St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-21
The Scourge Raging With
Frightful Results in the
Fishing Settlements.
A Plague Which Is Brought on
by the Starved Condition
Of the People.
How the Mysterious Malady
Attacks It's Victims--Meas-
ures for Relief.


periShing by horrible death; not only
dying. but after death bodies rotting as
they lie. without a soul to give them
Christian burial.
Such is the startling intelligence that
has just reached here from some OF the
smaller fishing settlements ontheFrench
shore in the districts of TwiIlingate and
Fogo. Surely this is the most unfortu-
nate colony owing allegiance to the
British crown. First the unfortunate
fisher folk were driven from their
homes to the verge of starvation by the
unjust claims of the alien French. en-
forced with British guns, and then race
and religious strife, threatening muir
derous outbreak here and in other chief
towns of the island, and now the final
bloW-death, swift and sure, in its most
hideOuS form.
Just what the disease is that is more
than decimatlng the unfortunate IN
habitantS of the settlements from which
reports come is not known. Nothing
has so far proved a cure, nor has an al
leyiate been found, and the disease
marches from house to house, victim to
victim, with nothing to stay its awful
progress. The first reports of the cpl
demic reached here two weeks ago on
the arrival of the regular fOrtnlghtly
cOaSting steamer, which calls at several
of the more important fishing stations
on the French shore. The captain re-
ported to the health authorities that
while touching at La Pole. port town
and fishing settlement in the district of
Burgco, 33S miles from st. Johns,
he was informed that strange
epidemic had broken out at Coach
mans Cove, a small 1ishing station
at the entrance OF little bay thirty
miles from La Pole. The people
thought it to be virulent type OF
diphthera called ''black throat"
Still, as there was no regular physician
on the coast nothing definite was
known except that not single per-
son so far attacked had recovered. 9th
er peculiar features were that in many
cases death enSued in thirty-six hours
after the disease appeared, and that
rapid putrefactiOn set in the moment
life left the body.
The population of Coachman;s Cove
is but little over $50, yet nearly half
that number have died since the first
outbreak. The captain further reported
that the bodies were buried without an
attempt at cOffining, and that as the
disease progressed and so many fell VIC
tins it was rumored that many cOrpSes
remained without burial. This was
shocking state OF affairs, and something
must be done at once ii every village on
the French shore was not to be depopu-
lated.
SURPRISING the News.
The news being so alarming the health
authorities thought it best to keep the
true state of affairs back, fearing if all
was known that fears of the epidemic
Spreading to. st. Johns might cause a
panic. 1t was simply given out that
diphtheria was epidemic in some OF the
villages on the coast; but, as precau-
tionary measure, a couple OF expert
enced physicians were sent out on the
next trip of the steamer COnscript to the
locality, SO that an official report OF the
actual state of the case might be OBJ
tanned.
The steamer has just returned, and,
though no official report has as yet been
made, still it has leaked out that the case
is fully as bad as reported above. Star
Walton and filth, with absolute absence OF
any sanitary assistance or medlcal AID,
are helping the dread march OF the
disease. which is now shrewdly suspect
ed to be not diphtheria at all, but that
horrible scourge. the black or Asiatic
plague. The doctors still deny that it
is anything but bad diphtheria, but,
from the following information gained
in an interview with man who was in
the vicinity of the afflicted district when
the epidemic first broke out and who
was also on the same steamer as the
doctors, the plague theory is more likely
to be correct than the other.
After vainly searching for official au-
thenticated information, from hint
thrown out by one of the steamers
crew reporter visited Water street
boarding house and there met Paul
Saunders, a native of Harbor Grace. re-
Gently engaged in the copper mining at
Tilt Cove and later in fishing venture
at Little Bay. right in the midst of the
infected district. He had no cause to
withhold information and said that he
had been right in the middle OF the out
break, but fortunately escaped infec-
ton. AS the epidemic was still increaS-
ing he thought it best to seek further
immunity in flight. The first outbreak
of the disease did not occur at Coach
mans Cove, but at a little fishing sta
ton named La Seize, half way between
the former place and Tilt Cove. La Seize
has good harbor, buta wretched pop
ulation of only about eighty souls. 1t
appears that last fall the French fisher
men had entered the harbor and, as the
Observation-Disclosures refused to vacate
their fishing grounds, their boats and
fishing q ar "a fact not previously re-
ported) had been seized by the French
men and destroyed. Without gear they
could not catch fish and without fish
thew could not obtain the neceSSarieS CT
life.
On the Verge of Starvation.
Since then. men, women and children
have been living but degree above
starvation. Not scrap of bread or veg
etables had they. their sole food being
what fish they could catch off their UNI
used landing stages. Their condition
was shocking. Little more than Skele-
tons. attacked by scurvy, covered with
avermin, it was not strange that they
should be attacked by strange malady
once their uneantary state was made
worse by hot weather. Sickness first
appeared late in July, but in less than
four days family of seven died. Then
the epidemic spread with extraordinary
.rapidity. Frightful sights were daily
witnessed. Hardly an attempt could be
made to bury the dead. In one instance
dead mother was found in wretched
bed with two DYING children, while the
arms of the corpse tightly clasped to
the silent heart an infant still free from
disease. These unfortunate people lost
courage. and no further effort was made
to stay the scythe of death. The first
symptoms of the disease was severe
headache, violent vomiting, high pulse,
dizziness, and burning fever. Unbear-
able pains all over the body followed.
and in six hours the throat was almost
closed by liberation. Severe dysentery
set in. followed generally by delirium.