Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1893-06-06

The cholera statistics of the
Old World prove that in the trop-
les Egypt, India, Siam) tho cpl
demic runs its course in a contin-
uous twelvemonth; farther north
in two warm seasons of six months
each, and in the cities of the high
latitudes sometimes in three fol-
lowing summers. The facilities
for observing those phenomena
have been greatly improved by the
discovery of the chief hot-bed of
the contagion, and surgeon Elliot
of the British army voiced the
sentiments of numerous English
residents of Hindostan in the re-
mark that the employment of a
million missionaries, at the ex-
pense of half a billion pounds
sterling a year, would be an excel
lent investment, if the enterprise
should only result in stopping the
ruinous pilgrimages to the shrine
of Hurdwar. At intervals varying
from six to twelve years countless
multitudes of Hindo devotees
congregate at a temple in the val
ley of the upper Ganges and for
about two weeks devote themselves
to the development of disease
germs as systematically as if they
had contrlved to inoculRte one
another with smallpox virus. The
time chosen for the journey is the
middle of June, the rainest and
sultriest season Of the year, and
many pilgrims arrive in a state of
far-gone exhaustion. The campus
of Hurdwar is less than a mile
square, and within that narrow
inclosure from two and one-half
million to three million devotees
are huddled together in reeking
tents or without any tent at all,
feeding on the vilest substances
and quenching their thirst with
the water of river that has been
used for purposes of ablution and
as the common drain Of the mon
ster camp. Thrice a day the
assembled multitude crowds the
temple pond of the holy stream,
diving a prescribed number OF
times and swallowing each time
about a pint of the contaminated
fluid. The result is a virulent
epidemic, which often, in less than
a month, has spread across the
peninsula like a devouring confa.
grafton, and carried terror to the
borders of Persia and Afghanis-
tan. In the lower valley of the
Ganges entire villages have beer
depopulated by the ravages of the
disease, bUt that very violence
tends TO put stop to the progress
of the contagion; the epidemic
dies out by the sheer exhaustion
of the available material.
No competent pathologist viii
delude himself with the hope tina
the importation of the diseas,
germs can be prevented sltogeth
er in a country like North Amer
lea, with It's thousands of uncon
trollable gates of immigration, bu
it is, happily, certain that the ma
lignity of the impending plagu,
will greatly depend on the timel,
adoption of preventive measure
and that, by the general enforce
ment of sanitary reforms, evel
good sized cities, moderately ia
vored by Typographical adva ntage
may hope to obviate the risk o
contagion altogether. In addition
to the vast extent Of our coast lin
we may mention the following
circumstances as the chief predia
posing causes Of the threatene,
epidemic: The probability of
sultry summer following a sever
winter and a rainy spring. Tn
existence of crowded cities sorel,
unadapted to the climatic condi
tions Of their latitude and aggra
waiting the martyrdom of semitrOp
ical dog-days by stubborn adher
cree TO domestic arrangement
imported from the winter lands @
Northern Europe. The prevalence
and the reckless indulgence of tn
alcohol vice. The increase of i'm
migration and mass pilgrimage
to the shrine of the Columbia
Exposition at the most critica
time of the year. The neglecte
slum population Of our large cities
Tho resistance to municipal rs
forms, apt to be denounced as il
compatible with the privileges {
"personal liberty"