The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1884-08-30
A RELIGIOUS PLAGUE SPOT.
Where the Terrible Cholera Scourge Has
Its Birthplace.

New York Sun.
Hurdwar, in the Punjab, at the foot
OF the Himalaya Mountains, is the great
nursery of cholera. 1t has annually
been developed there during the great
Hindoo festivals. OF these festivals
Hurdwar is cursed with two, and they
draw together great concourse OF
people from every portion of the Indian
Empire. At some of these festivals as
many as 100000 devotees have assem-
bled, but of late years the numbers have
fallen off. Hurdwar having lost its
sacred prestige from the fact that some
of the holy waters of the Ganges have
been profanely diverted into canal
constructed by English authorities.
There immense numbers of human
beings gather upon bare, sandy plain
on the banks of the Ganges, massed like
herds of swine, without means of sani-
tary protection. The earth and air, as
well as the water, are polluted, and the
odor from the camps is perceptible for
many miles. Day and night the de-
votees pour through the great thor
oughfares of the country to and from
the festival in parties of from ten to 500,
following so closely as to make an al
most continuous procession. Ninety
five out of every 100 are on foot, but
occasionally some great nabob sweeps
past with an enormous retinue, or
with his caravan of elephants, camels,
horsemen, and swordsmen passes in all
the grandeur and confusion of Indian
They ride over the poor
wretches who line the roads, trample
them down, and hurl imprecations upon
them for blocking the way. Some
march hundreds and some thousands of
miles to engage in the festivals and to
bathe in the sacred river. Many die on
the way, and all arrive lame and gaunt
from hunger and fatigue, with their
feet bound up in rags and their scanty
covered with blood and dust.
They rush into the river as soon as they
arrive, and drink the water as fast as
they can scoop it up in treir hands.
They are fed from the temple kitchen,
where as many ss 10000 cooks are at
work, and the food is distributed among
hem in rude way. When fresh it is
not unwholesome, but too much of it |
produces indigestion and great suffer-
ngs. The half-starved pilgrims eat it |
Ike great gluttons, rush into the water
lgain to bathe and drink, and the re-
ult is arrangement of the digestive
organs. When they have eaten their
i'll, whatever food is left is preserved. |
It is sacred and cannot be thrown
way. Under the hot sun it soon be-
omes poisonous to the pilgrims who
at it.
In these hotbeds of disease, under
onditions that would breed plague
these pilgrims live. The
eat is almost uncomfortable. The liv-
ng, the sick and the dying are huddled
ogether, with only just as much space
8 they can cover lying down. AS fast
s they die they are buried in the sand.
Bnt on the return journey the misery
the pilgrims reaches its height. They
re sick and lame, but stagger along
ntil the weak fall by the roadside and
lie. Their bodies lie thickly along the
oadside uncovered. Some drag their
cary limbs until they reach village
nd there lie in masses, blocking up the
reefs, until they get strong enough to
love forward, or die of starvation and
isease.
1t is impossible to calculate the num-
sr that perish. The bishop of Cal
ltta estimates it at about one to five,
Id those who do not die on the journey {
Irly the germs of disease home with |
em, scattering pestilence along their
nth. Thus the cholera is started on
J periodical march around the world.
No great Asiatic pestilence has ever q
ourged the east and allowed the cities I
Arabia to escape. The pilgrims of {
ecca and commercial caravans to Q
carry death in their train
der any quarantine that can be de- g
'ed, but the attempts to establish
arantine are weak, Intellectual and D
asmodic. q