Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-08-22
Yellow Jack as 1t Is known to Modern Se<nnce;
p Baeful Legacy from the Hfrican Slave Grad

water which was in the hold being
pumped into the staAnent pool in
which The vessel was lying. Three
days later several carpenters employed
in the shipyard adjacent were taken
violently i'll. Soon afterward nearly
every sailor on the ship and most OF
those who worked in the shipyard near
by were Frustrated by a complaint
which was recognized by competent
physicians as identical with the fever
prevalent on slave ships. Within a
week the pestilence was epidemic In
port led to several subsequent
scourges of the pest, and In every case
it seemed to originate either from a
slave ship or from a vessel coming d.
rect from southern port.
In 1862 several thousand persons died
during an epidemic of yellow fever in
the Quaker City, and there were sub
sequent destructive visitations in 1898,
1897 and 1902. The great plague OF
1898 really began in New York and
spread over most of the United States
during that and the following season.
The worst experience southern Europe
ever had with the fever began at Gil
braltar in 1904. A slave ship with the
disease on board was encountered by a
British merchantmen at sea off the
Gibraltar strait, and as there were not
enough well men on board to manage
the ship the captain of the English YES
sci sent several sailors aboard the
SLAYER and advised it's master to put
in a. Gibraltar. The SLAYER did so. The
slaves were landed, the ship was clean
ed, and a few days later the fever was
! in full blast among the soldiers of the
garrison. Over thousand soldiers
died of the complaint and thrice that
number of civilians. Many fled, and
the contagion was spread among the
| Spanish ports of the Mediterranean
In the following summer it made its
appearance at Genoa and few weeks
later at Naples, where over 1000 fatal
cases occurred. Thence the malady
made its way along the Italian and
Grecian coasts to Constantinople, where
it found congenial soil. The ports OF
| the orient were each stricken in turn
and the scourge followed the pilgrim
route down the Red sea to Mecca. Re-
turning pilgrims bore it with them to
India, and the great epidemic followed
| During the past century the visits OF
| the dreaded disease to the United
States were numerous. New Orleans
has been the chief sufferer. Epidemics
of yellow fever prevailed there In
1S47, 1853 1855, 1858, 1867. 1878 and
1879. The visitation Of 1853 was the
most deadly, over 5000 victims having
fallen. The experience of Memphis In
1873 and 1879 is It'll recalled with hor-
ror. During the first season Of the
pest there were $3.50 deaths, and dur
| ing the second, although the town was
almost deserted, there were several
hundred more. This pestilence of 1875
was the most destructive of any ever
experienced in the United States, 65.-
976 cases having been reported an6
1880 deaths. During the civil wa,
there was scarcely case among the
Union troops in the south, although II
was freely predicted that the forces ir
the gulf region would be s-nnihilatee
by the disease. When New Orleans
was occupied by General Butler many
persons regarded the destruction of his
army as practically certain. He began
/ Immediately to put the city in a good
sanitary condition, detailing squads Of
his men to clean the streets and sew
ers. AS result there was not sim
gle case of we'll marked yellow fever
in New Orleans during the Union oc-
cupation. EVERETT LAWToN.
u j