The sun., 1897-02-07
THE PLAQUES REVELATION
WEIRD OLD CUSTOMS OF AN IN
IEREsTIN6 PEOPLE.
The Stricken City-sad Ceuseqsenees OF the
Preiudioes OF Csste-The New Seru.
H R.perted to ne Working Wonders.

BOMBAY. Jan. lU.-Ino uhVeller VINO coines
to Bombay Just now ia at nrst greatly surprised.
The plague herel Fifty deaths n dayi Tho
people panic strickenl Where 10 all thatt
The streets Of Bombay from the port are full
Of life. The coolies In white with their red
| turbans. the women IN red or rose colorod
sarts and with silver and colored glass brace
lest on their arms and ankles, and rings on
their fingers and toes, move about carrying
different objects In sparkling copper pots. They
present an air Of Rayety with their bright cos
tunes In the warm sunlight. Jugglers IN
| stalled under tho tall bdrrtdds which line the
avenues beat their drums and play their bag
pipes. All that noise and all those gay colors
give poor idea of city stricken with plague.
But that is only the nrst i'm mprossion. Fur
ther on in tho Hindoo town. the bazaar and
| the business streets are almost deserted, that
Is. for this city whore the population is usually
| 80 dense; but TO . European even accustomed
to orc wded cities. the streets hero seen to bc
full OF people. In the little sh ps whero they
burn sandal-wood and incense. tho strong
odor OF phenol predominstes. and In front OF
| the houses from which dead bodies have Just
| been taken tho sidewalks are marked with
large daubs OF q reddish mixture OF which
| chlorine forms the basis.
In the native quarter along the seaside. and
in tho docks the plague appears TO hold itself
ClrCumSCrlDcu, anu tuo nOubte kNiuk Ohs -
| strong odor of chloride and phonol are becom-
| ing moro and moro numerous. Colaba. half
| English quarter. 10 almost deserted. and the
troops that were garrisonod at Marine Lines.
are now camped by the seaside In tho neigh
borhood Of Back Bay.
The money market 10 closed, so are the fac
tories, and during the last month about $780,
600 inhabitants have ned from tho city.
| Every evening at tho rail way station there
Is q fearful croudinG OF people who missed all
tho trains OF tho day. Tho throng OF coolies
gathered around the entrance for third-class
messengers hold out their money and implor.
people, shouting and rushing, endeayor 70
pass their money over the heads OF those In
front OF them Although repeatedly driven
back. ihoy rever fall TO return To the charge:
Groups OF women and children. carrying red
Ss ss ooS sOPR.. IKE so
the ONCE in expectation OF the lucky ticket
that will enable them 70 1y from the ci.J;
in crowds around tho station strctehsd upon
the ground. In picturesauo disorder, with
tleiI bagraRe lying In heaps. they walt Tor tho
Tho bubenlc plague. a.it IS called !: still 1, :
M so Date, aGi TIA. ssc from syria
and to corn that came from the Interior; Tho
dates ,wero destroyed and the corn was thrown
number of rat. w.r. found dead. Then q the
psss Saa saa toos 't IN: S ass. Then other;
caught II, and they; all died suddenly. A
hish fever. With = little swellinE under The The
the man dies In forty-eikht hours. The vio-
Tins arc becoming more and more numerous.
pitfalls, thanks to the inooulations by the now
serum. more than two-thirds OF tho patients
arc cured. But the idea OF the "a niIturS 30 OF
sidersd inferior keeps the Hindoos from the
| hospitals. They prefer to re main at homo and
| ~. nAad Nv a
Moreover. both bsfor" and sfte, death the r. 8;
| lIgion OF tho Parsees. who forulSa considerable
portion OF tho population OF Bombay; orders
queer sorts of prao tices which It would DO I'm
% Why the i Psrsses refus- to be taken 70 them;
In the house OF :arse.; who was tskk,sn.sles ,k,,
saw sSS.r ss s' os sSs fas TSss ssn do
that washing. The wife, who know that her
husband was attacked By the plague, .nd cor con
robe In silent and fearless resignation that
Insae me shuGder.
greatly oppressed. and was perspirins freely.
Bandagss were on his neck; NTH dlheuiy
| Than he closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep.
They all sleep that way until the end.
the nror 'rss., su5eras pss, es.,r sons
painted, grimace a livid smile under the red
paint on their cheeks The body 10 GOV rod
gal. In front OF tho bier . man carrie. . vase
which holds the embers with which he will
the Of ss RH,as ns
tambourines Than follow tho friends, each
ono carrying a piece OF wood. which he VIII
Here, teo. arc tho funerals OF the Mussul.
With With red stun s,reaked with gold. The bear.
ers and folio Fers all sing sort OF melopaeia
nsI
sleep forever under the tall bany inf and tho
But here comes the funeral OF . Parsi. On
litter covered with white drsperes tho dead
n' mon also clothed in white and wearing Whit.
gloves. The Parsi custom eIacts that the dead
these men. who form q separate caste and can.
hot take part In any public ceremonies with.
out having nrs gone gone through l., eight ho days sol OF
this epidemIo. they are Obliged TO wear glove,
their clothes. t after having undressed tho body,
In order 20 leave II absolutely naked. Naked
he came into tho world. and naked he must re-
'DiI Al the the Tower of Silence tho yultures in a
few hours leave nothing OF tho body but but the
duce to dust. and the duet itself will DO car
ried away by ths frst monsoon.
two. bound to each: other. as a sixn OF union,
by white handkerchief. Very slowly they
the fh.s on %
vultures, gorRed Just now. await their feast
while sleeping In the SUM- .
nicipaI Commissioner OF the city VI Bombay,
! visited the hospital where the sufferers were
| cared for Outside of tho city for a consider
able time tho wagon brought us through q
wretched locality, and then throush the
grounds iu the nelg hborhood OF tho factories.
In tho shade of the great banyans and palm
trees delicate and pale flowers grow. rose and
,nauve color. Hedges consolidated with ten
der-violets and jasmines on tho old walls alter
maze with the roses. and give out their per
| fumes. We reach the Parel suburb, at the
end OF which. In a great field, stand. the hos
pital for the plague stricken. 1t Is huge iron
framework covered and surrounded with mats
that arc burned as soon asIhey become I'M
| preEnatsd with microbes. Tho air In the place
is constantly renewed, aud, in spite OF 30 de-
grees Centigrade. whish in this season Is the
| All the sick in the hospitals are coolies OF
the lowest Hi1doo caste. On beds with thin
| mattresses the unfoTtunatrs lie. ono after the
other tho doctor who was attending them
showed them TO US. The nurses uncovered
them. Al first nothing Eemarkable appeared
upon their bronze, naked bodles Some had
bandnges under their arms and In the groin