Connecticut western news., 1884-07-23
BIRTHPLACE OF CHOLERA.
THE TERRIBLE DISEASE DIsTRIBU- TED BY PILGRIMS FROM HURD- WAR AND MECCA.
The Notwithstanding of these Pilgrims and the Mnnuer in which They Live on These Great Marches.

| AheSe %EcaL hhFCnes.
 The only countries upon the globe to which cholera has not been carried are the islands of the South Pacific, Aus tralasia, the Cape of Good Hope, the isl and of the North Atlantic, and the western coast of South America. These localities are all separated from India by wide expanse of ocean, and have no commercial intercourse with that country.
 Cholera has not become permanent out side of India, although it is seldom ab- sent from some of the provinces of Hin dustan. From its birthplace in the delta of the Ganges, the disease has effected permanent lodgment in the provinces of Bengal, Madras, and Bom- bay, while in the provinces that lie to the west and northwest, such as Rap pootawa and Punjab, it occurs only as an epidemic, developing after great relig- ious gatherings.
 Hurdwar, in the Punjab, at the foot of the Himslsys Mountains is the great nursery of cholera. It 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 a great concourse of people from every part of the Indian Empire. At some of these festivals as many as 5000, 900 devotees have assembled, but of late years the numbers have fallen of. Hurd- war 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 au- thorities.
 There immense numbers of human beings gathered upon bare, sandy plain on the banks of the Ganges, massed like herds of swine, without means of sanitary protection. The earth and air, as we'll 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-ive out of every 100 are on foot, but occasionally some great nabob sweeps past with an enormous retinue, or a rajah 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, tram pie 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 cloth ing covered with blood and dust. They rush into the river as soon as they ar- rive, 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 9O,000 cooks are at work, and the food is distributed among them in a rude way. When fresh it is not unwholesome, but too much of it produces indigestion and great sufferings. The half-starved pill grims eat it like gluttons, 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. It 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 conditions that would breed plague anywhere, these pilgrims live. The heat is almost uncomfortable. The living, the sick and the dying are huddled to- gether, 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 pilgrim reaches its height. They are sick and lame, but stagger along | uubu hno WSdh lall DJ thO AoSNaSAAO w die. The bodies lie thickly along the journey uncovered. Some drag their weary limbs until they reach 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.
 It is impossible to calculate the num- Der that perish. The Bishop of Cal cutta estimates it at about one in five, and those who do not die on the journey carry the germs of the disease home with them, scattering pestilence along their path. Thus the cholera is started on it's periodical 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 devised, but the attempts to establish quarantine are weak, intellectual, and spasmodic.
 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 oi cholera in six days, and the city for cen turies has been the focus of plaques, which have been brought from all direc- tions, and thence distributed by return ing pilgrims over three continents.
 For many centuries there has been ar incessant stream of pilgrims to and from Mecca. To be present at the Kourban Bairam is the great aim and end of Mohammedan life, and to reach there l hrr,lrnlu oE 4l,nr,nnr,ln abandon, hornns