The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-04-23
AN ANCIENT SCOURGE WHICH
HAS BROKEN OUT AFRESH
IN HONG KONG.
The MOST DREADED OF PEST|LENCES
1t Is Now Raging in Hong Kong and
Shanghai-Its Appearance and
Disappearance Are Always
Very Sudden.

| United States is so extensive, DOlu rs IL
CARDS messengers and merchandise, thar
the news of an outbreak there of that
most terrible of all pestilences. known rs
"the black DEATH" must necessarily be
matter of concern this country. The
news is received here with much appre-
hension, as past experience has shown
that this scourge, which is far more
deadly than cholera, typhus or any OF
its kindred plaques invariably follows
the trade routes. The adoption of pre-
cautionary measures against the danger
of any importation of the plague is,
therefore, imperative upon the sanitary
authorities of the United States, all the
more so as medical science has shown
itself just as powcrless in these modern
times to cope with this mysterious dis
ease as it has been in bygone ages. True,
the physicians have been able to diagnose
its symptoms, but its origin, its causes,
as well as the remedies by means of
which it can be defeated, are all as yet
Il sealed book, the secret of which has
until now set at naught the researches
even of the greatest psychologists of
|
investigation has been lacking, for even
within the memory of the present genera
ton entire districts in Asia have been
devastated by the peStilence, while about
five years ago there was an outbreak at
Hong Kong which compelled the COVER
nor to drive off more than two-thirds of
the surviving Chinese population from
the island to burn their houses in the
hopes of arreSting the terrible ravages of
the disease. 1t disappeared as suddenly
as it had cOme-thus being a popularity
of 1.-The black DEATH Thus. five years
ago it appeared suddenly in Ashabad in
Persia, swooping down upon the district
like Il pestilential simeon, striking down
animals as well as human beings, and at
the end of six days vanished as suddenly
as it had arrived, leaving no trace of its
| visitation but the corpses of the victims
and the city in mourning for the loss of
more than 40 per cent of its inhabitants.
What has hitherto rendered scientific
investigation so difficult Is the frightful
rapidity with which death is followed
| by decomposition. The latter super
venes after an interval of only few
minutes, thus rendering post-mortem eX-
| animation an impossibility. 1t is the
same with animals as with human beings.
The symptoms are identical in life, and
decomposition is as quick after death.
The scourge seems to prey upon every
living being-even upon the very birds
of the air-and it has been noticed in
ancient, as well as in modern. times that
the brute creation is invariably the first
to be attacked: Thus, the arrival of
the black death" in any district of Asia |
is invariably announced by the sudden |
appearance upon the surface of the soil |
of hordes of rats. mice and other burrow-
ing animals. which fall dead after per-
forming few extraordinary gyrations. |
Dogs, cats and smaller animals are the |
next to succumb, then cattle and horses. |
and finally men, women and children.
The symptoms of 'the black death"
which has now broken out in Hong
Kong and Shanghai, and which from
time TO time ravages certain districts |
of Asia, are almost identical with those
which, according to the old chronicles |
attended the great pestilence which |
ravaged Europe in the Fourteenth. Eff |
teenth and Sixteenth centuries. A slight |
fever, rapidly increasing, constitutes the |
first stage; intense thirst follows, as well |
as uncomfortable heat, accompanied by at |
lacks of shivering. The arteries be- |
come tense, and glandular swelings of |
a bubonic character appear in the arm |
pits, the neck and in other parts of the |
body. These vary in size from that of n |
hens egg to that of mans fist. Con
vusions supervene. Suddenly the ey-
tremities become stiff and cold and in |
from ten to twenty minutes the patient |
sinks into comatose condition which |
speedily ends in death. As soon as the
latter has taken place, large, black bull
lac form on the body and spread over
its entire surface, decomposition follow
ing at once. The entire duration of the
attack lasts from two to twelve hours.
1t would be a mistake to imagine that
in modern times the plague has ceased
to assail Europeans; for during the last
outbreak at Hong Kong large num-
Der of white people succumbed
THE black death was first heard of
in Europe in 1917, when, after devastat-
brought to COnstantinople from the
Black Sea and conveyed from the Bos
phorus by ship to the various ports of
the Mediterranean. Its ravages were
terrible. In Cyprus almost the entire
was destroyed. while in
Venice over 100000 people. or about
seven-tenths of the population, are said
to have died. In Genoa scarcely a sew
enth of the inhabitants survived, while
those who desire to know how it ragged
in the other cities of Italy need only
turn to the graphic descriptions given
by BOccacio and Petrarch. At Sienna
the erection of the cathedral was stop
ped by the plague. and has never been
resumed to this day. From Italy the
scourge made its way to France. to Eng
land, to Germany and to Spain. and is
said to have been carried to Scandina.
via by ship which left London in tbe
summer of 1349. The whole of the crew
died of the plague, and the ship. after
floating aimlessly about for long time
was cast ashore at Bergen, the infection
soon spreading all over Norway and
Sweden. Even Iceland did not escane
while remote Scandinavian colonies in
Greenland We're so obliterated that tbair
very sites were utterly Forgotten
from this point the black death
was carried onward by wandering tribes
of Esquimaux, and thus finally reocbe5
and devastated this country will nevar
be known, but such a course is conceiv-
able. and might account for the pntiro
of those Icelandic and
Scandinavian colonies which are said
to have existed along the coast of Naino
for two or three centuries prior to the
discovery of America by Columbus
Europe was subjected to three moro :
visitations of the black death before tbo +
great pestilence of 1868. of which
Phys gives so detailed Dissertation in
his diary; and in London to this da ~
there remains many mementoes of tbSa