New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-05
An INSTRUCTIVE CRUSADE.

Thirty thousand deaths q week from buDonc
plague are just now officially reported as occur
ring in India. The mortality here represented
lends special interest to the successful Datue
with the same disease in Manila two years ago.
A short but impressive story of the conquest ap-
pears in the latest issue Of 1.-The National Gee
pranhic Magazine" Before referring further
thereto. it may be promised that the death rate
in India is about 1 in 10000 a week, the terri
tory included in the returns having populatlon
not far from 3OO,O00 900. Although the plague
appeared in other parts of the Philippines than
the capital and was promptly suppressed py
the same measures were employed there, ng-
ures are available only for Manila In that city
271 deaths occurred In 1900 and Al in 1901.
The largest monthly records were those for
April and May of the latter year, which were
III and 137 respectively. Here Is weekly
average rising from % to 35, and the ratio to
total incubation of about 100000 is the same as
that now reported from India. The local Board
of Health became seriously alarmed, and eX-
pected much worse developments. Their pro-
cedure limited the deaths from plague in 1902
to three, however, and these occurred IN the
first two months.
The one feature in which that campaign diff
fered from others conducted elsewhere in Asia
was the degree to which the authorities TOOK
cognizance of the rats. rat catching brigade
was organized traps and poison were provided,
and bounties were paid for all yermin brought
to the sanitary headquarters. This, though
was only the beginning of the work. To every
rat which was captured was affixed tag, NAM
ing the street and house from which it came.
The animal was then subjected to bacter1olog-
zeal examination. If it was infected, the Health
Board acted precisely as If human victims had
heen found in the rats recent abode. 1t as
sumed that the latter was already a source OF
danger Where the house was so constructed
that disnfecton and renovation were practical
BILE those expedients alone were employed;
otherwise, it was burned. 1t is probably no eX-
aggeration to say that the population OF Manila
is as ignorant, destitute and filthy as that OF
any other Oriental plague centre. The anony-
nous contributor who sends this bit Of history
TO 1.-The National Geographic Magazine, there
fore, has good reason for declaring that the
result 'has not been eQualled under similar
conditions in the history of the bubonic plague.
If is also a fair conclusion that success was
largely due to following the pest further into its
secret haunts than other sanitary experts have
gone
Besides the rats which were captured and ex-
amined during this remarkable campaign, 1t Is
believed that hundreds of others died from pol
soning So shrewd and suspicious these ami
mails that it is necessary frequently to change
the means used for this purpose The Manila
Health Board seems TO have relied on old fash
toned methods, having discovered, perhaps, the
unsatisfactory character of the microbe which
once promised to work such havoc. Fresh evil
dence on this point was afforded only few
weeks ago by a report of experiments IN San
Francisco Assistant Surgeon Currie admins
tered cultures of the Danysz bacillus to nine diff
ferent rats with their food, and associated with
each of these animals in cage twenty-five
more which had not been infected In a period
slightly exceeding three weeks eight of the
first nine rats died. but only five out of two hun
bred We're fatally sick in consequence OF their
exposure. The hope which was once enter
tanned that a disease fatal to rodents could be
extensively disseminated by imparting it to a
few has not been realized; and when it comes to
direct poisoning cheaper and more effective
agents can be found than microbes