Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-02-26

aranser? He's Just goin' to tell us
about Il right now. Sit down, Hare.
Lip. Go ahead. Granser."
The old man wiped the tears away
on his srimy knuckles and took up
the tale in tremulous. piping voice
that soon strengthened - he got the
swing Of the narrative.
1T was in the summer Of 2013 that
the plague came. I wIs twenty-seven
years old. and well do remember 1t.
Wireless dispatches"
Hare-Lip spat loudly his disgust,
and Granser FASTENED to make
amends.
1--WE talked through the air in
those days, thousands and thousands
Of miles. And the word came of a
strange disease that had broken out
in New York. There were seventeen
millions Of people living then in that
noblest city of America. Nobody
thought anything about the news. II
was only q small thing. There had
been only few deaths. 1t seemed,
though, that they had died very quick.
~, and that one of the first signs OF
the disease was the turning red of
the face and all the body. Within
twenty-four hours came the report OF
the first case in Chicago. And on the
same day, 1t was made public that
London, the greatest city in the world
next to Chicago, had been secretly
fighting the plague for two weeks and
censoring the news dispatches-that
is, not permitting the word to go forth
to the rest Of the world that London
had the plague.
1T looked serious, but we In Cali.
fornia, like everywhere else, were not
alarmed. We were sure that the
psychologists would find way to
overcome this new germ just as they
had overcome other germs In the past.
But the trouble was the astonishing
quickness with which this germ de-
stroyed human beings, and the fact
that 1t inevitably killed any human
body it entered. No one ever recov-
cred. There was the old Asiatic
u, WACH yOu 1uA6AC GoI NAAAASA
with well man in the evening, and
the next morning, If you got up early
enough, you would see him being
hauled by your window in the death
cart. But this new plague was quick
er than that-much quicker. From
the moment OF the first signs of it. a
man would be dead in an hour. Some
lasted for several hours. Many died
within ten or fifteen minutes Of the
appearance Of the first signs.
1.-THE heart began, to beat faster
and the heat of the body to increase.
Then came the scarlet rash, spread
Ing like wildfre over the face and
body. Most persons never noticed
the increase in heat and heart
beat, and the first they knew
was when the scarlet rash came out.
Usually. they had commissions at the
time Of the appearance of the rash. But
these commissions did not last long and
were not very severe. II one lived
through them, he became perfectly
quiet, and only did he feel numbness
swiftly creeping up his body from the
feet. The heels became numb first,
then the legs and hips, and when the
numbness reached as high as his heart
he died. They did not rave or sleep.
Their minds always remained cool and
calm up to the moment their hearts
numbed and stopped And another
strange thing was the rapidity Of de-
composition. No sooner was person
dead than the body seemed to fall to
pieces. to fly apart, to melt away even
az you looked at It. That was one. of
the reasons the plague spread SO rap
idly. All the billions Of germs fa a
corpse were 50 immediately released.
"And It was because of all THIS that
the psychologists had 80 little chance
in fighting the germs. They were
killed in their laboratories even as
they studied the germs Of the Scarlet
Death. They were heroes. As fast az
they persisted. others stepped forth
and took their places. It was in Lon
don that they first isolated 1t. The
news was telegraphed everywhere.
Trask was the name Of the man who
succeeded in this. but within thirty
hours he was dead. Then came the
struggle in all the laboratories to md
something that would kill the plague
germs. All drugs failed. You see, the
problem was to get drug. or serum.
that would kill the germ in the body
and not kill the body. They tried to
fight 1t with other germs. to put into
the body Of sick man germs that
were the enemies of the plague
germs"
And you can't see these germ
things. Granser." Hare-Lip objected.
land here you gable. gable. gable
about them as II they was anything.
when they're nothing at all. Anything
you can't see ain't-that's what. Fight
ing things that amt with things that
amt! They must have been all fools
in them days. That's why they
croaked amt goin' to believe in
such rot. l tell you that"
Granser promptly began to weep.
while Edwin holly took up his defense.
Look here. Hare.IAp. you believe In
lots OF things you can't see."
Hare-Lip shook his head.
Ov1,, An1Sorn tn dooA man wn1kin0