The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1892-09-22
'1is a Dreadful Scoursc.

"hen l'eath sought for a weapon to
scour-c the world Cholera was found.
Horror cannot find words TO tell all the
tale OF what that festiencc, that plague
mas done t" the earth. swift. loathsome.
uncrrihs la It's fatality, it has moved ma
. lions ana continents TO grief more power.
tully Than anything else since the cpit,cmics
oi tpe black death in the middle ages. Born
IN cradle OF Asiatc filth where millions
crowd one another for life, it has grown
uht!l Europe and America have shrunk
1r"n' II, and only when satisfied has IL with
drawn TO its den. Then, after a rest, II ha.
emerged again to spread renewed terror
shrouth the world. Often has this been re-
pca'cd, 1t is lcginnin- now In the same
way. Whether the end will be as terrible
cannot b. tcid. Ii IL is America is to suffer
with the rest OF the world America has
never yet escaped when tn scoursc crossed
the Caucasus into Europe
True ASiatic cholera originated in Hin
Gostan. and that country has never been
absolutely free from il. Greece suffered
arom cptdemics introduced from India 40,
years before Christ, and notad Greek physi-
clans. Aretaus Ga'on. CaliuS. AurcianuS
ana orahasius. "f the first three centuries
OF the Christian era. described every s;mp-
tom of tue disease mnutely.
Dr. y, L. Peters. writing in the "Amcrican
encyclopaedia" takes the ground that the
epidcmics are periodical. returning every
twei'c years at the cccasi, II of the great
JuS-ernaut festival The outbreak In
A<v'tSth III lho!-t. was not AS1at!c cholera.
but miider form that often visits individ-
Ual cases without injecting others.
When the French and English struggled
Tor The Coromandel coast OF India repeated
epidemicS were noticed near Madras and
Rondichcrry in connection with the great
Hindoo plsrima.cs. The year 1856 marks
the recognition of periodical returning
twelvc-ycarly c! idcmics. connected with
The great twelve yearly IIindoo festivals
at the great temples. The occurrences
IN -
The scourge Of 1881.
M"rth ~. l.si. 5000 English troops, under
Col Pearse. marching near CANAAN. not
3ar from, the great temple OF Juggernaut,
and very shortly after the huge twelve
ycailr festival had taken place. we're at
tackled with the disease very suddenly and
with inronccivable fury. after camping on
FOUL pitgr.m grounds and drinking polluted
water. Men previously healthy dropped
down by dozens aud those less severely
afec'ed were generally past recovery In
twenty-four hours Hesdcs those who had
uicd there were 500 on the sick list the first
day, and In two day more nearly 5000
were affected, This epidemic was carried
oy re'"rnin: pilgrims up to Calcutta aud
dowr to Madras.
Three times twelve. or thirty-six, years
subsequently the great historical epidemic
OF Isl. occurred. This proceeded up the
Ganscs as far as Alahabad. when it was
defcctel southwark to the lrovincc of
=
ing- was carrying on war against the NAH
rattas with 30. 900 mon. OF the natives
10, o90 had already died in Allahabad. and
many Others had joincl the army as camp
followers. anon. whom The dscas. crept
about for several days until a sufficieu.
numter of toci had been developed for it to
burst forth with irresistible fury in every
direction. The natives deserted in great
numbers. and the highways and fields for
many miles around were strewcd witt the
Hf hal a..i, -, Il
ease upon them.
The cncampments and lines of march of
the army presented most depinra bic spec
tacles Hundreds uf soldiers dropped doyn
In every days advance and on every nights
halt, 81 that the whole presented the ap-
p"arance OF successive battlc.clds and the
Track OF an army rctrcating under every
Circumstance OF defeat AMI discontinue.
IN two weeks 1900 inca surcuiiibed To I g
pestilencc subsidiary force coming M
from the south To cooperate with Has ing.
aHor'icd the seccn striking instance ~ a
lnrgc h pdy Of men in high health coming
into pcstilcnti.l re.ipn and falling at
once into 4 wrctchel state of sickness
seventy cases and twenty deaths occurred
the first day. and many were attacscd
while lettering for wafer at contaminated
spriuv, and rivulets.
How the rc.tilencc Spread.
Other ,e-eaforc .mens wer, advancing
iron. Bombay in the southwest. and the
lar alien. the line of much ira avelcd roads
and the marches OF troops that the BON bay
authorities prepared for IL when it was
many hundreds Of miles OF. Step by step
che disease rou'd lc traced. marrhi - from
town to town and creeping from village to
VILLAGE, by the arrival of person, at'iic ed
with it from places where 1t was known /,
, prevail From Bombay it was carried up
To- lIassC rlh, 1t tho head OF the Persian
Gulf whcro 5000 Iersons died In eighteen
nI thpto all vft-nr
Euphratcs and Tigris to Bagdad. Danas-
Gus. Aieppo. AMI the Mediterranean coast,
whore it al>o faded away in 1891
Every successive epidemic Of cholera has
always cen carried up :hc Persian Gulf
from, bombay. Surat, kurrachec and other
ports on the western coast OF India. and
thus reached the Mediterranean. Black
and Caspian Seas and neighboring c,un-
tries by the so-cal!el Persian Gulf route.
In the Bombay presidency are ninety
Your shrlnc- to which large pilgrimagcs are
made. and from which the disease is
Drought to the sea coast In India the
epidemic Of Isl. spread in every direction
with the march OF armies, pilgrims, mer-
chants and travellers. often IN the face Of
contrary winds and monsoon. although
the speed Of its progress was accelerated
by favoring winds. which forced along ves-
sells containing the disease. This epidemic
and that OF 1881 were distinctly Jugger-
naut pilgrim cholcras. and for years after
there WIS a repetition of tie old story.
~(holera in Calcutta; the Pilgrims ut Jug
gcrnaut Suffering Severely
More PilErimnge Cholera.
In 1896 the first indications Of another
pes,ilencc appeared In the north Of India
Epidem c cholera broke out mt Hurd va r,
the great place Of pilgrimage ut the source
Of the Gangcs. where 1t first issues from the
foot OF the lllmalaya Mountains. A few
hundred thousand pilgrims go 20 Hurdwar
every year. more every third year. still
more every sixth and ninth years, and fully
? $1,000 900 assemble every twelfth year, and
q vastcr number every sixtieth year. From
Iiurdwar cholera was carried back by the
huge caravans which came down to the