The morning call., 1892-09-04
THE DREAD Cholera.
"reminiscences of It's Visits to
!. This Country.
IT'S ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA
: It Carries Of the Badly Nou1ished ana Dis
:. S. sipated-suggestions on Treatment
= :.- and Remedies. > -:

CiSCus " AlO has seen HQUuA as iiASr VI
epidemics as mortals are usually permitted
10 survive, communicates to HE GALL the
following narrative of personal experiences
1t has special interest at the present mo-
ment when ships are under Quarantine IN
the harbor of Nsw y ORR, and the question
most pressing is whether the President
should not issue a proclamation prohibiting
all immigration from Europe:
:. remember well tile first visit Of the chol-
era to the United States, and | had a good
deal Of experience wtth.it when itdid arrive
1t first made its appearance in 1882. 1t
broke out in New York in q very virulent
form, and large numbers Of people fled from
the city. The railroad system was just
commencing and the telegraph had netceme
into use. This may account for the fact
that in New England, where ] then was, no
serious scare or excitement existed. In the
autumn Of 1882 | left New England. L
started across Vermont through Bennlng-
ton 10 Troy and fifteen or twenty miles
from Troy the news came that an alarm
Ing spread OF cholera existed IN the city.
Several cases had occurred the day pFeced-
ing. and some Of the victims had died. l
did not turn back. We duly arrived in Troy,
and next morning, during tour OF The
place, found evidences Of the cholera on
every hand. There were reports that a
night. From Troy | lourneyed to Albany,
and found that the cholera was also making
rayages there In neither city was il very
bad, and certainly nothing like what il was
IN New \ UTk. At that time there were few
emigrants and the towns were small.
From this point l went UP the canal 10 But
falo, and all the way along the canal there
were cases Of the scouIge, more or less.
The boats we're tied up at certain points.
Leaving Buffalo l went from the lake 10
Cleveland aud from there down to Clncln-
uati, Ohio, and thence TO Louisville, Ky.
The cholera in the meantime had been
transmitted round the coast to New Orleans.
and there it had g frightful DEVELOPMENT.
At Louisville il had not yet appeared, but
after being there a few weeks the fact was
made known that three or four persons had
died during the night Of cholera on the
steamboat landing. But the disease did not
spread to any great extent and / stayed
there q while without falling into any
panic. From Louisville | proceeded to New
Orleans. There the cholera had broken out
with an intensity unknown anywhere else.
People fed from the city. The evidences
Of the mortality prevailing were plainly
Wis bic on going 10 the cemeteries, where
the dead had been half buried ia trenches
tossed hastily into the ground and covered
with lime.
may say that remedies were numerous
for the disease. Among others recommend
stomach aud chest, but as far as | know
they did no good whatever. The people
seized died as freely With pitch plasters on
their body rs those who had not
The next experience of cholera l had was
when il broke out 10 1913, 1t had existed
. more or less throughout tile winter at. New
i: Orleans, and it e3meup TO ST. Louis early
II MAY, lS49. The epidemic attained: fear
fui Or portions all over the city. Every
=: possible effort was made TO suppress II, hut
Ill "a a
: everywhere along the streets and ever the
houses so that the city was white with dis
jnfeetants..:~. =.
- But the people..:Were dying In every
sguarteT, and To add 10 the misery Qt-the
sItuatiOmthe boats (which: were pas sing up
the fryer with imRfigrantS: carried the con-.
tagI0n from point to-pulnt and ~Vast@num-
beTS-oflmnlig giants died on board. One OF
@the5ste aimerS:w 1]Gh passed MP the Missouri
; with Immigrant to California was fright
fally* stricken wifi: The plague When the
81. steam er, gGtt0 j e{feTs0n City, the capital
OF the state the situati6n was+so bad that
the beat had TO be tied up. = The. people on
. board we're dying alta horrible rate.
