The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-01-16

ine. presents an immediate danger for Rus
STA. inasmuch as the majority OF the Mus
sulmans OF central Asia make the Pilgrim
age 10 Mecca by way of Afghanistan and
Bombay Moreover, Bokharan merchants
often go to P~eshawar and other cities OF
British India. and Russian Turkestan Is
thus I'm constant communication with the
regions in which the plague prevails.
The Encyclopeda Britannica describes the
bubonic plague as "a febrile disease. de-
pending on the reception into the body OF a
specific organic contagion. Analogy makes
II very probable that this contagion Is a liv-
ing organism OF the class bacteria but the
suspected organism has not yet been dis
covered" The fever is somewhat allied TO
typhoid. and has even been called the ty-
phus of hot climates, but this designation
Is not accepted by experts.
The most powerful of the various infiu-
ences that promote the spread OF the plague
is uncleanliness. 1t invariably breaks out
in those quarters of a city where the dwell
ing houses are overcrowded and surrounded
by filth. This was notably the case In Can
ton and Hong-Kong during the visitation OF
1894. and in Pail, India. in 1886. OF the last
mentioned city il was said that IL was
filthy beyond conception An Empower
ished condition OF the blood, due 10 scanty
food, is another conducting cause. More
than one outbreak of the plague, Ike the
present one in India. has been preceded by
or was attended with a famine. II VIII
thus be seen that ii is the natives, ano ma
tives of the humblest classes. that perish
at such times, rather than the Europeans
and Americans. Not that the habitually
neat and well-nourished in a city like Bonn
bay escape altogether, but they are not
usually exposed TO the plague. because they
live in a different quarter of the city from
that in which the outbreak nrSt occurs.
And even when affected they usually sur
vive. OF the English soldiers in Hong-
Kong who were called upon in 1894 TO per-
form the work of disinfecting certain dis
tricts ten were attacked with the fever, but
only two died. Physicians OF foreign plrtn,
too, seem TO enjoy a special immunity ~hlle
treating the plague-Stricken In China, lndia
and other countries. For these reasons Eu-
ropean and American residents IN sucn 10
calities often evince a surprising indliler-
ence.
Curiously conflicting evidence is offered
in regard to the communication or TINS uis-
ease by a sick person to a we'll one. during
the prevalence of the plague in Alexandra
in 1885 the shipment of Egyptian cotton 10
England continued without interruption
Eight ships in particular were believed TO
be infected. yet no instance OF disease
among the crew or quarantine ofhcials was
reported. The clothing of persons who
cases, been donned by others without any
observed i'll effect. And for a time during
the prevalence of a bubonic epidemic in
Cairo the bedding at the hospital was not
changed. and the doctors and nurses were
apparently none the worse for this seeming
neglect of ordinary precautions. However,
these incidents may have been exceptional.
and possibly they occurred at that stage or
the epidemic when, for reasons that are not
yet fully understood, ii was already on the
decline. The medical profession is almost
unanimous in discouraging the use OF in
fected clothing and beddlng.
PREVIOUS OUTBREAKS.
The bubonic plague appears to have been
known in Syria, Egypt and Libra during
Trojan's reign. early in the Christian era.
But the first well-authenticated invasion of
Europe did not occur until about 5i3-46.
when it appeared in Constantinople and
spread to Italy and Gaul. The next inroad
began about 1916. and proceeded, it is
o,,oh from, n q m tho CrimaQ and
Sicily, whence it reached pretty well over
the continent and across into England. At
irregular intervals for more than three GEN.
turtles il swept this city, and that with APP
palling havoc, reappearing again and again
in the same spot. Among the most impress
Sive death records of that period are the
following: 1927, Dantzic, $4,000; 1866. Paris,
5000; 15.0, Moscow. 200, 1000; 1876. Venice, 90
ooO; lost; Naples. 300 GOO. in five months, and
1916, London. $3.50 out of a population of
400, 900, two-thirds Of whom fled the city.
During the sixteenth century CHINA was
nearly depopulated' with the plague, il is
said, while in the SINCE year 1903 no less
than 100000 lives were lost in Egypt. Since
the outbreak in Marseilles in 1120, when the
deaths numbered from 10000 to 6O,OV. the
plague has receded toward the Bosphorus,
and has scarcely been seen again in Europe,
except in that vicinity. But it has continued
it's unsystematic ravages in northern Al
RIGA and in certain parts of Asia.
Curiously enough, India seems TO have
been spared until early in the present GEN.
II II was " ages a pIoNtfD tildt Tic
plague had never appeared in that region
eastward of the River Indus. But in 1915
there was an un~mistakable epidemic of this
class in GUzerat, Clutch and kattywar,
provinces insthe northern part of the Bonn
bay presidency, and another was expert
enced in 1916. with lingering traces OF the
evil in that neighborhood until 1920.
Further to the eastward. In Pail, Rajpu-
tani. there was a still more violent out
break in 1886, but the extreme heat of 1897
is credited with e~xtinguishing the germs SO
effectualiy that no further trouble was eX-
perienced there. Up at the headquarters OF
the HimalayaS. in the province of
there were five mysterious epidemics be-
tween the years 1879 and 1917. The disease
was known locally as the "maha murree,"
but investigation has shown that ii was
substantially Identical with the bubonic
plague OF China, Persia and Egypt All of
these places, be il observed, are in north
ern India. The outbreak in Bombay, first
reported in September of the present year,
appears to be the first on record in India
at any point so far south.
Bombay is situated on the west coast Of
Hindoostan, which is here bordered by a
bold and picturesque mountain range, the
Western Ghauts The city is built on what
was originally an island, but Is now a
peninsula connection with the mainland
being made to the northwestward by the
railroad embankmentS. To the northward
and well apart both from the business part
of the city and from the airy residences of
the Europeans is Black Town, where the
Hindoos and Mohammeda (who consti-
tute more than four-hfthS of the popula-
tom reside. The people are here crowded
together three times as denSely as in the
most populouS districts of London. AL
though Bombay has excellent water works
and enjoys other sanitary advantages, this
particular region is admirably fitted to be-
come IA hotbed of pestilence. The total pop
ulation of the city in 1891 was over 100000.
In this regard and i'm commercial i'm
portance Calcutta surpasses it only by a