The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-19
HOW THE PLAGUE SPREADS.
RATS AND TLEAs BELIEVED TO BE
THE CARRIERS.

An AhteruHtlOuuh movement Tor the
determination of the Former Pos
sible-History of Recent Advances
in Treatment of the Plague.
Washington Correspondence New York
Evening Post.
1t would not be surprising If an in
ternational war were opened upon the
rat because of his supposed relation to
the spread of the bubonic plague. SINH
lar to that which has been opened upon
the mosquito because of his relation to
malaria. The kerosene oil remedy for
mosquitoes, brought out by DIR. L. o.
Howard in his now celebrated pamph-
let has worked so we'll that it has
)een very generally adopted. Whole
communities on Long Island have
banded together to drive out the pest
The mayor of Winchester, Va, has
made this the reform feature of his
administration, while the Marine Hos
pital Service has issued orders direct
ing the employment of radical meas
ures against the mosquito, at all of its
stations. One after another of the
government bureaus have taken the
matter up, till it looks as if by con-
certed action something might be done
to relieve civilization of the mosquito
In like manner it looks as if the world
might wage war against the rat.
Japan has already proposed an in
ternational congress for the consider
alton of this question. Particularly is
the determination desirable in the sea-
port cities, where not only does the rat
40 the ordinary damage to food sup
plies, but is besides a great means of
carrying infection such as that of the
hubonic plague. Scientific men here
know of no good service which the rat
performs in the economy of nature.
and they think his determination would
be highly desirable. While this coun-
try has not yet officially received the
Japanese proposal, several rather eff
fective remedies for fighting rats are
known to exist. There is a virus pro-
ducing contagious disease among
rats, which does not affect other ami
mails or human beings. Sulphur fumi-
cation is also a very effective remedy.
Wherever vessels have been treated
with this in yellow fever and other
epidemics, it has been common for the
crews to sweep up bucketfuls of dead
rats. Our quarantine regulations.
which recommend this measure, under
the efficient management of the Ma.
rine Hospital Service, require that the
rats thus killed shall not be handled,
but direct that instead they be raked
and shovelled up, and that the work
men shall wear gloves. The Vermin
are then burned.
Responsibility for the Plague.
1t has been discovered that wherever
there is bubonic plague, the rats seem
TO suffer from it severely. In fact, th,,
plague is often first detected by the
nv Of
have been known where the plague
existed among the rats, as shown by
meteorological tests, some time before
ii affected human beings. According
to bulletins of the Imperial Health
Office of Germany the plague recently
broke out in Bassora, in Turkey where
three persons taken sick with sus-
picious symptoms were promptly iso-
lated In the houses of the first two
victims dead rats were then discovered.
An assistant surgeon of our Marine
Hospital Service at Hong Kong. where
there were 1913 cases of plague with III
deaths, reported that the disease was
originally contracted from Vermin
peryng upon the dead rats found about
the premises. The surgeon of the Ma
rine Hospital Service at Yokohama
writes under the date of Apil "a: THE
destruction of rats is going on in all
the larger cities of the empire In
OSAKA the local sanitary association
has supplemented the efforts of the
government, which pays 2R cents for
each rat destroyed, by issuing to those
receiving this reward a lottery ticket
which viii, perhaps, entitle the holder
to prize. The reward of these meas
ures is marked; it is reported that
since April ! $4,000 rats have been kill
ed in this city alone. In Toxic the
authorities have issued to the lower
classes nearly $4,000 of improved rat
traps"
The United States consul at Bristol.
England, as long ago as January 81
related that in pursuance Of the estab-
lished practice concerning ships arriv-
ing from suspected ports, the Rem
brandt, from Smyrna, had been COM
PEELED to tie up six feet from the quay
side, her hawsers were protected by
collars, the gangways were raised at
night, and a Waterman stationed to
observe the discharge of cargo, on be-
half of the sanitary authorities of the
port On January % this Waterman
discovered several dead rats in the
hold, and in their bodies the plague
germ was found. Thereupon, an order
was issued declaring that the ship was
infected with plague. Similarly, the
rules of our Marine Hospital Service.
wherever a suspicion of plague exists,
specify that ships be not allowed to
come up against the dock or near
enough for the rats to come ashore.
Then all the cargo has to be brought
in by lighters and sulphur fumigation
is applied at various stages of the I'M
loading. In fact, the public health re-
ports of the United States, published
by the Marine Hospital Service. are