- WhentheygO t ;aS IOF4 the residents would
not take them. 10: and they died in the
street Isl. The earIdin and officers put back
to ST. Louis, and on. the way the captain
died. Very .littl e.0ftfie baggage: OF the pas
/. sengeTs was. afteTward claimed The pos
SCISSORS had fRl len victims. tOThe scouTge. At
!: that time: my wife and i were o u CUR way
to California, and all the roule:~up p. the Mis-
souri,: untiI Mexg0t of the steamer at st.
joseph, there We're frequent. signs OF the
.disease. aldtpe terFo FIT had spread: :
:" From ST Joseph we. started out westward
across the:plal nsi:and all. the way until We
got to :the:<AOFth:: + 6Tk- of the: Platte the
cholera was prevalent. and the people were
dying. On the. North Fork 0f:the Platte
We fel5 10 with: some End Ian traders aid
5 also with about 1000 or $3.50 Sioux Indians
Tie Indians: were: on the other side of the
river. but@mQre or less tb ey .commihgled
with our paFtE= Cholera was rife, and num-
bers of them died on the march.
Everything the immigrants could spare
an -the hape4Of cholera nedlcl}l es was given
st0lhe*Iudians 70 alleviate their trouble.
. AT. one p0int"we:came to@a number Of wig
-: waIhs% and. there. We saw the SKULLS lying
around or victims Of cholera. The Indians
had fled and left their wigwams behind.
:sThe.ch0lera: lid not. however, get beyond
the North Fork Of the. Platte 1t did not
cross the D ainS:0E enter California by any
*CyeT}snd.IQutes = =
= When.I reached. California 10 1849 cholera
3: had Il OF made~its appearance. Bus il was
at New Orleans, and il, got. down to Pan
p anna BY the steamers in 1850. Then early
in Septem Der it broke out in San Francisco,
= but did not assume a very yrulent or preva-
>lent form. here. The city was mot very
pouuous. and there were very few POSI-
lively poor people, which may account for
"the mildness OF the attack. The notion gem
orally. entertained was that the disease was
-: warded Of 20. some extent by thesea-breeZe.
p But the scOUrge. revealed itself at Sacra-
= mento 10 furious degree. / was in Sacra-
mento at the tlfne. One day it was re-
J.. ported that man had died from cholera
down on the leYee at spot where there
bad been a sorts Of circus. That spread the
alarm. and IL was not more than day or
two before half the people in the city had
fed into. the country. Deaths occurred
at a. great, rate, just as soon as
the disease got a footing. One of
Ihe earlV deaths occurred in my own
office. il went down one day and it was re-
ported that the foreman was sick. A doctor
vas attending to him, and he was laid cut
on q cot bed. spoke TO bin and asked
him how be was, and he replied that be was
pretty bad, but that the doctor had en-
cOuTaged him.. He said that he thought he
would-die, nevertheless. and In fact, within
two 0rthree hours he was dead. -
. Several deaths occurred in the office.
There was cholera hospital close by, and
the stricken died in that place at terrible
rate. The horror Of tile plague In Sacra-
mento cannot be exaggerated. Thousands
persisted. The time OF year favored the
spre ad Of the disease. and as far as my OBJ
seFvstion goes it was worse there than at
any place have known to be attacked. The
city was half depopuIated.
II Is curious lact tnat at st. Louis while
the disease was prevalent. q fire broke out
which swept away one fourth of the city
and burned t~enty-eight or twentv-nine
steamboats,. Immediately after-th fire the
plague began to abate and soon disappeared.
As a general rule, according to my obser-
walton, the people who were dissipated. and
run down in their con stltutiOu and who
lived in poor unwh0esome quarters, and
bad not proper food. were the principal suf-
fereTs from cholera. and the most liable 10
attack So far as my knowledge exteEds:
almost all Of them died who were Of that
description. Those who were careful in
guarding against the disease or treating it
10 time followed the practice now describe:
The moment there were any signs OF any
abdominal arrangement they took cholera
medicine, which usually consisted of prepa-
FatiOns Of pepper and opium, and went to