The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-18

| 28,o00. During the third outbreak, Just
! ending, when the plague measures have
| resumed their mild character and ordi-
| nary cleansing is the chief order of the
| day." the plague deaths are estimated at
| about q, 900.
| 1t is not surprising that with these facts
] before him in Bombay the lieutenant gov
| ernor in Bengal declines to rush into
| measures of heroic severity Calcutta
| has probably owed its comparative i'm
nlsnity from the plague to the timely Wig
or of the late lieutenant governor, Sir
! Alexander Mackenzie, in flushing the
drains and cleansing the city. That be-
Ing thoroughly done. and the capital being
set In order against the expected ca
| lamity, the Bengal government has calm
| ly awaited the event 1t did what 1T could
| to prevent the, plague entering its pro-
| vince by Gordon of inspection stations on
the-railway lines. The disease, as was an
| ticipated, eventually reached Calcutta,
but 1t has so far been kept within very
moderate limits. The problem is how to
| prevent its spread from the capital to the
rural districts, as in Western India. Sir
John WOODBURY., the lieutenant governor,
| deals with the question in a sagacious
| and statesmanlike proclamation. He re-
| fuses to dislocate trade and locomotion
| by the wholesale detentions and inspec-
| lions which have produced panic in other
parts Of India and led to the sufferings
and mortality of the railway plague
camps.
SOME OF THE MEASURES.
But he makes effective arrangements to
| prevent persons actually suffering from
the plague from leaving Calcutta by any
public mode of conveyance, such as the
| railways or steamers. mo one will be
| detained at the places Of inspection unless
there is distinct evidence that he is in
| fa1 mill fIn MI Ia
precaution is that when any person from
| an infected area arrives in a district, in
| timation must be at once given to the
! local authorities, who are empowered to
| exercise a certain degree of observation
in regard to him. 1t seems unlikely that
Bengal will enjoy immunity from Wis
| itation which is spreading over the rest
of India, and it is possible that the an
aemic state of the overcroWded popula-
! ton of the lower Gauges may supply
| conditions favorable to its development.
But, as In Calcutta, so now throughout
| Bengal there has been quiet. and de-
| liberate preparation which merits high
praise.
Mr.. Hankin, the bacteriologist to the
| governments Of the northwest and the
central provinces, furnishes remarkable
| proofs Of the futility Of the cruel meas
ures taken in medieval times against
| the plague. The mistaken belief that the
disease was communicated even by speak
! ing to person suffering from 1t cost
| hundreds Of thousands Of lives. Doctors
| refused even to look at patients for a
| fee of all that they possessed, and mil
| lions were abandoned by their nearest
! relatives to die Of the plague or by star
| walton and thirst, Mr. Hankin contrasts
| this homicidal ignorance with the courage
and safety with which English ladies, and
officials visited the plague hospitals in
Bombay; nor was there a single case of
British doctor Sinking his duty.
THE ROOT OF CONTROL.
| On the other hand, in medieval out
| breaks it was not known that an infected
| place could communicate the disease
/ apart from contact with a plague-stricken
person. This was quickly ascertained in
the Bombay visitation, and, while English
men and women tended the sick without
| fear, they did not live in houses where
men or rats had been attacked. A knowl-
edge of the laws which regulate the
| spread Of the disease, not necessarily of
| the disease itself, which Is more recon-
| dite question, lies at the root of its con-
| troll. That is the result Of Mr.. Hankins
| wide experience, and he points out that
| such knowledge, especially In regard to
| open air, Is of old standing in India.
'The moment" says a Sanscrit text
| that rats fall from the roof, jump about
and die, the wise will at once leave
! their houses, with their friends and rela-
tives, and will go to a plain" This doc
| trine of open spaces is now being car
| ried into eqect on an enormous scale and
| at vast expenditure of money in Bonn
| bay. In Calcutta the necessity for open
ing up the overcrowded quarters by some
| great artery of traffic IS even greater
How to move the densely packed popula-
! ton by cheap means of transit to the
outskirts of the city and to drive shaft
of air and light and wholesome atmos-
phere through its midst are the perma-
nent health problems of the Bengal me-
| tropolis.