The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1905-04-22

One man, q cOntfhctOr, toid VI Il
deaths in one day and of funerals being
held at night. Another told of a hotel
keeper, whose house was full Of guess.
who told them all to pack up and go,
and afterwards closed his hotel.
Similar to the BOdie Epidemic.
THE disease is most peculiar" said
one man. at is swift and sure. One
man, big and strong. was well at six
O'Clock and at midnight he was dead.
! Four men working IN one claim died in
two days. One theory is that the ma
ture Of the ground which the miners
encounter is the cause of death, but
this seems f~allacious."
This mar cited the early days of Bodie.
where a similar epidemic carried off
scores of men in an inexplicable
manner
Governor Sparks Takes Action.
Governor Sparks took official notice
of the fact that there Is an epidemic at
Tonopah last Saturday by appointing
DIR. s. L. Lee of Carson, Secretary of
the State Board of Health. as Special
Commissioner to go to Tonorah and CO.
operate with the physicians there in
combating the epidemic.
Tonopah Says Reports E~xaggerate.
The following dispatch was sent out
from Tonopah last Saturday: Reports
published in newspapers all over the
| Coast about health conditions in Tono-
pah are greatly exaggerated. There
have been only Is deaths in April. 10
being pneumonia with complications
and three from other causes. Only "a
| deaths occurred in March, eight of
which were from natural sickness. The
population of Tonopah being 5000 makes
| the death rate rather high. The town
| is being cleaned up and disinfected and
| the residents are not alarmed, business
going on as usual.
Grim Harvest of Death.
The San Francisco Examiner of last
Saturday contained the following dis
patch from Reno: Reports from Tono-
pan indicate a most alarming state of
affairs in that region. That a plague of
some sort has broken out there and that
many deaths have resulted already is
absolutely certain. On last nights
train five lead bodies were brought in
here. People are rushing away as fast
as they can and each batch of arrivals
brings report of a terrible panic. Adj
vices direct from the afflicted quarter
give but meager details. Notwith-
standing this, there is evidence enough
that there is justification for a reign of
terror in Tonopah. The most coDserva-
tive estimate places the number OF
deaths at 10 a day, and a resident of
Reno who got in from Tonopah tonight
doubles hat number. Rumors have it
that people are dying by the scores, but
here there is a disposition to believe
and hope hat things are not quite SO
bad.
ScOurge Mystifies the Doctors.
A thing most extraordinary is that no
one seems to known what manner of
plague this is. All that is known is
that citizens apparently in perfect
health have been stricken down with.
out a moments warning and have sue
cumbed within from four to twelve
hours. The disease in its ravages is
more acute, more deadly, even. than
Asiatic cholera. Several names have
been given to it, among these being
'sblack pneumonia" and ''black heart"
1t looks as if the diagnosis of pneu-
monia were unjustified. Autopsies
upon victims of the plague have been
performed aud. according to the advices
received here, in no case have the lungs
been found seriously affected. The
plague seems to attack the liver and the
glands. The neck becomes swollen,
the liver enlarges and turns black, and
Immediately after death rapid decom-
position sets in. Curiously enough.
women and children have been spared
so far.
There are many theories as to the
cause. One report is that whisky sold
over the bars in Tonopah has been adul-
terated with wood alcohol. This, &C
cording to what the doctors here say,
would undoubtedly produce disease OF
the liver. Against this theory it is re-
ported that among the victims of the
plague are men who carefully abstained
from alcoholic ~stimulants, and it has
been stated, too, that the sewage of To-
nopah is responsible for the scourge.
Then it is pointed out that Tonopah
lies in a hollow and that the air
breathed by the miners is Of the foulest
description. On the other hand, the
plague has beer indiscriminate in its