THE BLACK DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 23, 27 January 1911, Page 4

THE BLACK DEATH.

The news from, the Ear Kast concerning the ravages" of the ibubonic plague should be extremely to 'the whole civilised world. For wibhout' wishing to exaggerate*-in any way the danger of infection, even for a country, so far, remote as our own, we cannot afford, to shut our eyes to the truth that this^eadfM.pestilence'has frequently swept over- the continents, and transjmifctea ibseif across Oceans 'before, and

that the improved methods of communication which. -now .make the civilised world practically -one country- -may offer fatal facilities to .its terrible contagion, So" s far as the- outbreak has "progressed in China, seems to justify the Jnost J Serious ahirm. Tot the European doctors who have dealt with it describe it as Virulent .to an: unprecedented degree. j Few cases recover. Yersin's serum, which -bar'"done K '*plendia aniridia in I Warding toffi the .„'. bjibonic plague 'and keeping even serious oathreaEs Tn check, has failed fin this insttnceto stay jits ravages, the infectioh./is .spreading steadily southward from p|agne-strickeh c Manchuxia,'ahd.'the fofeignjrteidents are fleeing- for their -lives to 'tie coast; Al" '.ready Hl&'plague is'eaid approach-; ong Hankow j and '-'if it 'oin* galna iootl hold amqnjg .the teeteihg millions itt the Yang Tse toaaijjj one of ths most terrible

tragedies"reco'fdeE may i>e the result the fourteenth century {he Blftcki Deaffii': TSnich was merely tne btrbonie plague in.a special form, killed 13,000,000 people in China, and about far other icountriesv

It. then, decimated iEurope, destroying more than one-third of the population of England, and about one-half of the population of several.of the' Continental countries. Naturally we would not expect any contagious disease, to play such havoc in any civiHzed country to-day, in the face of ; the iiygienic amd sanitary defences thai sdience has already erected against it. Saii iwe lfflpV that the bubonic plague can 'be carried by the rat arid- its .parasites from ! any centre' of infection to the far ends of the earth; we are told that the- Chinese hunters, Ttfho ibrought? the disease down from the; uplands of Manchuria/ have Ibeen exporting their furs to the American markets; and these facts alone should 'be quite enough to arouse appWhenSi6n and alarm, in every country fin the' world, and to compel every seaport to enforce rigidly those precautions against the influx of rats, and .those ordinances for their destruction which in time of safety we are , always (inclined to ignore. :