Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-18
THE BIRTHPLACE OF CHOLERA.
The Terrible Disease Distributed by
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lantlc, and the western coast OF south
America. These localities are all sepa.
rated from India by q wide expanse Of
ocean, and have no commercial inter.
course with that country.
Cholera has not become permanent out
side OF India, although it is seldom absent
from some of the provinces OF Hindustan.
From its birthplace in the delta of the
Ganges, the disease has effected a perma-
nent Judgment in the provinces OF Bengal,
Madras, and Bombay, while in the prov
inces that lie TO the west and northwest,
such as RappoOtana and Punjab, it occurs
only as an epidemic, developing after
great religious gatherings.
Hurdwar, in the Punjab, at the foot OF
the Himalaya Mountains, is the great
nursery of cholera. lt never originates
there, but has annually been developed
there during the great Hindoo festivals.
OF these festivals Hurdwar is cursed with
two, and they draw together great con-
course Of people from every portion OF the
Indian empire. At some of these festi-
walls as many as 100000 deyOtees have
assembled. but of late years the numbers
have fallen of, Hurdwar having lost its
sacred prestige from the fact that some OF
the holy waters the Ganges have been
profanely diverted into canal cOnstruct
ed by English authorities. IN he
There immense numberSaisd pIain IN
lngs ga gamer tnne4TTanges. massed like herds
of swine, without means OF sanitary pro-
lection. 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 devotees pour through
the great thorOughfares of the country to
and from the festival in parties of from 10
to 500, following so closely as to make an
almost continuous procession. Ninety
five out of every 100 are on foot, but
occasionally some great nabob sweeps
past with an enormous retinue, OF
raiah with his caravan OF
elephants, camels, horsemen and
swordsmen passes In all. the grandeur
and confusion of Indian royalty. They
ride over the poor wretches who line the
roads, trample them down, and hurl I'M
precautions upon them for blocking the
way. Some march hundreds and some
thousands of miles to engage in the festl-
walls and to battle 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 clothing 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 their hands,.
They are fed from the Temple kitchen,
where as many as $4,000 cooks are at
work, and the food is distributed among
them in a rude way. When freshit is not
unwholesome, but too much OF it pro-
duces indigestion and great sutferlngs.
The half starved pilgrims eat it like glut-
tons, rush into the water again to bathe
and drink, and the result is arrangement
of the digestive organs. When they have
eaten their fill whatever food is left is
preserved. 1t is sacred and cannot be
thrown away. Under the hot sun it soon
becomes poisonous to the pilgrims who
eat it.
In these hotbeds of disease, under con-
ditions that would breed plague any
where, these pilgrims live. The heat is
almost uncomfortable. The living, the sick
and the dying are huddled together, with
only just as much space as they can
cover lying down. As fast as they die
they are buried in the sand.
But on the return journey the misery of
the pilgrims reaches its height. They are
sick and lame, but stagger along until the
weak fall by the roadside to die. Their
bodies lie thickly along the journey I'M
covered. Some drag their weary limbs
until they reach a village, where they
drop and lie in masses, blocking up the
streets, until they get strong enough to
move forward, or die of starvation and
disease.
1t is impossible to calculate the num-
Der that perish. The Bishop of Calcutta
estimates it at about one in five, and
those who do not die on the journey carry
the germs of disease home with them,
scattering pestilence along their path.
Thus the cholera is started on it's peri
odlcal march around the world.
No great Asiatic pestilence has ever
scourged the East and allowed the cities
of Arabia to escape. The pilgrims to
Mecca and the commercial caravans to
Damascus carry death in their train
under any quarantine that can be de-
vlsed but the attempts to establish quar-
antine are weak, Intellectual and spas
mOdic.
The Holy City of Mecca is another great
distributing point for cholera: in fact, it
is a sort of clearing house for all sorts OF
infectious diseases. In 1865, it is said,
10000 pilgrims died there of cholera in
six days, and the city for centuries has
been the focus of plaques, which have
| been brought from all directions, and
| thence distributed by returning pilgrims
over three continents.
For many centuries there has been an
incessant stream Of pilgrims to and from
Mecca. To be present at the Kourban
Bairam is the great aim and end of Mo-
hammedan life, and to reach there hun
| dreds of thousands abandon homes
and property and undertake perilous and
| exhausting journeys. From the North
Atlantic and Mediterranean shores OF
| Africa, from Timbuct0o and Western
Africa, from Siberia, from the Danube
and the Sea of Azof, from the western
| provinces of China, from the cities OF
Europe, and from the most remote Mo.
| hammedan settlements, constant process
sions of pilgrims are passing to and from
Mecca; for this pilgrimage, at least once
in a lifetime, is binding on all true Mo-
hammedans, and he who dies without
having made it might as well have been
Jew, Christian, or dog.
The return of one pilgrimage is never
accomplished from any of the larger set.
Elements before another is on the move
They arrive in great caravans, and the
misery and hardships they endure are
equal to those suffered by the Hindu devo.
tees. Some come by sea to Jedda upon
the native vessels, which are saturated
with infectious poisons. Each passenger
receives only sufficient space to squat
upon. The intense heat of the day, the
miasmas of the night, privations of all
sorts, the want of sleep and food and
exercise induce physical condition but
little short of death. Many die on board
the vessels, but the most have strength
enough left to drag themselves to the
Holy City. Those who go by land and on
foot suffer even worse.
Having arrived at Mecca without rest
or food, the pilgrims enter at once upon
their religious duties. The first is to visit
the Kaaba, the Holy Temple, and the
tomb of Ishmael, upon which rests the
stone let down from heaven. Upon the
arrival at the Kaaba all drink and per-
form their ablutions in the well of Fem
Fem.
The water is tepid, salty and milkish in
color. 1t might have been pure once, but
it has not been so in centuries. No pill
grim ever quits Mecca without carrying
a jar of this water away with him, and ii
is impossible to over-estimate the potency
of the Fem Fem spring in spreading
cholera and other diseases.
Ia Mecca all the essentials for an cpl.
demic are constantly gathered, as we'll as
the means for distributing the germs OF
disease broadcast. The pilgrimages in
India and Arabia have received the atten-
ton of sanitarians for several Nsgs, but
no means has yet been found, so long is
the religious sense, to prevent the dissem-
inatiOn of disease by them.
The present endemic in France can he