Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-10-04

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 1t
again into the western world from the
battlefelds Of Persia Constantinople
was the first place 1t attacked. Here
in single day as many as 10000 per-
sons are said to have fallen victims
to 1t. But the plague did not stop
with Constantinople. It had found a
too congenial soil in Europe, which
was little else than one great battle
field at the time. 1t was carried into
Gaul, where 1t followed close in the
wake Of the Frankish armies, and
from Gaul 1t moved into Italy, with
the Lombards, and so devastated the
country as to leave 1t entirely at the
mercy of the invaders.
The various crusades, which extend
ed over a period Of about 200 years,
no doubt did much to hold the pesti-
lence in Europe, for they served to
keep open the channels Of intercourse
between the east and the west. Peri
odic epidemics were common during
their continuance, and these seem to
have eliminated In the fourteenth
century with what Is known In his
tory as the black death. The black
death was more fatal 10 human life
than any other single cause since the
world began. The havoc Of war was
nothing in comparison to It, 1t swept
the whole Of Europe, leaving in its
path such misery and destitution as
the world has never known. 1t killed
in three years some 25,000,000 peo-
pie. Such figures stagger the compre-
hension, but the records Of the time
cannot be doubted The entire pop
ulation Of Europe is estimated to have
been about 100,000.000 kept down as
1t was by the constant warfare, and
Of these at least fourth 'perished.
The ravages Of the plague in Italy,
where 1t came in the track Of the war
Of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, was
particularly disastrous to mankind.
1t ragged with terrible fury in Naples.
where 10000 persons are said to have
died. It fell upon Pisa, and seven out
of every ten perished. 1t utterly and
forever destroyed the prosperity OF
Siena. Florence also suffered severe
.ly, while 100000 Of the inhabitants
Of Venice were literally wiped of the
face Of the earth. From Italy 1t NOV
ed into France, where the mortality
was almost as great. In Paris alone
$4,000 people died from 1t. One OF
the worst features presented by the
history of the black death was the
cruel persecution 1t aroused against
the Jews. They were supposed to
have infected the air I'm some mysteri-
Gus manner, and they were accused
of having poisoned the wells and the
springs. In Strassburg 1000 Of them
were buried alive in their own burial
ground.
The order Of the Flagellanto arose
at this time, coming from the belief
that the sins Of the world had at last
brought down the wrath Of heaven.
It was the beginning of the so-called
hundred years war that carried the
black death into England, where IN
London its victims numbered 100,-
600. When at last the plague
had worked its ravages IL doubled
tto IN Afaan-
pear in the east. Later on 1t ap-
peared again in England, first among
the soldiers Of Richmond. after the
battle of Bosworth Field. and when
the victorious army marched to Lon
don the plague went with them to
work its havoc there. AS long az 1t
lasted the mortality was as great as
that caused by the black death half
a century before. Five thousand peo-
pie died in FIVE weeks, and then the
plague left London as suddenly az It
had appeared there to sweep over the
rest of England.
In Scotland the plague OF 1b6S
came Immediately after the battle Of
Langside, when Queen Mary was de-
throned, but no records Of the mortal
ity 1t occasioned seem to have been
preserved. The plague visited London
In 1875. This followed after the civil
war which ended with the death Of
Charles H., but so many years inter-
vened that it is impossible to trace
any connection between the two
events. In modern wars danger from
the plague seems gradually to have
lessened perhaps as a result Of better
sanitary conditions maintained Sy the
armies Of today.