass and repass with
their ill-gotten gains, and wondered why the
plaque did not seize them, One OF the
thieves was finally captured, He was about
to be broken on the wheel, when he pro-
posed if they would spare his life he would
give them the receipt to make the Vinegar of
Four Thieves, by means of which they bad
escaped the plague. The bargain was made,
and the people returned to their homes, bid
ding defiance to the pestilence by the use OF
this preventive"
The statistics of the epidemic show some
interesting facts. The mortality among men
was much greater than among women, and
the middle-aged suffered much more severely
than the old and infirm. Men and women
habitually delicate had greater immunity
than the robust. Tipplers and drunkards, as
well as gourmands, were very susceptible to
the disease; of these many were seized, and
the recnveries rnre. To men and women of