The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-09-10

Its Pathway of Devastating Progress from
India Through Asia to Russia.-The
Old Historic Route.-Previous Epl-
demics.-HorribIe Scenes in Asia and
Europe.
The epidemic of Asiatic cholera which
has been ravaging the countries soutn Oh
the Black and Caspian seas during tne
past winter. spring and summer may
prove of greater interest to the people OF
this continent than has heretofore been
sunnosed saws the New York Sun. Re-
ports of cholera, more or less terrible in
their details. are expected to come every
wear from the sun-beaten lands of the
East. which are its constant home, but
they are usually no cause for dread. 1t
is fortunately only occasionally that the
plague leaps its natural boundaries and
penetrates Europe. When it does there
is just reason for alarm from the civil
iced world, for it rarely stays its course
until it has encircled the globe.
The present epidemic is one of these
exceptions. Late in May the cholera,
after having ravaged the filthy and
crowded cities of India, Persia, Afghan
istan, and the shores of the Red Sea,
leaped the mountains and inland seas,
which are it's natural northern bounda-
ries. and plunged into the very heart of
European Russia. The plague took this
course in 1880, and spread over Europe
aud America with frightful results.
Several times since it has burst its boun-
diaries. and the end has always been the
same, The Western Continent has never
escaped. In 1649, in 1866 and in 1878 the
scourge of Europe became the scourge
of America.
The Home of Cholera.
There is always cholera in India. 1t
began there before history, and has be-
come very part of the land and the
civilization. Its seed is in the earth, and
it's breath is in the air. It's sway is I'M
disputed by the swarming people, who
lie down at it's coming and die without
effort or protest against their fate. The
hot sun and the humid. feverish atmos-
phere have much to do with its I'M
checked presence and occasional violent
outbreaks, but the civilization of the
land does. more. Superstition and I'M
cleanliness prevail to an almost unbe-
lievable extent. The cities and towns of
the Indian hills are undrained, unwatered
and filthy. The people live in a state of
degradation which appeals more strongly
to the nose even than to the eye. Under
such conditions the plague thrives and
fattens upon unnumbered victims,
Travelling is done by caravans, which,
in themselves, are hotbeds of disease,
and spread it far and wide. The hordes
of pilgrims which yearly seek the sacred
cities, marching in struggling armies Of
thousands upon thousands, serve to pro-
pagate and spread it. Lastly, the great
fairs and festivals which occur at frequent
intervals, attracting visitors from the ut
termest parts of India, and from Persia,
Afghanistan, and neighboring principal
ties, are a prolific source of contagion.
In particular, the great festivals of Jug
gernaut and Hurdwar, which occur at
intervals of twelve years, and are attend
ed by upward of a million people, are ac-
tive agents in it's spread 1t is a signifi-
cant fact that each of the greatest cpl
denies which have penetrated Europe
and encircled the globe have originated
in years when one or the other of these
great festivals were held. In 1928, the
year in which the epidemic which
reached us in 1882 began, so violent was
the outbreak of cholera at the Jugger-
naut festival that the famous idol cal
could not be dragged around for lack OF
able men. The epidemic which reached
us in 1866 received it's impulse from the
Hurdwar festival, and at the same festi-
val began the present epidemic, notwith-
standing the attempts of the authori-
ties, grown wiser after centuries, to
check the growth and spread of the pes
thence which inevitably accompanied
it,
The traffic between Russia, Persia,
Central Asia, and India by way of Cabul
is largely accomplished by four tribes Of
There are 5000 families, and they OWL
10000 camels and 10000 oxen. They
move in
Three Enormous Caravans
descending into India, down the Ganges
to Benares and along the Indus to Kur
rachee, and thence by sea to Bombay
They bring Russian, Persian and AT
ghanistan articles into India and return
with cotton goods, muslins, shawls, silks
and the like The course which these
caravans take in entering and leaving
India includes the city of Herat, near the
western border of Afghanistan. Through
Herat yearly pass 10000 PILGRIMS bounc
for the holy city of Meshed, in north
eastern Persia. Through it also pass thu
many thousands who flock from Turkes
tan, Afghanistan and Persia to and from
the great Indian festivals at the foot O
the Himalayas. For eight months of the
year the fertile plain in which the cit.
stands is covered with the tents of thous
ands-a huge undrained and shrinking
camp of migratory Asiatics, reeking will
filth and disease. But there are more
horrifying features yet. On the outskirt
are smaller camps where thousands O
mules are tethered. For each mule Their
is pair of rough collins, and in eacl
coffin the body Of dead pilgrim-oftel
dead for months. They are the bodie
of those who drop by the way, and the.
are going for burial to the holy city.
In this city and its cholera-riddel
camp the caravans of the Provindahs
gather up the plague and carry it west
ward to the Caspian. The route of the
plague is always from Herat to Meshed
and from there to Asterabad. This yea