The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-04-18

more timid. said nothing, but they rar
away more than ever.
December came, and with the code
weather the Hague assumed more form
liable proportions. Then for the first tim.
the Europeans applied themselves seri
ouly to the work Of cleansing the fou
city. It was fearful task. Squalit
lanes, burdened with filth; dark. iIl-ven,i
lated houses. saturated with drainage
and continually damp-such were tht
resting and breeding places Of the p,ague
The committee that heroically labored tc
cleanse these stables reported a curiou:
fact. Bombay is well supplied. with va.
ter, a tap in every house This yer,
abundance Of fresh water was one Of the
worst features Of the case, for the shift.
less tenants were found in mary in.
stances TO have turned on the tap at some
remote period and never TO have turned
il off again. Day after day water contin-
ued 70 drip or rur in the vile little dens
OF their nasty novels. falling constantly
on the mud floor, and breeding al the dis
ease that darkness and slime can engen-
der. Many OF the rooms had 10 light a:
all. The committees first work was 70
| break a hole in the roof and admit the
sun; then to solder the tap and prevent
more water from running upon the reek-
! ing floor. All this was met with angry
/ protests, but it was dore. The tenants
were ordered 10 go 10 the street Cor water.
| Their houses were dried. The COMMITTEES
made several frightful discoveries. 1t was
no uncommon thing to find a plague-pa-
iay-+ in, -oa
10 find dead body with living patient
beside il, both concealed in the same
room, neither case having been reported
to the police. Many Of the Yousese were
simply sinks of drainage, their floors COW
cred with refuse-animals and men nav
| ing the same habitation and the same
habits. As fast as possible these nurser-
les Of the plague were clearsed. Wherever
death occurred a red ring was painted
on the front wall of the house. On some
Of these wretched tenements one SOW
four. five, even seven or eight OF these
rings; and the house was sfiii inhabited.
By the erd of December more than
third Of the population was fled. The
disease was now firmly established in
half dozen places in the north and in as
many in the south. The upper towns OF
the Deccan became secondary plague
certers. From Karachi the pestilence
spread up through Sind. Here is assum-
ed new violence. For in Bombay a pa
tient might live two or three days, but
when the plague first broke out in ka-
achi the sick man lived only three hours
from the time the disease manifested It
self No dispersion abroad, however,
loosened its grip on Bombay. 1t ragged
there, ard has continued to rage. with
even new power, sparing not even the
children, as it did three years ago in
Hong-Kong, but carrying off natives of
every age.
Something beastly about il makes the
plague particularly loathsome. The suf-
fering is great, though rot more severe
than IN many other dieases. But its as
poets are disgusting. = 1t is a disease Of
pigs and rats. One saw the latter lying
dead everywhere about the city. their en-
trails plucked out, picked to pieces by the
ravenous crows, the scavengers of Bonn
bay. And the people fell in the streets
like the rats. So great was their aversion. .
to the hospital that When poor wretch
wander up and down. secretive as an ami
mai, Ill he suddenly dropped dead. The
chief sign of the disease Is a swelling be-
meath the aimpitsx. Wher. this appears
there is no more hope. Nor is II well to
live, for the few that nave survived be-
came hopelessly paralytic. But the
known instances OF sur rival are confined
70 Europeans and Eurasians. In the case
Of natives death, usually comes a the lat
est within a few days Of the appearance
Of the first signs, headache, fever. vonlit-
ing and glandu,ar swellings. But the
period of incubation may be much longer
than this. for eleven days have been
known to elapse between the time when
tne victim, a Parse, left town 20 locate |
himself in a perfectly healthy environ |
ment in the mountains AID the time when
the disease declared itself, after which /.
the patient lived but three days.
The new year began in mourning. The /
native town was like a vast cemetery. /
The copper bazaar, the gay center OF .
Hindu life, echoed Only 10 the wall OF
them that accompanied the dead. On the
ka.badevi road. where, 50 dense is the
drive at all without stopping every mo-
nent, ore could now galiop from end TO
snd,T and never touch living creature.
Day and night the acrid smoke from the
burning CHATS fioated across the city.
Their fires never went out. yet there
we're more corpsss than could be burned,
waiting their slow turn. The Mohamme-
Ian graveyards, too, were full. There
ire a couple Of them. on. on the Queens
cad, one on the Grant road. both in the
leart OF the city. They may be instru-
mental some day in bringing a renewal
II the plague upon Bombay. Even now
ne awakened municipality is trying a
persuade the Mussulmans 70 bury their
With stern refusal.
But death is rot the only III Of the
Vague. for indirectly also the suffering
.as been great. Trade has left the town
III ports are closed 10 Il. Merchants sit
die; mechanics starve Many are living
n borrowed money al $50 per cent inter-
st per anrum- What poor man RECEIVERS
MS feet when once the usurer OF India
las him fast. Most heavily does the loss
( business weigh upon the artisans ot the
aZaars, whose work in gold. silver and
opper finds no purchasers. The dealers
= fancy goods. the shawl sellers. the w.
~ workers, the carvsrs Of sandal wood,
uffer most bitterly. They sell absolutely
othing. Even in the best seasons they
we'd from hand 10 mouth, but Il was
,eir own hand. They now live from the
and Of charity or IL that OF usury. The !
lenial cases have lett Own 70 such an
xtent that necessary sanitary labor can 7
o. be properly performed. Since the mid |
L Of December me domestic servants 6