The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-07-03
SPREADING PLAGUE.
The Cities Of Marseilles and Toulon,
France, Visited by Grim
Asiatic Cholera.
A Strong Footh I'D q ained-Fifty
Deaths in Two Days
Thousands Flee.
By cable from London.l

By cable from London-l
An alarming outbreak of cholera has oc-
CURED in Toulon, France. There have
been fifty deaths since Saturday. and the
rate of mortality has increased each day.
A panic has seized upon the people. Eight
thousand persons have fed from the city
and thousands Of residents Of the poorer
quarters have been ousted from their homes
and driven into the suburbs by the police
and are now camping in the fields.
The bodies of victims of the disease are
buried in large trenches and covered with
quicklime to hasten their decomposition.
None have been buried in the regular cem-
eteries for fear Of giving opportunity for
the infection to spread. Great terror is
shown by the inhabitants Of the surround
ing country upon the approach Of any of
the refugees from the city, lest they should
carry with them the germ of the dreaded
malady.
A special from Paris says: The Ministry
Of Commerce has issued notice that the
cholera at Toulon is sporadic, and not
Asiatic; that il is due to local infection and,
therefore, confined to the place Of its origin.
At Marseilles there is q cholera scare. Or
the corpses Of cholera victims in deep
trenches, which will be covered with chic
ride Of lime. No bodies will be allowed to
be taken to the churches.
Is 1t Asietic?
India is the home of Asiatic cholera,
where it is known to have existed for CEN
turtles. In 1877 particularly violent cpl
demic, which originated at Jessore, mvaged
India for three years, and then spread to
China on the east and Persia on the west.
BY 1923 it had reached Asia Minor and ST.
IBERIA, and in 1880 it invaded Russia, ap-
pearing in Europe for the first time. The
next year il spread throughout all Europe,
and eventually crossed the Atlantic to
America. The year 1885 saw il in North
Africa, and during 1867 it continued to
appear spasmodically in various parts of
Europe. In 1S47 another epidemic visited
Russia, Germany. England, and France. and
like its predecessor it too crossed to America,
whence it spread to the West Indies. In
1850 it again appeared in the East, reaching
Europe in 1853, and again coming 10 the
western continent. where its severity was ex-
ceedingly great Finally, in 1866, the last
visit Of the plague was made to Europe, and
this time, also, it found the Atlantic no
W
il was not so deadly on the last occasion as
on the previous one. We see from this
brief statement that each time Europe has
been visited by this scourge il has spread
to America. It's course is not always the
same, as sometimes it avoids countries that
at others it visits. making its way into
Eastern Europe ut one time from Russia in
Asia, and at another, after ravaging Arabia
and Syria, invading Turkey and spreading
from thence.
Early in the month Of June last year a
mysterious disease made its appearance ut
Damietta, q town on the eastern arm of the
Nile, near the point where it enters the
Mediterranean. At first little or no notice
was taken of its presence, as It's ravages
were chiefly confined to the rabble. but as
the days went on it spread with such rapid
ity that at last it commanded attention. An
investigation was then set afootas the result
of which the epidemic was pronounced TO be
Asiatic cholera, and this opinion received
official confirmation from the report of the
Egyptian sanitary commission, published
about the beginning of the last week in the
month. No sooner was the decision of the
commission made public than n panic set
in, which was by no means allayed when
the Egyptian medical chief at the place fiat
ly contradicted its members, and pro-
nounced the plague an ordinary fever of
virulent type People fled from the stricken
town in hundreds, availing themselves of
any and every means of transportation that
would convey them to place of safety. A
sanitary Gordon of Egyptian troops was
drawn around Damietta after this, and, If
not at once, mt least little later on, orders
were issued to shoot fugitives who might
attempt to break through heartless pre-
caution that was subsequently adopted at
other towns visited by the plague. The
panic was not confined to the immediate
scene Of the outbreak but spread all over
Lower Egypt, and Europeans everywhere
throughout the country made haste to get
away.
In Algeria the Governor prevented the
annual caravan of Mecca pilgrims from
setting out. BY the beginning of July il
was said that, with the exception of q few
devoted medical men, all Europeans had
deserted the delta towns and villages. So
numerous were the deaths that the bodies
of the victims were hastily buried under a
few inches of sand, which blown away by
the wind, left them exposed to breed new
diseases. At the end of this month-just
two months from the appearance at DAMN
etta-16, 900 persons had died.
Prompt measures were taken by nearly
all European states to guard against an in
vasion of the plague, England being the
sole exception.
Nothing in the dispatches published
lately indicates how the infection reached
Toulon, its appearance there being, so far
as is yet known, surrounded by as much
mystery as the outbreak at Damietta.