New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-03
AN APPALLING PLAGUE.
THE DYING THOUSANDS OF INDIA.
THE BuBoNrc FEVER IDENTICAL WITH THE
BLACK DEATH WHICH HAS RAvAGED
EUROPE AND ASIA REPEATEDLY
SYMPTOMS AND cAusEs-IN
DIAs EXEMPTION UNTIL
RECENT YEARS

RECENT YEARS.
M,sfor.unes never come singly the proverb says.
and India's woful experience just now affords
fresh illustration Of Its truth Owing the failure
OF her crops last spring and again this last
autumn a large portion OF her immense population
is threatened with starvation. And right on Top
of that distress. comes pestilence the very men-
tion OF which strikes terror to millions OF hear-s
The first Of these two evils is operative over con-
siderable extent of territory and deaths from that
cause in the whole Empire are said to number a
thousand daily. As yet the newcomer connnes i's
work to a single city, Bombay. ana mus iar 's
victims number less than a hundred day. But
the history of similar visitations In previous years
tustifies the expectation OF rapid increase OF the
plague before 1t begins to subsde, ana tho reported
aeht Of aOoooO residents about one-fourth OF the
total number) offers vivid testimony TO the panic
which has been created by the outbreak.
This alarm will be better understood when one
recalls the fact that the disease which Is called
On. ..h,hon,c plaeue." or "bubonic fever" In the
cable dispatches. is identical with maiady which
has ragged repeatedly in Asiatic countries IN cpl
demic form In the last eighteen centuries ana
with the Black Death" which ravaged Europe IN
the Middle Ages. 1t has also reaped terr'oie "~
vest in Egypt and IAoya
HOW THE DISEASE COMES ON.
This disorder is marked by a sudden attack OF
high fever, the patients temperature Using ~
1o5 degrees. or even higher. and Is attehoeu WIN
headache. thirst ana Stupois "h'~''
vance TO a state of coma. Death oi'en 49,
within twenty-four hours Of the hrst mannes'"
tim although the average run OF the oiSea"o '
fatal case Is about two days. be."ee" 49," -,
,wenty-four hours after the beginning oi 'ne o.
tack a glandular swelling, hard' ana 'e"ue. ~ ~
.ovcn usually appears in the groin, ar"Pi. u
- r,os, frequently In the groin. THESE cha.
,.r.,,c juniors or buboes. give to the maiau'
one OF It's familiar names. sometimes ue"'" In
~ ~. victim before the swellings appear. Il"
o,her cases the tumors suppurate especia"y s' ~.
,,.r, lives beyond the second or .third Gay cup
Pa"en. -, ,srauv regarded as promising sign.
- -. .,hsr hand the development OF Spots on ''e
skin or of internal hemorrnaees a''e . ,r,,no
vomiting Of blood Is regarded as ms. a IL
armn,om The proportion OF cases "",.a so
death has been placed by some au." OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
rer cent. but this seems to be an unue'e -, -,
- .r.aem,cs can be cited in when TWO OUT VI
80, three sufferers died; In other INSTANCES
,ortalty was 90 per cent. II is even "e' .n
&c.. certain yisitations OF the plague aos -
harks Of the Volga not one person SUI .o,d.
was once attacked. H. however, ~. Iii although
an, for Ave days he generally ge's We" $3.50 ~
OUT io ~ nay not be wholly effected TOT d
his recovery may "o' "
month. ..., na,,dv there Is some
.r,ain,y The "Encyclop@oa pi'a -
s,hss the bubonic plague as a ieoi"e ',,eo
nendng on the reception into tne oV.. ,rohable
organic contagion. Analogy makes II Ne.s cla.s
80 ,,,. contaeion is a living organism Oh inc .as
.L.o,or,a hi, the suspected organism mas no.
