Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-09-16


capital a france. The Eddy parisIans
| hooked upon the cholera e. An affair of lits
! tic consequence. This Indifference was In
| itself perhaps barrier 10 Its approach,
butf when II did appear II came with
bits~r irony on niI-fools day. GisqIet, the
rriect OF Police, took vigorous measures
| 10 prevent its spread. but the popuIacc
| was slow 10 look upon the ufaiady as q
reality. and regard ed Il at firss rs only
an invention OF the Government. Some
thought the disease propagatcd ~ the
apothccaries and physicians. and they were
constantly Insulted and even assaulted by
The multitude. Inquisitivc people forced
themselves Into the hospitals to see with
their own eyes II the disease really ana
exist. Even the cbifonicrs, fearful that
The dirt and rubbish would be removed
from The streets during the night
ard that hey would thus no longer be able
Ia follow their calling, were in state
Of ipsurrection. Tum.ltuous assem-.
blaees were common in many parts
Of the metropolis. So great was the
incredulIty aud 30 violent the oppo-
sition 10 necessar, sanitary measures that
Il was MS much rs "the finest police force
IN the world could do TO subdue the
mob But the malady was not stayed by
Partisan ucredulty. During the three
DAYS Of the scavensers' riot. while the rag
pickers Of Paris stood behind barbados
10 the streets, as many as 1000 cases occur
red every twenty-four hours. One half OF
these proved fatal. IT was not only the
POOR and wrctched that were attacked, but
the rich ana the noble as well. Within a
week two peers OF France, Major Gen
eral Of Division, and DIR. Petit, surgeon OF
the Hospital Of Gros-Cailon, and DIR. lie.
roux, Dean Of the Faculty Of Medicine, were
among the victims. The Due DccaZes was
attacked later on. The Hotel Disu wa,
turned intoa vast cholera hospital, and over
ia doorway might have been inscribed the
famous inscription OF Dante: "AIl hope
abandon, We who enter here" But in Paris.
as elsewhere, The scourge had its day. Like
q fire on some western prairie, II kissed
the skies in its fury and then burned Itself
out and was exiinguished.
Having well-nigh exhausted itself in the
Old World, the seOurge crossed the Alan
tic 10 the New. Whence IL came or how II
was brought no one knew. All the doctors
everywhere said It was not contagious. Its
advent was as sudden and mysterious Is its
recent appearance al Toulou. Indeed, tho
tr.t notice OF the disease was from on
board the slip Carricks, which arrived in
the ST. Lawrence from Dublin early in
June, 1882. OF the immigrants, AZ were
swept away by cholera, and from
the ship the disease spread to the shore.
Montreal and Quebec were almost
simultaneously affected. Within few
DAYS Montreal alone had over 1900 cases,
and the disease was spreading rapidly.
within fortnight it had sized upon many
Of the adjacent towns and villngcs-King-
ston. in Upper Canada; Ogdensburg,
Pattsburg, aud Burlington. The alarm
everywhere was very great. In this city
"cholera oxtras' were issued, and the
cholera poet did his share toward increasing
tie panic by singing:
"Bs, when in The cholera ship
The cmigrdnt lies down TO die.
Winds only their watch round him Keep,
And the dying reeehO bis Sigh
But the march OF the epidemic was so
rapid that as early as the 9th Of June 1t
appeared in this city. The first eases in
New York occurred in Cherry street, near
James slip. The attack was sudden, It's
progress rapid, its termination IN several
instances fatal. From Cherry street the
scourge maze leap from the East to the
North river. appearing the cornerof Du-
ane and Washington streets, in Laurens
NOW south Filth avenue) street, near Canal.
in Wooster and Mulberry streets. and
then all over the island. in the viii
LACE OF Greenwich, in lorkWlle, H9r-
lem, and in the towns and villages ada
cent TO New York. At the Five Points 1t
broke out with maligusncy aud ragged with
great fury. Within fortnight the disease
had spread so widely that it found its We
Tins simultaneously at points miles apart.
The doctors looked very wise. but battled
with it in VAN, and when it was over,
wrote learned essays aud treatiSes Oh its
characteristics ard treatment, although 1t
was only too clear they knew nothing
about il. At that time New York was
city Of not more than 22j,000 inhabitants,
and of these over G,0OO fell prey TO dis
case between the 9th of June and the 18th
OF October. The number OF cholera cases
was $500. The death rate per week was
400. The year before the average number
OF deaths weekly throughout the summer
was 131. Before many weeks the scourge
had spread over the whole county, stop
ping al Newark. Philadelphia. Baltimore,
Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleye-
land, Cincinnati, Louisville, and st. Louis,
Medical science was unable to cope with it,
aud so il spared not and only ceased its de-
Sructive work when 1t had exhausted IT,
self.
The weight OF medical authority al that
day. as nj this, was in favor OF the theory
that cholera was not contagious. II il was
not contagious it was very like it. From
the emigrant ship Carrlcks the pestilence
was communicated TO Montreal and Que
bee, and all along the ST. Lawrence. Then
il spread, and spread, and spread. White
and black, European and Indian. alike fell
a prey TO 1t. There was no escape from II
10y flight-no barrier that could shut 1t out.
The first cases in New Haven were those OF
two ladies, mother and daughter, who had
fed from New York. Almost simultane-
Ously TWO other persons running away from
il were attacked in Columbia county. John
Talmadge went TO Honesdale, Pa, where he
died in community not previously in
iected. Senator Maynard, of Oneida cOun-
iy, who came TO the city 10 attend a con-
vention OF the Senate sitting as Court Of
Errors, WAS attacked soon after his arrival
and died the following day. Nearly every
vessel leaving the port carried the malady
away with it, and among the victims NJ
home were Isaac Wright. one Of the found
ers OF the first line OF Liverpool packets.
and the venerable Andrew Cocks, secretary
Of the United States Insurance Company.
Many Of those who exposed themselves to
tie disease through works OF humanity
and mercy were stricken down. Two
doctors in lphia-MaXwell Ken
ny and G. G. Connell-and three in
New York DR.. Nelson, OF the Sixth
Ward; DR.. Arnold, of the Twelfth
WARD, and Dr.. Horton, who took Arnold's
place in lIarlem-sacrifced their lives. II
was said that DR.. ArnOld's attack was
brought on by exhaustion from oyer-eX-
cTtion among his patients, and the Rev.
MIR. Hinton, an Episcopal clergyman, in
hose house lie lived. was also a victim.
Another case was that Of Alderman Smith,
Of the Sixth Ward, Of whom it was said
that he persisted in consequence OF the
vigorous discharge OF official duty. The
theorists were right, perhaps, in believing |
that the plague was not contagious. but the
facts look very much like coniagion.
The second cholera epidemic in New |
York was IN the summer OF 1919. The !
first case occurred on the 10th of May, in a
basement in the rear Of No. 90 Orange |
now Baxter street. Its earliest victim |
was woman. who sickened and died be- |
fore medical attendance was obtained foT |
her. James GilIgan. laborer, living at |
the same place, was seized the same night |
and died on the 18th. Previous to the 10th |
five more eases had occurred in this house,
making seven in all. Precautionary meas
ures were at once adopted, but the disease |
continued TO spread itself over the |
" Five Points, sanitary commit |
tee, comprising James Kelly, chair. !
man, and Robert L. Haws, Alex. !
snder ii. Schultz, Charles Webb. |
George ii. Franklin, Edwin ID. Morgan.
Robert a. Sands, jacob +. Oakley. and o. |