BLACK DEATH.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 117, 21 January 1926, Page 3

BLACK DEATH.

GREAT PLAGUES RECALLED. The great plague, known as the €l Black Death, ” was the deadliest epidemic ever experienced. It is believed to have been an aggravated outburst of the Oriental plague, which, from the earliest records of history, has periodi- ( cally appeared in Asia and Northern Africa. There was a visitation of the plague in Europe in 1342. The 1 ‘ Black Death,” interrible virulence, appeared in 1348-9. It also came in milder form in 1361-2, and again in 1369. The prevalence and severity of the pestilence during the fourteenth century are ascribed to the disturbed conditions of the elements just previously. For a number <sf years Asia and Europe suffered from mighty earthquakes, furious tornadoes, violent floods, and clouds of locusts darkening the air and poisoning it with their corrupting bodies. Whether these natural disturbances were the cause of the plague is not known, but writers on the subject regard the connection as both probable and possible. The disease was brought from the Orient to Constantinople, and early in 1347 appeared in Sicily and several coast towns in Italy. After a brief pause, the pestilence broke out at Avignon in January, 1348; advanced thence to Southern France, Spain and Northern Italy. Passing through France

and visiting, but not yet ravaging Germany, it made its way to England, cutting down its first victims at Dorset in August, 1348. Thence it travelled slowly, reaching London early in the winter. Soon it embraced the entire kingdom, penetrating to every rural hamlet, so that England became a mere pest-house.