Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-21
ST. PETERSBURG
IN CLUTCHES OF
AWFUL PLAGUE
CHOLERA EPIDEMIC WORST
SINCE 1893
SCHOOLS TURNED INTO HosPI-
TAILS FOR VICTIMS
veIoped to vlruIent Degree-Suf-
ferlng Is TerribIe-Hun-
dreds Die
[By Associated Press.l


q T. PETERSBURG, Sept 2o-St. Pc
tersburg is in the grasp of chol-
~ era, which already has exceeded in
severity and numbers the visitation of
1893
The disease is increasing daily at an
alarming rate and unless the authori-
ties show in. the future a much greater
degree of ability to cope with the sit
uation than they have In the past,
there is every reason to fear that 1t
will get out of hand.
The governments threat to apply the
provisions of martial law has driven
the municipality officers to bend all
their energies to clearing the city Of
the scourge.
The aldermanic council today voted
$25O,000 to enlarge the hospital space,
to purchase and distribute disinfect-
ants, the supply of which in st. Pc
tersburg is we'll nigh exhausted, and to
expedite the interment of bodies, which
has been notoriously slow.
The deadhouses are overcrowded and
many corpses lie unburied.
Under his authority the prefect of
st. Petersburg, General Dracheffsky
Saturday prohibited the sale of liquor
throughout the city, including the gov
eminent vodka shops, until September
22. and he has further ordered that
hereafter the sale of the liquor shall
be suspended at 2 p. m. Saturday until
10 a. m. Monday.
To Diminish Excesses
This action has been taken in order
to diminish alcoholic excesses. which
very materially increase the liabilities
to cholera infection and the general
oR
A beginning was made today when
public schools were transformed into
hospital wards.
A number of the grammar schools
were closed and 1000 students sent to
their homes. The department. of war
has opened stores to supply immediate
needs and army field kitchens have
been dispatched to the poorer classes
to dispense free food.
The situation assumes a graver as
pect from the appearance today of a
very virulent type of the disease, IN
two cases of which death followed
within fifteen minutes of the hrst
symptom.
The number of cases has Increased
In st. Petersburg from five to ten on
September 10, until Sunday the sta
tistics posted showed from Saturday
noon until Sunday noon 1898 cases and
191 deaths, this being the largest num-
ber so far.
All Kinds Present
1t is feared that the cholera will last
another fortnight, being figured on the
basis of former epidemic5.
All varieties of Asiatic cholera have
now developed here, there being nu-
merous cases of the Algid type, which
is accompanied by the greatest suf-
fering.
caused prayers for deliverance to be
read throughout the diocese today, in
which the pestilence is described as a
punishment for the peoples laWless-
ness.
Premier Stolypin has sharply repri-
manded the municipal officials for the
appalling conditions. At Obuchof hos
pital, which he visited on Saturday, he
found that three bath rooms were be-
ing used for 300 patients.
Practically nothing has been done up
to the present to put the city market
places in a sanitary condition; they are
places of indescribable filth, with the
atmosphere reeking with foul odors.
One hundred carloads of fruit have
been auctioned off and forwarded to
Warsaw, Wilma and other towns
which the cholera has not invaded, and
the possibility of infection from this
source is very great.
WoefuIIy Insanitary
AS a city, st. Petersburg is woefully
insanitary, and the dread disease fins
here the conditions most suitable for
its propagation.
1t first made its appearance among
the poor people herded in wretched
tenements, but 1t is now spreading to
the better classes and it has broken
out In the barracks among the troops
Advices from all parts of Russia
show the alarm is general and there is
good reason for it.
At Moscow quarantine has been
at all railway stations, and
are placed under the strict
est surveillance. UP to the present,
Moscow has been immune.
Twenty-nine cases and six deaths
were reported Saturday from Odessa.
The German authorities have taken
to prevent the disease from
crossing the frontier
Austria las done the same thing; also
Sweden and other nearby countries
have declared a quarantine, and France
is ready to meet any exigencies that
rnay arise.