CHOLERV RIOTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1262, 18 October 1911, Page 7

CHOLERV RIOTS.

SUPERSTITIOUS FEARS IN ITALY. ISy Trlecraph—Preps AESocintion-Oiiyrtsnt i Rome, October 10. I Serious cholera riots havo occurred at Scgni, near Tivoli, in the province of Rome. Tho mob, believing that the action of the officials in combating tho cholera outbreak wos the outcome of a design to p]r,!!ghter innocent people, besie.ied tho Town Hall and overcame a small force of carabineers and sacked tho building. Tho mob invaded the hospital and carried away patients, somo of whom were at tho pouit of death, to their homes. Military reinforcements quolled the mob. A TEKRIBLE EPIDEMIC. Anxious lest the international exhibitions at Rome and Turin should suffer in this year of national rejoicing, the Italian Government has been taking the most olnbeirato precautions to prevent any news from Iraki ug abroad of the extent and virulenc? rf the cholera epidemic, lvhich was reported by tlio London "Daily News" last month to be raping in 32 out of the 03 provinces of Italy. A message from its Romo correspondent,

which was stopped by tho censor, was subsequently printed by the "Daily News. ' Tho correspondent said :— Tho reports of tho cbolcrn outbreak in Italv have doubtless been considerably exaggerated abroad, but on the other hand as every information about the epidemic is withheld and no bulletins arc issued by tho sanitary authorities giving the number o.f cases and deaths, it is impossible to ascertain from reliable sources the extent of tho epidemic or obtain correct figuresEvery week the Government notifies the foreign Ambassadors about tho cholera casts in each province, but thir. information is confidential, and is merely intended for transmission to tho foreign Governments who have promised to keep it secret. It is a well-known fact, however, that cholera is raging in 32 out of the CO provinces of Italy, morn particularly at leghorn, in the province of Liguria, and in many other places in Northern Italy, as well as in Calabria, the neighbourhood of Naples, and in Sicily. In Leghorn it is stated that JOO cases have occurred tincc tho beginning of July. Tho mortality was then very hip-h, as the drinking water was contaminated. Now, however, that pure water is imported by sea. the epidemic is abating. Extraordinary precautionary measures have been adopted by tho Government, and in consequence tho epidemic is decreasing in Northern Italy. It appears, however, that in Southern Tto.ly and Sicily, r ".;;oiallv in Calabria, tho inhabitants oppose all sanitary measures, and as a result tho campaign against tho cholera has not beon entirely successful. It is reported from poo:!, though, private, sources that at present tho average number of case 3 reported every week throughout Italy number about 1000, and that the mortality is now very low, as it does not exceed thirty per cent, of all the cases reported. The extensive measures adopted by the Government in tho Province of Apulia last year have proved so effective that fort- cases are reported, in that district this year. As far as it can be ascertained it seems that the epidemic is limited to tho lower classes, who evade the necessary precautions against cholera, and still 'insist on eating fruit and raw vegetables. The lack of good drinking water and sanitary arrangements in many towns and villages naturally increase the difficulties of stamping out cholera.