The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-01-22
whole place is thoroughly warm and

WnOlo place is thoroughly warm n
comfortable.
The doctor first led the way into
the ward for Europeans. Most of those
who have died-forty-nine in all in
Harbin-died here, but the room was
empty at the time Of my visit.
The floors of the hospital are swim
ming in disinfectants. and now and
then as we stand inside the room we
hear in the hallway the splash of the
heavy feet of the sanitars or sanitary
employees in large tubs of di%sinfectant.
coming out Of the sick rooms.
The doctor opens the door of a
room across the hall where there are
seven Chinese victims and tells us to
stay at the threshold. But the little
nurse walks in and stands alongside
one of the beds. The faces of these
sever men are woefully wretched,
drawn. and horribly yellow and
wearied.
Two raise their heads and look at
u.s.. the rest hardly move their eyes.
One or two groan, but there is little
sound from the others. The disease
quickly that there is hardly time for
1t to weaken the sick man utterly.
There have been many cases in which
the man got up and walked on the
day Of his death. and some even walk
ed from their homes to the plague
hospitals.
Although little is known of the &C.
ton OF the bacillus. 1t is thought that
the Virulent toxin created by the bacil-
introduced into the system acts upon
the nerve system. affecting the heart.
After the appearance of the farst
symptom 1t acts with striking sudden
ness, and 1t is supposed that the poison
has hardly time to weaken the man
to an extremity. As he approaches
death a comatose state is brought on
In which he becomes very weak, stag
eering as In drunkenness. and finally
taiIing, II alone, unable 20 rise again.
me many victims who were found
IN the streets in the mornings during
the height Of the epidemic here had
been overcome in this way. Also In
n last stages of the disease some
cases become mentally affected and
endeavor to wander about. Although
there Is some discomfort in the lungs,
II IS not b pneumonia but the pois.
oning in the blood which kills. The
yellow IN the face appears to be one
ldenc OF the poison. Another is the
purple color in the body in the sep
ticaemic cases.
we nave been standing for a min
ute or two just outside the door with
these people for whom there is no es-
cape from death. "Schneller (ouiclx.
er) calls the doctor and we pass out
into the hallway.
The second ward is the same, There
are the ven or eight wearied men
lying In comparative comfort. Each
lies on a separate iron bed. The room
is well lighted with two large win.
dows and it is war; and fairly well
ventilated. The Russian government
is doing we'll by the plague patients,
The men look so i'll that it would
appear to matter little to them
whether they lay on a bed or out in
the snow and ice. No remedy has
been discovered so far to prevent
death, and it remains only to make
the last few hours of their lives az
comfortable as possible. We close the
door upon them passing out, KNOWING
that most of them will have died be.
fore the nightfall. and will be taken
away the next morning to the crema.
ton grounds.
The doctor evidently feels the diff.
flculty Of breathing through his muf.
fer, for he has just torn it off and