The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-28
THE PLAGUE AT SANTOS.
Account of Affairs In the City
whence New York Got Its Cases.

Account OF Aunlfs IN the Nlty
whence New York Got Its Cases.
From the Brazilian Review
Santos, Oct. 21.-The news that bubonic
plague has broken out in Santos seems to
have made an impression everywhere else
but here. Santistas are, as a rule, of
somewhat skeptic frame of mind, and re-
ports about sickness or epidemics do not
brighten them unduIy; one gets hardened
having had "Yellow Jack" as master for
years.
Thus, everybody laughed on Tuesday
when two or three cases of illness were
suspected as bubonic plague. and it caus-
ed still more merrlment when it was heard
that one of the patients was a certain
restaurant waiter known to be suffering
from Venereal disease for years. After
his death all sorts of rumors We're set
free, bubonic plague, yellow fever, etc.
On Tuesday, when Rio people, especially
exchange spectators, showed so much
concern about our welfare by putting the
rate of exchange down by leaps and
bounds, the Sanitary Commission, aided
by several doctors in government employ,
undertook further Investigations pathology
ical archaeological, etc, and in the aft
ernoon we got the startling news that the
death certificate of a dock laborer de-
clared the causa mortis to be bubonic
plague. This man, too, is supposed 10
have suffered from venereal disease.
The employer of the first victim was iso-
lated in the special hospital, as well as
his family, one small child who fell i'll
or was i'll already is under treatment there,
and, as we heard, progressing favorably
Vox populi says the disease Is measles.
A young lady, sister of the restaurant
proprietor, very talented violinist by
the way, showed signs of fever yesterday
with swollen glands. Whether this young
lady was treated with Yersin's serum we
could not ascertain but should it be so it
is quite natural that such symptoms
should show
Since these people were isolated. that is
since Tuesday afternoon, no new cases
could be found twithstanding careful
research and looking into every dirty back
yard in order to find some unfortunate
being on whom Yersin's serum might be
experimental.
A short time before these occurrences a
great number of dead rats were found
along the docks and also in town; the
manager of the dock company, however,
declared that he had strewn poison in or
der to get rid of these voracious and de-
structiVe rodents; some of which died on
the spot and others, after having passed
through the sewers, In the upper town.
We wonder that by bold association of
ideas the deduction from dead rats to bu-
bonic plague was made. Anyhow the Gov
eminent Sanitary Commission, which had
nothing to do for years and was going to
be done away with for reasons of econo-
my, deducted also a new lease of exist
ence therefrom.
As everybody knows by now, the strict
est possible quarantine measures are eno
forced against us, measures which even
i'm Turkey, we think, would be considered
abnormal. All shipping connections be-
tween Santos and other national ports
ere prohibited, foreign ships must leave
direct, passengers going UP country must
get a sanitary passport, and are not al
lowed to carry any luggage; even an UNI
brella was rejected this morning as sus-
pected of carrying plague microbes. We
only wonder that people are not forced
TO go up init holdings on" disinfection
would then be easy.
As to the effect of all these events, ru-
Tnors and attacks on trade and commerce
in general we have to state that exporta-
ton continues uninterruptedly, shipments
being as heavy as they have been for
some time past. Arrivals of coffee from
the interior have not suffered either. and
unless the real plague takes an epidemic
form they will hardly be affected; on the
contrary, the higher prices ruling now
viii attract more merchandise to this
market. A deviation OF coffee to the Rio
market can only be on a small scale, as
the carrying capacity Of the Central Rail-