The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-09-23
DYING BY The THOUSAND
Cholera Has Attained Fearful FRO.
portions in China.
BODIES LYING ON THE STREETS
Filthy Habits of the Natives RcspOns sibic
Eighteen European and American
Residents Have Succumbcd to
tho Terrible Plague.

San Francisco. Sept. Civilian f.
Curtis. Washington correspondent
for "a Chicago newspaper, was IA pas
senger on the steamer Gaelic, which
arrivd from the orient yesterday. He
went to Japan in May last to study
the commercial and industrial pros
poets afforded Americans In that coun-
try, and lately he has been in China.
which he describes as the pest breed
ing center of the universe.
'T'he cholera has attained fearful
proportions I'm China" said Mr.. Curtis.
''Chinese are dying by the thousands.
passed through the streets of Pekin,
Shanghai and Tien-Tsin, and saw
cholera victims dead and dying on
every hand. 1t is no uncommon sight
to see the dead bodies of cholera vic
tins lying on the street on one block,
and in the next lot Of Chinese gorging
themselves with raw cucumbers and
melons. The cholera is attributable to
the filthy habits of the Chinese and
the weather. The summer was quite
cool until August. Then a spell Of eX-
cessively hot weather came on and
with it the cholera.
"In Pekln they have plan of issuing
permits for the removal of the bodies
outside of the city walls, as no bodies
are inferred within the walls. To Sc
cure permission for the removal of the
remains of a cholera victim outside the
walls of the city a cash Is dropped In
box. Cash Is a small brass coin. worth
one-twentieth of one cent?. At night
the cash receptacle Is full. 1t contains
from 1000 to 5000 pieces of coin, which
shows the enormous extent of the dis
ease. 1t Is as bad at Shanghai and
Ti..,, Ts.iv to. Is-,,. -inp
Chinese by the hundreds in other parts
of the infected country"
Few Foreigners Afflicted.
Mr.. Curtis said that the cholera is
confined almost exclusively to the ma
tive Chinese. In Pekin, where very few
foreigners reside he had heard of no
deaths among the white population
In Tien-Tsin only one death among the
foreign population had been reported
up to the hour he left China In Shang-
hal. where the cholera is raging at an
awful rate. the fatalities have been
much greater. Mr.. Curtis said he had
been advised of eighteen deaths.
Speaking of the subject which Mr..
Curtis went to Japan to investigate.
the commercial and industrial future of
Japan. he said he has returned to
America convinced that America has
manufactured goods
THE japanese make almost every
thing they want he said. "They are
stealing our patents and. .cNpyinS our
inventions, and are now almost ready
to export their wares and thereby enter
into ruinous competition with other
nations. There is. however. a splendid
market for machinery, as well as for
cotton, iron and other raw materials.
cotton particularly. The Japanese are
now using cotton very largely, and
here Is a pointer for American cotton
producers. While great deal of
American cotton is used in the orient.
1t goes through English hands before
1t reaches the Japanese. and the Ameri-
can grower is deprived of the com
missions which go into the pocket of
the English middlemen in Liverpool
Our cotton ought to be shipped direct
to Japan. For that purpose we need
the Nicaragua canal; we need the COM
pletion Of the Guatemala railway and
open harbors at the two termini of the
Tehuantepec railway.
America could sell lot of cotton in
Japan. In two or three years Japan
will control the cotton trade of the
orient
Yokohama. Sept. 21.--The Japanese
Parliament has voted credit of 200
OOO. 900 yen for the building of four
ironclad ships. ten coast-defence ves-
sells and fifty torpedo boats.