The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-11

| Herat TO Meshed, and from there to Aster-
atJad. This year its spread into Europe
! was aided by the new Transcaspian railroad,
which runs from Khohen in Siberia west to
the east shore OF the Caspian, as seen On the
map. The cholera got into Askhabad in
TuPkestan. city on This road. and spread
with wonderful rapidly east and west.
THE PRESENT EPIDEMIC.
1t is difficult to follow the present cpl
demic in the east with anything like par
ticularity, owing 10 the scanty reports sent
as by the cable. There was an outbreak Of
more THAI usual violence in Syria last sum-
mer. It devastated many small villages.
The reports made by Spiradon c. Zavitzi-
ano, the government correspondent at Con-
stantinopie, show that from June. 1891, TO
February, 1892, there were 6,46I deaths in
four provinces. This induced the Turkish
government to erect new laZarettos, and
the Russian government established strict
quarantine on the points OF the Black sea.
Meanwhile the plague appeared with IN
usual violence IN the villages Of northern
India, and, with the impulse of tae Hurd-
war festival, soon became a raging cpl
dernic. The pilgrims aud the Proy1ndahs
scattered it broadcast. We began to hear
of it in May. AT that time the district of
Srinagar, in the extreme north OF India,
" as the center of the plague. There were
1000 deaths there in one week. All work
in the country districts was suspended. The
ignorant and superstitious people felt that
| a Judgment was on them and made no at
tempt to stay its ravaKes. Hundreds were
taken sick daily and lay down by
the roadside or in the fields to die The
dead were left unburied in the blazing sun,
and the stencil became horrible. The oapi-
tai of the district, the city of Serinagur, took
fire and burned to the ground. The lnhabi-
tants, without food or clothing, took to the
country to increase the awful misery there.
An attempt was made to help them from
Lahore, but it resulted 10 carrying the
cholera there, with hundreds of deaths.
Serinagur was one of the flthiest cities Of
India Between May 6 and June IL 5000
of its population OF l24 900 died of cholera.
| There were 29S deaths on May 25. The
dead were seldom buried.
Meantime the cholera in Turkey was in
creasing. The government report Of May
81 said that "a frightful outbreak of the
plague, accompanied by great loss of life,
| was reported from Mesopotamia," the
country lying between the Tigris aud the
Euphrates. Thus the present epidemic has
two sources far removed one east of Persia
in India, and the other west of Persia
in Turkey. but both tending north to the
Caspian sea, and thence into Europe.
Whether they had common origin cannot
now be determined. 1t is to the Indian out
break, however, that the European cpl
demic is due.
TIE WESTWARD MARCH OF THE PLAGUE.
In April the cholera began it's westward
march from India to the Caspian sea. 1t
had laid waste a large territory of northern
India. 1t crossed the Indus and invaded
| Afghsnistan. Cabus was attacked with
fEightful loss of life, and then Herat, where
| in spite of the abundant water In and around
the city, the camps of the pilgrims and
traders gave a mighty impetus TO its
spread. The villages along the caravan
routes between these two cities were at
tackled, and the plague spread north and
south through the country districts.
From Herat it went northwest to
the holy city of Meshed, the Mecca
Of many eastern principalities.
There its devastations were terrible. For
weeks the deaths averaged over 100
daily. 1t is still raging there, the last re-
ports being that it was on the decrease. the
daily death roll having dropped TO thirty
five. Still westward the cholera travelled
Ia the wake of the caravans. 1t attacked
Sulvzabar and other towns, and in a few
days reached the Caspian sea- Its ravages
here and in the neighhoring provinces we're
very great. Its appearance at Asterabad
alarmed the Russian authorities and all the
Russian ports on the Caspian were closely
quarantined. There is a considerable trade
between Asterabad and Astrakhan, at the
mouth of the Volga.
Meantime the cholera had also been
| ITOLu AeSQeU, following
lines OF caravan traffic over the mountains,
aud had appeared at the large city of Ask
habad, on the northern frontier OF Persia
| From here It's spread along the line OF the
Transcaspian railroad was very rapid. 1t
almost immediately appeared several hun
dred miles west at Usun-Ada, a railroad
city on the east shore of the Caspian, the
port through which the enormous trade of
Turkestan aud Central Asia reaches Rus
STA by water. This news created great
alarm in St. Petersburg. and equipments
for quarantining the Russian ports of the
Caspian were redouble1. The cholera also
ran eastward along tue railroad to its ter
minus at Khokan, attacking every town
on the route and spreading into the country
districts of Turkestan and Russian Asia.
The great Russo Asiatic city Of Bokhara,
with its extensive European trade, was
stricken heavily. as was also the entire state
of Zamarkand to the east. The reports
from these centsrs OF trade and rnanufact-
ure indicate large losses Of life.
Thomas C. Heenan, United States consul
at Odessa, reported as follows on June g.:
} 81 found Bokhars, when l visited it in
April, very clean for an Asiatic city, and
l expressed my surprise to the Russian resi-
dents. l was informed that the Russians
had compelled the ameer to have the city
thoroughly cleansed, going even to the ex-
tent of obliging the plous Mussulnaen to kill
their sheep outside the city limits, condi-
ton Of things by no means relished by the
natives. who prefer to do their killing on
the streets fronting their shops"
INTO EUROPEAN RUSSIA.
In May the cholera crossed the Caspian.
in spite OF all precautions, and invaded
Baku, Russian seaport just south OF the
Caucasus mountains. 1t is the great Pc
troleum port of the Caspian, and filthy be-
You'd description. Sewerage and proper
water supply were never provided, not
withstanding the large size Of the city, and
there was never an attempt at sanitation.
The ravages of the disease in this town
have been frightful from the beginning.
Day after day the cable has sent us reports
of the deaths, which frequently exceeded
100 daily. 1t is still undated. From
Baku it spread rapidly ell over
the country south of the eau
casus mountains. Tifis, Elizabetapol,
Shamachi, Errivan and Shurha, all large
and important cities, yielded large death
crops daily. and the villages and country
districts suffered, and still continue to SUI
I fer, greatly. The cholera was now in Eu-
, rope, and it spread rapidly. The authori-
ties, much alarmed, bent all their energies
toward keeping it from Astrakhan, the
, mort at the mouth II the Volga But they
were unsuccessful The ships from Baku