The Detroit times., 1911-05-03
BY CAPTAIN WALTER kIRToN.

MUKDEN, VIA PEKIN. China,
May. "A great grey-walled CITY,
standing four-sQuare in a great grey
plain, under a grey sky, which, as
the sun climbs into the heavens, turns
to q deep turquoise is the city OF Muk-
den, in which gathered congress
upon whose deliberations and work
the eyes Of the whole world were hx-
ed, and which met. at the instance
of the Chinese government, for the
purpose OF ascertaining facts which
will be used to combat and TO con-
ouer a foe In whose casualty list
there are no wounded, no missing.
but who vanquishes-without hope OF
succor, every victim upon whom ne
lays his clammy hands-the pneu-
monte plague.
Some time in December last II be
came known that a mysterious dls-
ease was rampant among the fur-hunt-
ers of northern Manchuria and Mon
golia. At first this news attracted
very little attention. China Is the
home of the epidemic, as well as OF
the crisis. and 1t is part OF the &C
copied order OF things that her teem-
ing millions shall suifer periodical re-
duction at the hands OF nature. The
elemental creed Of the survival or
the fittest finds its most faithful pro-
tagonists amongst the Chinese people
who, from the very medicines OF their
existence, cannot attach the same
value to human life as the majority
OF the rest OF the world.
The source of origin OF the pneu-
monte plague has been traced by the
Tarbagan. or Asiatic Marmot. These
animate are about the size OF full
grown cat and have yellowish
brown fur. They are also called noun
tain rats and they swarm In thous-
ands all over the steppes OF northern
Mongolia and adjacent Manchuria.
Every year the trappers catch huge
numbers Of them and the skins are
exported, chiefly to Europe and Am
erica via Siberia, where they are used
in the manufacture of cheap faxed
furs. I may add that the process OF
taking" and so on absolutely ami
hilates any germs that may have tax
en- UP their domicile In the said skins.
The native trappers, upon whom
the scourge first descended, are very
low in the scale of humanity and their
habits and mode Of life transcend any
description At to print. During the
major portion OF the year these men
loaf around the frontier towns and
the fringes Of the railway settlements
In. which ever since the advent or the
Russian, an unlimited supply OF vod-
ka (corn spirit, the Russian National
beverage) Is always obtainable, even
by the poorest A few kopecks a
bottle, II brings stupefaction and OBJ
livion faster than any other drink,
and II eats up mans vitality with
the ease Of chain-lightning.
Sodden with drink and enfeebled
by their vices and LACK OF nourish- |
ment these poor waits Of humanity |
migrate from town to town, station |
to station. until the trapping season |
Commences and affords them the op |
portunity for working on their In
debtedness to the ghouls that fatten \
on them. As can well be imagined
when they reach their hunting /
grounds their poverty compels them |
to live almost solely on the spells |
OF the chase and In this instance they |
deyoured a number of the marmots. |
WnetneT the hnlIndls udu UecOmo
infected with bubonic plague germs,
which then became transformed into
pneumonia baccili, appears not to be
definitely certain, and this IL one OF
the points that the conference will
clear up. But the theory is advanced
that the marmots had somehow been in
contact with plague rats, and that the
baccili obtained vastly increased viru-
lence and vitality from their passage
through a larger and stronger, and
at the same time a fresh medium OF
cultivation. At any rate certain OF
the trappers died suddenly and the
survivors fed back to their slum
haunts. carrying the contagion with