Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-13

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fourteenth century. was somewhat SINH
lar to it's predecessor and successor. the
plagde, with which, however. 1t should
not be COMPOUNDED. The name 'black
death arose from the co.or OF the spots
or tumors which appeared on the bodies
of its victims just before or soon after
decease. The crude medical practice of
the day offered neither remedy nor cure.
Those who were attacked invariably died
in from forty-eight to sixty-two hours.
and many sought by self-slaughter to an
ticipate their inevitable doom.
Like the plague. the black death was
of oriental origin-probably Chinese.
From 1888 to 1860 all Asia and Europe
were racked and ravaged by a long
series of, natural commissions and dis
asters-earthquakes, droughts. floods,
tornadoes, swarms of locusts and the re-
sultant famines. The chronicles Of the
time record that the order OF the seasons
seemed to have been reversed. Thunder
storms ragged in the dead Of winter. vol
canoes long extinct became active, there
were no rainy seasons and the sun glared
necessarily from skies of brass
These malign activities were fatal to all
kinds of animal life. Over illimitable
areas there re-
Activities Fatal suited vast
to All Animal Life. Of orpanie
masses, carcasses of men and women, fish,
fowl and vegetable matter. This. accord
ing to both earlier and later theorists.
gave rise to mephitic yapors which rem
dered the very air unfit to breathe. In
deed, tracing the fifteen-year march OF
the black death from east to west, 1t
was declared that the putrid cloud ac-
tually was visible as it mounted from
horizon to zenith, SO that "a dense and
awful fog was seen in the heavens de-
scending upon Italy" ThiS view is borne
out by the further recorded fact that the
organs of breathing were first attacked.
Stupor and death speedily followed.
Exact figures of the stupendous NOR
tally reaped by the black death are
difficult to obtain, owing to the almost
general absence of vital statistics. But
in China alone 13,O0O,O0O persisted, while
in the rest OF the orient, in northern
Africa and in the countries bordering
on the Mediterranean N.OOO.O0O died in
three years. Whole provinces were swept
bare Of human life. In Europe we get
more precise, il equally portentous. de-
tails. Italy lost one-haif its population,
fifteen European cities lost 100000. Ger
many nearly 100000. During the three
years rage of the scourge In Europe.
1347-5O. there persisted 25.0OO0OO people.
Nor was the ocean any safer than the
land. The dire and deadly cloud swept
over the face Of the waters. Rivers
full of putrefying corpses poisoned the
seas, and we are appalled, by stories of
plague-stricken derelict ships, their decks
numbered with corpses. drifting up and
down the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the
Black sea, the English channel and the
In 1851 at least half of the popula-
ton OF England perished-2, SOC, 600 out
OF a total of 81
PEOPLE Perish 100000! In London
by the Million. , found loo 10000 vic, vic.
Tins; $1,000 out of 6OOOO were lost at
Yarmouth. These figures are fairly au-
thentic. being borne out by local rec
ords. The mortality Of Paris was $4,000.
in Venice, 100000, and in Florence. 10000
No doubt the frightful mortality large
ly was due to the insanitay and un-
Clearly habits of the various peoples.
Whatever may have been the original
cause OF the black deaths outbreak in
China, its deadly spread undoubtedly was
due to infection and contagion, brought
from the far east to Constantinople by
the many caravan routes: in fact, the
march Of the scourge from orient to
occident may be Individually traced by
these latter trade routes. BY contagion
it reached the seaports OF Italy and
southern Europe; thence to Germany,
France, Russia, Sweden and England.
Three years elapsed between the appear
ance Of the black death in Constantine
pie and its outbreak in st. Petersburg.
One rather remarkable fact is vouched
the plague. which revisited the same To-
calities for upward Of q Thousand years,
the black death was never known to re-
appear In a once-stricken area. Nor, with
modern methods Of sanitation and quar-
antine, would 1t ever be possible for such
Curiously enough, the black death left
an indelible impress upon European Vet
tiers. In Bull
Writers Leave wer's "Rienzi''
History Of Plague. account - ., ', ,hs
pestilence in Italy, but it is in the preface
find a particularly minute description Of
the sights and scenes during the dread
visitation at Florence in 134s, published
in 1853, less than five years thereafter. It
will be remembered that the hundred
tales which go to make up the book were
supposedly narrated to each other by a
party Of ladies and gentlemen who were
refugees on a nearby country estate dur
ing a period Of ten days.
Directly traceable to the human misery
growing out of the terrible epidemies Of
the plague and the black death was a
deadly mania known as the dance Of
death. which was fatal to untold thou
sands. =
1t had it's rise in Germany in the four
teenth century, and was at first an allie
gorical miracle clay. or mystery"
like the Passion Play. intended to remind
living beholders of the imminent pres
ence and power Of King Death. the great
destroyer OF all mankind. The action
consisted Of dialogues between Death and
a number of typical followers portrayed
in or near churches by various religious
orders From Germany the fashion
spread to France and the low countries,
became extraordinarily popular. and was
treated In every possible way in pictures,
fa atrioS- and haS-reliefS