The Detroit times., 1911-05-04
BY CAPTAIN WALTER kIRToN.


BY CAPTAIN WALTER klRToN.
SHANGHAI, China. via Siberia
April Sit appears that the plague
first started in the vicinity OF Man
chouli on the frontier between Rus
sian Siberia and Manchuria. From
thence it spread to Khailar and Har-
bin, or IL may be that certain or the
surviving trappers made their way "
those places. AT any rate, people De-
gan to die in numbers which at least
struck the Russians as being aonor-
NAL
Amongst the class OF people anect-
ed. knowledge OF sanitation or any
thing else pertaining to health rs ex'
tremely elementary il not altogether
non-existent In case or Sickness
they rely on alleged curative meas
ures and methods which are essental'
ly ludicrous For instance, common
"cure" for stomach ache Is TO run
needle into the part affected, on the
theory that IL lets the pain out. At
Fuchiaten there is sill living the an
cient Chinese "doctor'-of the Old
school--who was In charge OF the To-
cal hospital when the plague broke
out and who actually treated some l.
600 plague patients In this fashion. 1t
may be unnecessary TO say that all the
old doctors" patients are now denf
zens of the Elysian Fields.
AS may we'll be imagined, under
such circumstances the disease spread
with lightning swiftness and when
people had at last been hurried to the
scene by the Chinece government they
found themselves confronted with a
state OF affairs calculated TO arouse
despair In the heart OF even the most
stoical
Il will be obvious that no curative
measures were Of any avail. Opin-
ions as to the efficacy Of incubation
still differ among the medicine men.
A practical safeguard against conta-
gion is furnished by the sterilizing
mask, which fits over mouth and nos
trils and Is charged daily with aseptic
cotton and various kinds OF stariliz-
ing liquid. Nearly all the savants
have talked with state that II IL were
possible 10 keep everyone in the open
air the plague would vanish.
As far as we have got at present
il appears that no definite symptoms
are present In the early stage OF the
disease beyond a rapid pulse. but the
rapidity OF the disease is so marked
that even II these symptoms Ii absent
In the morning the patient may be
dead before evening. The only posi-
tive sign Is a bloody expectoration,
and that II followed, invariably, by
death within twelve hours at the
most The majority show little or no
Inconvenience from the sickness until
the last three or four hours, and there
does not appear TO be any pain worth
talking about. In some cases, termed
Septicaemic, there is not the definite
bloody expectoration of the pneumonia
type, and really nothing to indicate 1t
except sudden death.
The majority at present surround
ing this epidemic Is emphasized by
the wide divergence OF views amongst
those who have come into close con-
tact with II. In the meantime the off,
cfai records show that deaths occur
mainly In lunches. obliterating entire
families and occupants Of hongs
(offices, or places OF business) and
that after the plague has run It's
course for a few weeks In any particu-
lar locality segregated from outside
contagion the bacillus becomes atten-
uated and loses It's virilty or venom.
How venomous II can be was dem
onstrated in one village only a few
miles away from here. A coolie man
aged TO evade the railway guards and
nhAA - xNI1a ~ Thu M
crawled onto the k'ang "a raised
sleeping PLATFORM and died. Before
morning dawned the other twenty or
more sleepers were dead also.
LONDON, May 3.--Secretary OF the
Navy McKenna in the house of com
mons today said he was in receipt
of a message from the commander OF
the Chinese squadron at Canton that
the rebellion had been crushed.