Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-11-08

Plaque of Middle Ages or Modern Times
This Country Had Been Happily I'm
munc Until the Present Outbreak in Ma.
/ Mia and San Francisco The Only Success
full Means Of Fighting the Dread Visitation
| Seems to Be Sunshine and Fresh Air.
BY LUE F. VERNON
! Whether bubonic plague is in Sc
attic or not. too much prccaution
against the dread disease cannot be
maintained. San Francisco has cases
of it, and of course we know how the
authorities in Honolulu, a few years
ago, burned building after building,
in order to root out all unclean garb-
age and filth, which is the father of
this horrid disease. The law that
the litteSt shall survive. is one of
Nature own, and if we would walk,
Us David did of old, in the midst of
pcstilcncc without being afraid, we
must keep our bodies strong and put
our houses in order. Germs livc-So
scientific people tell us-in filth and
foul air. to say nothing of water, but
they can bc killed by sunshine, vent
lation and fresh air. So precautions
against this plague, smallpox or any
other disease, cannot be too severe or
strict. Light and air should get in.
and nothing of the nature of refuse
should be left to rot in the yards.
In Manila, most of the cases were
among the Chinese. But who can
tell where this scourge will stop?
Ships are sailing every hour on the
waters, bound for San Francisco.
Portland and Seattle, and any time
the news may be flashed over the
wire that the officials have discov-
cred case on board vessel at one of
the foregoing ports, even though it
is not positively known, as fact,
that it has already reached Seattle.
All haste should be made to head off
invasion. or at least keep it well in
hand, should it become known for
sure that genuine case exists in Sc
attic. For, as the history of the
plague has shown. when once it
takes hold, it is hard to crush it out.
That the mereSt shadow of so dread
and terrible viSitant as the plague
should be cast in San Francisco, in a
vicinity SO near as, is sufficient to
cause 4 shudder of dismay, for there
is no doubt that the disease is max
ing its appearance in spots where it
has been unknown for many years,
or where it has never been known
before. Its appearance in San Fran
cisco should put all civilized nations
on the alert, and any and all ships
coming from any port where the
black death" is at work, should
be subjected to the most rigid
inspection. Here in America, in
deed, there is less reason to fear the
plague than in the European coun-
tries, for, besides an excellent quar-
antine system, we have the advant-
age of distance SO great that the
maximum period of incubation for
the micrObe-seven or eight days
would be passed before the infected
ship reached here. But with the
advantage of distance, we should take
no chances. To be prepared, in case
one person is positively known to
have the peStilence, is better than to
make preparations afterwards. The
principal European countries have
been preparing themselves for years
to destroy the dread invader at their
thresholds.
The international Sanitary Con-
ference, which met at Vienna, in the
Spring OF 1887, adopted sanitary pre-
cautions to confine the spread of the
plague outside of Europe and to pre-
vent its entrance into that cOnti-
nent. International quarantine sta
tions were established, or increased
along routes which the plague has to
follow, in making progress westward.
With the cooperation of Turkey and
other powers, the conference put
stop to the pilgrimages to Mecca,
which, for centuries, have been in
strumental in diffusing pestilence
over vast regions Of Europe and
along the shores Of the Red Sea and
the Persian Gulf Despite European
precautions, however, the scourge
has appeared in the Western world,
namely at Honolulu and San Fran
cisco.
The question has never been def
nitely settled as to the date at which
the first outbreak of the plague Oc-
cured, but the first authentic de-
scription of the bubOnic plague is to
be found in the writings of Rufus of
Ephesus, who described the disease
as having existed in Northern Africa,
during the third or fourth century,
b. c. or the various outbreaks re-
lated by the historians under Nero,
two only appear to answer to the
description of the bubOnic plague
that of Marcus Aurelius in 166, and
of Galius in 250. The former was
said to have been brought from the
Parthians, by the troops of Lucius
Varus. 1t ravaged Rome and the
provinces, whence it spread to Gallia
and the banks of the Rhine, thence
later ravaged the whole of Achaia,
decimating the imperial troops.
Toward the middle of the sixth
century the disease appeared in
Egypt and extended to Constanti-
nople, where it is said to have caused
the death of 10000 persons in one
day. From the seventh to the four
teenth century, other epidemics oc-
Cured, but no one of them could be
compared with the outbreak that
ragged in Europe during the middle
of the fourteenth century. 1t is said
to have carried off %, ,0OO, 900 persons
in Europe, and its victims through
out the whole world were estimated
at ~, 0OO, 900, which is unquestion-
ably the greatest havoc in human
life ever mentioned in history. Dur
ing the great plague in London, in
1868, nearly 0,OO0 persons were car
ried off. The seventeenth century