THE ASIATIC HORROR

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 291, 3 May 1911, Page 3

THE ASIATIC HORROR

roill'V THOUSAND DEATHS. IX MANCHURIA. A JSONI'iKK C'Y I'nl'l'lXS. Till! following graphic description of the ravages of the plague in Manchuria and the terrible aftermath is an extract from a Jettcr written on March 4 liv a New Zealand lady at Dairen, Manchuria, to her sister in Otago: — 1 hope von have not been anxious on our account during the last month or two at the reports" of the plague, which is now raging in Manchuria. But it is only those living in this plague-stricken land who can grasp the seriousness and nwfulness of the situation.

It is our good fortune to he at this time .stationed in the wholesome, clean, sanitary town of Dairen (the Dalny of the Russians). The rest of Manchuria is under Chinese jurisdiction, and experts say it is entirely due to the ''ignorance, roneeit, vacillation, and delay of Chinese ollicials'' that now "one of the blackest pages of local historv can he written, showing conclusively the deaths of thousands of Chinese, besides some noble foreign physicians." —The Origin of the Plague—is the marmot, and it was amongst the coolies engaged in trapping this animal for its fur that the disease originated. Jt appeared first in Mongolia, and quickly spread to Manchuria. As you know, my husband's work is chaplaincy work among the Church of England people in the large town centres of Manchuria — Dairen, Mukden, Chang-clum, and Harbin. Tn October of last year his work took liini to Chang-ehun and Harbin. 300 anil 000 miles respectively by rail from Dairen. When at Harbin uneasy reports were coming in of great mortality in Mongolia from the plague, and fears were then entertained of it spreading to Harbin, a Russian town of some 30,000 people, and to Fuchiaten, a Chinese town just across the railway line of some •25,1)00 peonle. —The Spread' of the Scourge.—

In December, sure enough, the scourge asserted itself there, the death-rate being about twenty a (lay. mostly in Fuchiaten. Owing to the utter lack of Chinese medical or official power to cope with it, the death roll quickly rose to over 100 a day. Then official apathy awoke. It was evident that measures must be adopted to combat the pestilence. Medical aid was soon forthcoming—foreign and Chinese doctors from l'ekin and Tientsin. Still the death-rate increased, and rose to 170, and then 200 a day in 1 *io Chinese city, while among the Chinese in tin; Kussian city it has not exceeded 50. The. work of these brave men must have been heart-breaking, for it took them weeks, nay. months, to establish anything like efficiency in their work. —Half a Mile of Coffins.— Finally thousands of bodies accumulated, coffined and uneoffined. for with the intense cold (often 20 degrees below zero, Fahr.) it was impossible to bury. We hear from tho-<e who speak with authority that there was to be seen "the ghastly sight of nearly half a mile of coffins, piled up in heaps, with limbs or bodies protruding, some actually sitting in their coffins. For in the earlier days most of the dead were fortnd in the street, frozen in whatever form they happened to fall. So the bodies had to be forced into coffin*, and not infrequently the coolies engaged in the task would break the limbs with hammers and so force the body, more or less, into the coffin." At last the government consented to cremation (it is contrary to Chinese custom and faith), and so in one week were burned more than J.OOO coffins and bodies.

—Outcast Coolies Spread the Plague.— Fearing tlio spread of the scourge to other populous centres, the Russian, Japanese, and Chinese railways refused to earrv second or third class passengers. This, instead of checking the disease, had the opposite effect, for the infected coolies, leaving the stricken parts, and denied transit liy rail, took to the roads, and thus sowed the disease broadcast. Very soon the large Chinese cities of Kuangchengtze (side by side with Changchun) and Mukden were reporting heavy death-rates. Newspaper accounts give as many as 133 a day at Kuangchengtze, and something like CO to 70 a day at Mukden.

—Hiding Their Dead.— These reports may be considered to be under the mark rather than over, for the Chinese often did all they could to conceal a death, preferring to bury a body under the floor of the liovel rather than report the death. During the extreme cold weather these low-class Chinese herd together for the sake of warmth in the dirtiest of hovels, and when one of the throng falls a victim it is more than probable that many of the number are contaminated. But. rather Uian subject themselves to disinfection, i|iiarantine, and medical supervision they prefer to dispose nf the dead as best they can, and face inevitable death themselves. At other times they not infrequently, in the early stages of the disease, turn the victim out into the road, telling him to get as far away from the house as he can before he dies. T have heard from friends who have come from one of those three towns— Harbin, Kuangchensitze. and Mukden—that if. is a common Mglii to see Chinese

drop dead in the street. This plastic takes the pneumonic form, and so far, T believe, there is only an isolated case or so reported as bubonic. Death takes place mostly within twelve hours. —The Value of Precaution.— So far T have not touched on the plague here. Thanks to the praiseworthy and strenuous cll'orts of (he Japanese authorities. it never assumed an alarming aspect. From the very start it wa.s kept in check, the infected spots being immediately isolated. Quarantine and detention houses sheltered hundreds of suspected Chinese coolies. Theatres, street stalls, second-hand shops, and places where Chinese were likely to congregate were closed. Thanhs to such precautions no case has appeared fur move than a month, and so this town is pronounced "clean," and life and business assume, their ordinary routine, while the le=s enlightened norLneru cities are still in the grasp of the pestilence. I think T am right in saving that no European has fallen a victim, except -ome of those who have been hrouslit into immediate conlaet, more especially the doctors and nurses. —A Medical Martyr.---Me personally were much grieved at the death ot Dr. Jackson at Miikdeu- a clever young docior engaged in medical mission work. hen the plague appeared ■>* Mukden he ull'ered hi- services, and took charge of batches of coolies who had come from infected parts. Many of these died in the detention houses, and Dr. Jackson, while administering to these, and doing all he could to prevent the infection from spreading, himself caught (he dread disease. | M spite nf being devotedly tended by iwo TCmrlish doctors, he succumbed within thirtv hours. Cholera !', .-red. We are somewhat cheered, however, now bv being told that, the plague bacillus in time becomes tired and worn out. and ceases to be bri>'x in its operations. What we foreigners for ourselves fear, when tlu- warm weather comes, is an

outbreak of typhoid* or cholera, which may be the possible outcome of so nnn li carelessness displayed by the Chinese in disposing of the dead. — l Tim Worst Not Told.— I can assure yon I have in no way exaggerated, and i could tell you gruesome stories of the unburied dead—and starving dogs; of the plague victim just dead in the street, robbed at once of his clothes and his queue—but, enough! —l'lague Serum, — As a precaution sonic of our friends are being inoculated with plague serum. This peenlar pneumonic form of plague seeing little understood by medical men, and the efficacy of the inoculation is not thoroughly proved, so we are delaying before subjectinir ourselves to the attendant inconveniences of inoculation. f may just add that not one single case of recovery from this pneumonic plague is known. 11 estimated that at least there have bent -10,000 deaths in Manchuria.