Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-09-11
The BL Ack SCOURGE
That Fearful and Mystic Vista
ton Of 0Iden DAYS.

sIldA g Cd III ailu MYSTIC viSltd-
ton Of olden Days.
III FOIL OWED in WARS WAKE.
In tho Fourteenth Century II Swept the
Whole Of Europe, Killing 1000, 300
In Three Years-The Pestilencs IN
london. 3i5
The plague or pestilence, that inyste-
Nous and fearful visitation which has
moved Its hosts in the wake of armies
to STAY more than war itself, is sup
posed to have first originated among
the dense masses OF people who crowd
ed together in the great cities Of Asia
and Egypt or who formed the encamp-
ments Of xerxes, Cyrus and Tanner
lane the Tartar. 1t probably sprang
from the impurity which must have
existed in the midst Of such vast gath
erings and in part also from leaving
the unburied dead upon the field of
battle. At any rate, the germs Of this
fearful human poison have always
been most active where conditions
similar to those have prevailed. It
has always been war Rand the march Of
armies that have spread 1t broadcast
over the world from time to time, and
as war became less frequent and less
worldwide the frequency and extent
OF these raYages have lessened also.
The first recorded outbreak of the
plague in Europe occurred in the six
teenth century. 1t came from lower
Egypt This was the first tapping Of
the wave that reached into the east
again, there to stay its movements, so
far as the west was concerned, until
544 "A. D., when the returning legions
OF the Emperor Justinian brought it
again into the western world from the
battlefelds of Persia Constantinople
was the FIRST place it attacked. Here
In d single day as many as 10000 per-
sons are said to have fallen victims to
1t. But the plague did not stop with
Constantinople. 1t had found q too
congenial soil in Europe which was
little else than one great battlefield at
the time. 1t was carried into Gaul,
where 1t followed close In the wake of
the F'rankish armies, and from Gaul
It moved into Italy, with the LON
bards. and SO devastated the country
as 70 leave 1t entirely at the mercy
Of the invaders. ,5. A
The various crusades, which extend.
ca over space Of about 200 years, M
doubt did much to hold the pestilence
In Europe, for they served to keep
open the channels Of intercourse be
tween the east and the west. Periodis
epideInics were common during theil
continuance, and these seem to have
culminated In the fourteenth century
with what is known In history as thu
black death. The black death was
more fatal to human life than any
other single cause since the world be
gan. The havoc of war was nothing
In comparison to 1t. It swept tht
whole OF Europe, leaving in its patti
such misery and restitution as the
world had never known. It Killed II
three years some 25, 600 600 people
Such figures stagger the comprehen
sion, but the records Of the time can
not be doubted. The entire population
| Of Europe is estimated to have beer
about 10O, COO 600. kept down as it wa,
/ by the constant warfare, and OF these
at least q fourth persisted.
The ravages Of the plague in Italy
where 1t came In the track OF the wa
of the GEelphs and Ghibellines, wa!
particularly disastrous to mankind. /
ragged with terrible fury Ii Naples
where 10000 persons are said to hav,
died. 1t fell upon Pisa, and seven on
OF every ten persisted. 1t utterly an.
forever destroyed the prosperity o
Siena. Florence also suffered severely
/ while 100000 of the inhabitants o
j Venice Were literally wiped of th
face OF the earth. From italy It move,
i into France, where the mortality wa
almost as great. In Paris alone b0,0
i people died from it. One of the Wors
j features presented by the history o
/ the black death was the cruel persecu
ton it aroused against the Jews. The.
j were supposed to have infected the al
i in some mysterious manner. and the,
were accused Of having poisoned th
wells and springs. In Strassburg 200
Of them were buried alive in their owl
4 burial ground
The order of the FlageIlanto aros
at this time, coming from the belle
that the sins of the world had at las
brought down the wrath Of heaven.
was the beginning OF the SO caile,
hundred years war that carried th
black death into England, where i
i London Its victims numbered 100 O06
When at last the plague had works
Its ravages it doubled back over it
course to disappear In the east. Late
on 1t appeared again In England
i first among the soldiers Of Richmon
after the battle of Bosworth Eield
and when the victorious army nlarche
to London the plague went with Their
to work its havoc there AS long as
Il laSted the mortality WIS as great q