Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-21

Mystery of an Outbreak Of Cholera I'm
nm English Regiment Explained.
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My8tefy OF an outbreak OF Ch0lGE0 In
nm English Regiment Explained.
From the London Queen
The outbreak of cholera in the East Lam
cashire regiment seemed at first to be In
the highest degree mysterious. The regi-
ment consisted of six companies, all ap-
parently living under the same conditions;
barracks, food. water supply were all alike.
and yet some companies suffered much
more severely than others. and one, COM
pany E, escaped altogether. though cholera
was raging around. The companies were
transferred to the cholera camp at Kok-
rail to stay the epidemic. but. strange to
say, the disease broke out anew with fresh
violence. 1t baff1ed the authorities, 1t
seemed to defy sanitary precautions, and
to make strange and inexplicable selec-
tons. The mystery is explained in Mr..
Hankin's report. and 1t is seen to be no
mystery at all. and cholera is found again
to be due to the cholera bacillus water
borne, and to the cholera bacillus alone.
All the water drunk by the soldiers was
filtered; but there's the rub: the filters gave
a false security. and were. In fact, the
breeding grounds of the bacilli. The water
was derived from deep wells, and was
pumped from them into filter beds. Now
1t was found that the water passing from
the wells to the filters was germ free, but
tained cholera bacilli. How did 1t get in?
1t came out in investigation that the sand
used for these filter beds had been taken
from the banks Of the river below the
town, at a spot exposed to every kind of
contamination, and that several months be-
fore Mr.. Hankin had specifically condemn
ed sand from this spot as unfit for filters.
Yet, nevertheless, owing to an ingenious
mistake of a native subordinate, sand for
the filter tanks was brought from this
same locality" How lucky, one cannot
help thinking, that there was a nameless
native to blame. But still 1t was difficult
escaped To quote the dramatic explana-
ton given by Mr.. Hankin: "On cross-ex-
amining the color-sergeant Of this company
the mystery at first seemed to deepen, for
he roundly asserted that the men of his
company had exactly the same supplies of
food and water as the men Of other COM
panies, but on his being pressed as to how
he knew that the water supply was the
same as that of the other companies he
replied that he ought to know. as he boiled
it himselfr'
Herein lies the difference. and herein the
reason why company E escaped when the
other companies were decimated. To boil
the water, and thus to destroy the germs,
Is sufficient protection against cholera. How
efficient the remedy. how practical the pre-
caution. how simple the prescription, and
yet those In authority will search far afield
for the occult causes of the outbreak of a
dire disease, which can be prevented at the
beginning by simply boiling the water.
When the companies moved, however in
to the Kokrail cholera camp, in the hope
that change of site and surroundings would
check the epidemic, the disease broke out
afresh with renewed virulence. The COM
pantes had taken the precaution of carry
ing their filters with them; but these
proved new starting points for the dissem-
nation of cholera. In unpacleing and set
ting up. the filters became infected with
the cholera bacillus, which remained in the
litter, bred there. and actually became fresh
foc1 of disease. At one time 1t was thought
that If water was chemically pure 1t was
enough: it is now known that potable
water must be bacteriologically pure to be
safe A filter which does not filter Off the
germs is unreliable.