hae, discovered" The fever Is some"ha. 49,,
.,.r,us and ras even been called the Sp"S
yates. hut this designation is not accep'eu ~
perts. , ,nauences that
-. IN. .nread of the plague Is uncleanilness' ~
,,varlahly hreaks out in those qnar.eis - s,,r
uherethe dwelling houses are overcro"ueu So
rounded by hlth. This was notably inc eA 90. s
-. Hong Kong during the visitation OF 1884, ana
4
No. sa,d that It was filthy beyond conception Az
,,r,overshed condition of the blood due 10 SEAM
food is another conducting cause more IMAM o,> W.
break OF the plague. like the present one -. 7,
heon nreceded by or attended win ia"'"e. -
vii, thus be seen that 1t is the natives ana NATIVES
49, .,,,,h,es, classes that perish at such times
,a.,s- than the Europeans and Americans. MOI tna'
the habitually neat and well nourished IN ei!
Ike Bombay escape altogether. pu. 'nes -
usually exposed TO the plague because '"e' NV
q different quarter Of the city from that IN winch '
outbreak first occurs. And even when aHecteo .ieS
usually survive OF the English soldiers IN f1ois
Kong. who were called upon in 1891 I" perioi" vie
work Of disinfeciing certain districls' zen were a.
tackled with the fever, but only TWO cieo
OF foreign birth. too seem 10 enjoy specla' in'u
nifty while treating the plague-stricKeh III C,nno
India and other countries. For these reasons r'uro
mean and American residents in such ocai'ies oi'e"
evince a surprising indifference.
C,riously conflicting evidence is offered in regard
a. the communica ton of this disease by sick per-
son TO a we'll one. During the prevalence OF the
,1aeue In Alexandra in 1885 the shipment of Egyptian
cotton TO England continued without interruption.
F9h, ships in particular believed 10 be infected
vet no Instance OF disease among the crew or quar-
antine officials reported. The clothing Of persons
who have died from the plague has In few cases.
been donned by others without any observed III
effect And for time during the prevalence OF a
hubonic epidemic In Cairo the bedding at the hospital
was not changed. and the doctors and nurses were
apparen.ly the worse for this seeming neglect CT
ordinary sanitary precautions However these incl
may have been exceptional. and possibly they
occurred at that stage OF the epidemic when. for
reasons that are yet fully understood 1t al
ready on the decline. TIE medical profession is al
most unanimous in disco1agng the use of infected
clothing and bedding.
The immediate cause Of TIE spread of the disease
however. is apparently. in most cases, breathing
the air OF the sick-room. no,in temporary FASH
ion by doctor or other occasional visitor but
hour after hour. by co-teEants OF the dwelling
For this reason the chief means resorted to by the
sanitary boards In order to chick the progress OF
the plague is to remove the patents to a separate
hospital. and thus efectually iaolate them from
their friends and neighbors. OF course. the ig'
norant natives In China, India and other countries
which practically under European rule do no,
like this and vigorous enforcement Of the wise
policy here referred to is almost sire 10 provoke
riots: Such disturbances have alrea& occurred In
bombay. and they were witnessed IN Hong Kong
Another measure similarly provocative OF popu
lar resentment is the destruction OF the NTH.
native quarters where the plague breaks out. "
anticipation OF such treatment. the natives Otter
seek to conceal the extent TO which diseae prevail
among them, and thus retard the work ofthe SAM
tary suthorities Flushing the streets ana seweI
also resorted TO by way of precaution Prevention
however. is all that Is sought. Cure appear to b
ing burial collins and graves are sometimeA pre-
pared in advance by the thousand
In some plague-sricken localities the rats. ar
affected i'm the same manner human bels9s
This fact has been repeatedly noticed in China N
india and suggests the possibility that the soil "
comes poisoned. The simultaneous development d
The plague at several points where II has prevaiil
in previous years is also cited showing that II
bubonic fever may be miasmatic well as col
tagious like anthrax and the 'stepDe murrain
However low-iying lands are not the only ons
subject to this awful visitation Plains and grant