The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-06-13
At Least Sixty Thousand Deaths in
Canton Reported.
SIMILAR TO THE GREAT LONDON
PLAGUE OF 1866.
The Plague is Caused by the Filth and
Abominable Habits of the People-Cof-
fins Are Given Out by the Thousands by
Charitable Institutions-The Disease is
Terribly Rapid in Its Effects.


Terribly Rapid in Its Effects.
New York, June 12-The Herald
correspondent at Shanghai, China,
writes under date of May 1, as follows:
No brief communication on the sub
ject can convey an adequate idea of the
character and extent of the visitation
which is ravaging Canton, Pakhois and
Hong Kong, and throwing this part of
the world generally into state of terror
and panic almost without parallel. The
disease has long been raging in the two
first named places, and it e has carried off
tens OF thousands of victims in the last
few weeks, but so long as it was con-
fined to China very little was said about
it in print.
"The moment itssreached Hong Kong,
however, which it did last week, the
alarm became great and threw the COL
onists and the government of that island
as we'll as the foreign and native resi-
dents of the coast ports into state of
terror and alarm. The plague. which is
described by medical men as almost ex-
actly similar inl appearance and symp-
toms to Il the great plague of London
which devastated that scity in 1865, and
was noted first in Canton about the end
OF April, prior to which there had been
period of prolonged dro1th. ~
The disase is of bubonic charater,
with purplish or black swellings in the
glandular regions, in the groin, armpit.
compnied by terrific fever, the temper
atureg going at bound.up to 105 and
over 106. 1t is frightfully rapid in it's
course, death ensuing and the body turn
ing black, putrid and swollen to thrice
it's size in the course of 12 to "a hours
Very strong men have 1esisted the at
tack for two days, and then succumb bed,
but as many as so per cent of those at
tackled in Canton die in one day. Those
who held out for three or four days gen.
EARLY recovered, hut we've very few.
Six thousand fatal cases are known to
have occurred in one district in Canton
i'm the old Mohamedan quarter of the
city-within week, these figures being
checked by the number Of coffins given
out for the burial of the dead by one
charitable institution. A foreign mis-
attic inquiries which have shown that up
to the 8th inst, at least 10000 persons
have been carried off. All the immense
abusiess of the city was at a standstill,
and the inhabitants Who could. do so
were fleeing into the country. Several
medical and other experts were de-
spatched from Hong Kong to inquire in
agree that it Was due primarily to the
incredible filth, the atominable habits
and the poverty of the Cantonese, aided
no doubt by tie prolonged drouJh, which
caused the filth in the open sewers to
germinate into hideons forms of life
Some people believe that the fondness of
the Cantonese for rats as an article of
1...z -, Ii, f.. L -
lence which the rats caught first from eat.
ing the fostering contents of the sewers.
There may be something in this for it
is fact that none d..the European resi-
dents of Canton or HongKong have been
attacked by the plague, which is entire
ly confined to the Chinese.
The plague seems to have reached
Hong Kong about the 8th inst, and on
the 10th 40 deaths day were recorded in
and since then the mortality has been
somewhat checked by the exertions of
the sanitary authorities, but at the time
of writing there are from 80 to 40 deaths
day in the colony, being about per
cent of those attacked.
At this port steps are being taken to
guard against the plague being carried
in from Hong Kong; but as we have
an abundance of fresh water and have
lately had exceedingly heavy rains, it is
not likely that the psstjlence will visit
us.
The Plague 1t Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, juno 12.-The plague is
epidemic among the natives here. Fif-
teen hundred have already died and half
the remaining number have fled the city.
Many Europeans hare been seized with
the plague but only one death in the
European colony is reported. The aver
age Gaily number q deaths among the
natives is 100. Bsiness is at a stand
still and labor is completely paralyzed.
The government expects total failure
of revenue from OPIUM. 1t is proposed
by the governmental destroy the native
quarters, which areextremely filthy and