Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-12-18
LETTER FROM CHINA.
BY a Missionary From This County.

DEAR SIR:-I mentioned in my letter of
July Both that we had cholera here in
Chinkiang. As the epidemic was so much
worse this year than usual, not only at this
place, but all over China and Japan, it may
not be uninteresting to your readers for ME
to write few lines about it.
| How many deaths were caused by it in
China this summer will never be known, for
the Chinese do not keep statistics of such
small things. 1 have just seen that Japan
| reports So 1888 cases in all, and 37,257 deaths
from it. Here in Chinkiang there were, on
| the authority of an intelligent native, prob
ably between 5000 and 1000 deaths. sus
pect this is not far from correct. We have a
population of about 10000.
| came in contact with two cases. One of
these was young man whom l had used
as my teacher in studying the language He
is bright young fellow of about q years of
age and have become very much attached to
| him.
| 1t was one day about the middle of August
that some one came in great haste TO my
house to tell me that this young man was
| down with the CHI olera and asked what could
| be done for him. He had bottle of the
| Sun cholera mixture and l knew of moth
| ing else to do but prepare mustard plaster
for him. This sent by the messenger, tell
| ing him 1 would come down in short time.
| He had had the disease only few hours, but
he seemed to have lost all his flesh in that
time His eyes were sunken; face, hands and
arms pale and bony, and bis voice muf1ed.
As the purging and vomiting seemed
| checked, and there was nothing l could do.
came back home. But the next day he told
me that it commenced again about 6
P. NJ with re doubled fury. His hands be-
came numb, his feet and legs cold and rigid,
and his voice died away. His friends then
took him out to a native doctor; lit is not the
fashion for the doctor to come to see the
patient) who punctured his fingers and arms
with needle. This not only restored feeling
to them, but also, strange to say, put an end
to purging and vomiting. That night he
burned with fever and thirst; but they would
not give him any water for fear OF causing
the vomiting to commence again. The next
morning went to see him, but he had again
been taken to the native doctor on account OF
difficulty in breathing. The following morn
ing l again went down and finding him at
home gave him four 2-gr. powders of Gallo
mel to be taken during the day, together with
some quinine. In the course of Is days he
was up and attending his duties as usual, |
though still weak from the severe shock to |
his system. He tells me that he did not !
suffer the least pain during the whole time. |
TLo civ, NH tn raj
anything. Nor did he at any time lose his |
consciousness. The puncturing with the |
needle, he says was painful. But cholera is |
not always painlesss many, l am told, suffer |
severe pain. In some cases, also, there is no
vomiting in others, purging; some cases end |
fatally in several hours, others .linger several |
weeks.
The second case was that of carpenter who |
was experimenting some repairs on my |
house. Saturday evening he left in good
health, Monday he was not with the work
men, but did not inquire for him. Tuesday |
morning he came into my study looking like |
a skeleton. 1 said: What's the matter ?
Have you had the cholera ?" YES" took it |
Sunday" "Well, have you gotten over it ?"
mo, have had it little this morning.
No matter how others may look at it, he |
saw no improperly in coming with his
cholera bacteria into another mans house +!
For his own good 1 urged him to go home, |
take some medicine, and go to bed. l got |
him off in about half an hour. He also |
have been told that most of the cases in |
the early part of the summer were fatal. |
Those in the latter part, the majority re-
covered. The weather had become much |
cooler, which suppose was the reason.
The Methodist Womens Hospital and
Girls School is situated about 200 yards from |
u.s. The lady in charge, DR.. Lucy Hoag, had
to return to the U. S. A. last spring for a much |
needed rest. The doctor who was expected to |
come out and take her place failed to get |
here until this autumn. But in the mean
time Miss Laura White, young Philadelphia
lady who has charge of the Girls School, and
a Chinese girl Is years old trained by DR..
Hoag, carried on the Hospital work and
successfully treated over 100 cholera patients.
None of these patients were taken into the
Hospital, however. They were either brought
to get the medicine, or some of their friends
came to get it for them. Miss White took as
her guide the keatment recommended by DR..
A. b. Palmer in his work on the science and
practice of medicine" Strange to say DR.
Palmer says he has in some cases resorted to
bleeding and found it beneficial This is just
what the Chinese do. 1t is. indeed, their
standard remedy for all kinds of diseases
One case that Miss White had to deal with
happened in the school. The Chinese matron
sleeping III the room with number of girls
took it one night. What panic if such a
thing as that would happen in one of the
Staunton Female Seminaries, or one OF the
Virginia Universities either But no COM
motion was created here. She was quietly
taken out and transferred to the Hospital and
things moved on as usual. Have all Phlla-
delphia ladies that much nerve and courage
Mr.. Editor do not know what to think of
the cholera What laws control it :? 1t may
be called infectious, contagious, or what not,
but the way it will take one person and leave
another untouched is a mystery. That young
man, for instance, that l spoke of above.
His surroundings were Just such as to breed
cholera according to all the medical books
ana ne LOOk u. DuI uOuC VI TIC 1CSt VI hio
family did Nor did any of all his relatives
and neighbors who crowded in to see him the
day he was sick with it. take it. According
to the medical books, l. too, was in a proper
condition that day to take it. had had the
d1arrhea for several days, and I would not
have gone down if had not felt it my duty
| to go.
| That man did not and has not get disinf ected
| his house or clothes. eyes, and some one
will catch it from him next summer, very
| likely" 1 imagine I hear some one say.
Possibly. But do the germs improve by age
Why did his little sick baby and his old
opium-smoking father and some of the dirty
little street urchins that came in to look at me
when went down, and called me foreign
devil" take it from him this summer when
the germs were fresh l give it up. One
thing may add that the Chinese have no
fear of any disease, and that believe is their
| greatest safeguard There was no excitement