Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-10-14

CHOLERA AND QUARANTINE.

.
letters from missionaries OF the american |
board of commissioner for foreign |
missions, in the Orient. These letters
were written upon large quarto sheets of
very thin paper, carefully folded into
neat square and sealed with a red
wafer. But the striking characteristic
which impressed the memory was that
every letter had been cut through and
through with a sharp knife, and that
they smelt so strong of sulphur that
child might easily have imagined that
they had passed through the the Internal
regions and only arrived at their desti-
nation by some special miracle. or
course we were not allowed to remain
in ignorance why the letters of our
friends were thus desecrated, and the ex-
PLANTATION that it was done to prevent the
transmission of "the plague from
Persia and Turkey to other countries
gave US our first acquaintance with what
is now known and dreaded as cholera.
In those years "the plague" always
existed in parts of India, Persia, and the
Turkish empire, and it was certain,
whenever the conditions were favorable,
to make desolatng and triumphal adj
vances into Western Europe. No dis
ease was more feared and none did
quicker and more deadly work. Time
and skill and science have done much to
mitigate the danger, the horror and the
fatal character of the cholera, but recent
experiences in New York have shown us
that enough remains of deadly poison in
the disease, of cowardice and selfshness
in mankind, and of ignorance and trepi-
datlon among health officers, to make
the cholera reasonable terror.
The years of childhood passed, and
began my travels, which have been con-
sistently continued as opportunities
for study or pleasure have been offered.
In the course of an extended visit TO the
East, during the Crimean war, it was
my bad fortune to travel in a French YES
sci which carried sick and wounded
soldiers from Constantinople to Mar
settles. The decks were covered as well
as the cabins filled with the sufferers,
and of course all chance passengers were
exposed to contagion. Quarantines
and when we reached Athens, we were
at once ordered to the lazaretto in the
PirHus, which is the harbor of Athens,
five or six miles distant from the
tow, Our nlacn of ufinpmpnt durin O
the quarantine was an old Russian hulk
which was anchored at some distance
: from a small barre n island, upon which
we were permitted to take exercise once
day. Fortunately, the number of per
sons who disembarked at Athens wa:
small, and we were, therefore, MOI
G crowded in our prison-ship. But the shI
: was old and oyerrun with yermin, anC
on no morning did leave my berth with
out being followed by half dozen O.
large, black beetles which had probably
been my companions during my hours o
slumber. Nothing was furnished gratu
itously to persons in quarantine, and We
paid round prices Tor the honey of Hy
mcttus and the wine of Chos, to say
nothing of more substantial supplies
1t was, indeed, tantalizing to see in thu
y distance the Acropolis crowned with the
n Parthenon and other buildings which
we were eager to explore, to look long
inglv upon Pentelicus or towards Cor
. inth and Salamis, and to know that da!
\ after day we must look and long and sui
+ fer fumigation and examination rs if w
had been plague-stricken. Such an eX
perience is not to be compared with $50
n lation upon vessel where persons arr
Il actually sick and dying of cholera, a
. was the case recently in New York har
Dor, but it was trying to health as well a.
to patience and we were heartily glaC
II when the days of our confinement were
: ended, and we were permitted to 90 VI
l. to Athens.
e Not long after, | came to a hotel il
;. Florence, and on inquiry for room. wa
q told that the only vacant one had beef
a. occupied till the day before by MAJ
:, who had died of the cholera after
o brief illness. Had this been Il first eX
y perience | should have turned shudder
" ingly away, but familiarity, though
e does not breed contempt for cholera
d does teach that it Is neither contagiou
= nor infectious, and that its approach i
e, always through the stomach. The room
Is was cleansed and refurnished, and
u slept the dreamless sleep of the tire
u traveller without fear or thought of tn
% plague, and after a few weeks went b.
way of Venice to Vienna. At Triest
the cholera was Staying from ninety t
~ one hundred victims daily. An intelli
gent officer with whom | shared tn
s. coupe of the diligence informed me, afte
IT we had ridden together for some hours
that he had just recovered from tn
cholera and was going home on leave
e, We parted at midnight at Adelsberg