WHERE CHOLERA IS WET-NURSED.

Star (Christchurch), 30 September 1893, Page 2

WHERE CHOLERA IS WET-NURSED.

HINDOO FAITH AND MOSLEM yy.y;' ■■■■;■ pii^ra. Pp_ ' ■ ■ -.(PeU Men Sudgri.) ■ . -it' th«- -sanitary Congress, Edinburgh, J__r EtneaOiart delivered -an interesting address on cholera, starting with the dicta : -—I. "That cholera is a filth disease, caftied by dirty people to dirty places, and diffused, hy specifically poisoned water.'* 2. : " That you may eat cholera, and drink cholera but you cannot catoh cholera.'* 3. "That choler may be considered for all practical purpose* as an exclusively water - carried disease, and that it is carried' only by water poisoned by human discharges." The region of the Lower Ganges he described as the home of cholera, largely Jn consequence of the hahits of the people, Bttd their constant use of foul water for drinking purposes. BEB mtXSOXt T-jUBS HOTBBM OF (JHOLEBA. Ur Bart described the fairs and bathingfestivals whioh are such a marked feature in Hindu life, and pointed. out their influence in disseminating disease. They are annually frequented by thousands of pilgrims. Not are theae merely * local Worshippers, drawn only from the graat watershed Which the Ganges . drains. "Wherever the Hindu faith extends, there the legend of the Ganges is believed, and { ao fcom every village in India come pilgrims to the holy stream, bringing with. them gpsnuß of such diseases as may then happen to be epidemic in their midst, or taking back with them to their villages suoh infections as they may pick up at the holy place. The fair is not only an exchange for merchandise, it beoomes a veritable clearing-Louse for contagion, to which each brings what .he has- and takes awz-y what he can carry. . Many illustra- i tions were given showing how disease waa transported into distant villages by return* ing villagers. At theße fairs and festivals thevery aim and object of tbeir pilgrimage is fo bathe in the sacred river and drink of its holy waters. Ia it, then, to be wondered at that, they suffer ? Amid so great a crowd, largely drawn from the " endemic area/ some one or other is sure to have the cholera ahd to foul the stream, giving to those Who .drink the foetid water in hope of sanctity an infection which quiokly brings about their death. ' £HB GBEAT SAIUTABY ___£_? B_.l___E_.T 01. 1891. A grand experiment, however, was tried In 1891.. A definite attempt wa3 made to deal with one of the greatest, and hitherto most dangerous, of these fairs, the Kumoh fair at Hardwar, on sanitary principles, and to see whether by that means it could be prevented from becoming the startingjwintof further mischief. Mr Hart gave a picturesque desoription of the proceedings atthe fair, and stated in detail the sanitary and administrative precautions which were taken, the extent of which will be best Appreciated by the fact that although the fair did not take place till April, the preparations were commenced in the presiding December, and tbat at the time Of the festival, besides Bengal cavalry, upwards of 1000 police were on duty to keep order, " that there was • a large sanitary patrol always inspecting the town aad camp, and that a force o. 1342 sweepers Was engaged for conservancy purposes, and eight temporary hospitals erected. Wh^n the trial came s*_3_B SYSTEM STOOD THE 4__ST_ Choleta was prevalent in the eastern districts, and cases were reported from the pilgrim -centres of Benares, Fjzabad, ted^.lahab^d during the period 'of the fair. . T^e, pilgrims coming from choleraInfeoted districts brought the infection frith them, and two people died of undoubted cholera at Hardwar during the {host" c'-OfWded period, but they were promptly isolated, and the infection did dot spread* No more cases arose in the town or camp, nor did the disease develop on the track of the dispersing pilgrims. And thus we had the novel experience of a Kumbh (fair at.Hardv.-_r without an epidemic of cholera spreading ail over the lurrounding country concurrently with the iispersion of the gathering. <FB_B __B BIXS-Ol- MECCA, AND THS BEUEDT. "We must now, said Mr Hart, turn our Attention to another great religious festival. A different religion, a different people, a concourse drawn together from a far wider area, but one wbich, like the Hsrdwfir fair of old, haa become a focus fthd a diffusion point of cholera— a cause Of death and disaster to the pilgrims and of dagger to the world. Mohammedanism Is not \dead, and Islam still remains the fc_ith ofi two hundred millions, or 14 per Cent of fhe human race; a-.faith which ie absolute *nd obedient, and which leads intelligent men— men of position, and Whose lives are cast itt pleasant places— to tuffer paimi and discomforts' which to an ordinary dilettante Christian would be absolutely intolerable, i a .her than break the commandments. Ambng 1 the ordinances; which t c.the faithful are commands, ia that of pilgrimage to Mecca. From Turkey, from a bei,t of couutry ..* ten ding eastwards across Asia td' the furthest confines of Malay and f_o__ thd whole of Africa, pilgrims set oi\t every year, turning their stepa towards Mecca, iv obedience to this oommand. From rihout 60,00.9 to over 100,000 each year attain their end, months, and sometimes years, having been devoted to th*. task, and sufferings and hardships undergone which it wonld be difficult to describe. V The citt oP nt&cgA. The city of Mecca ia meetly moHeirn, having beeh frequently devastated, Iby witter torrents from the hills around ; the streets aro, for an eastern city, broad a.nd •iry, but unpaved and filthy. Drainage does not exist ; water tbere is in plenty* The population is about 60,000 and Ye mainly supported by the proceeds of thy annual pilgrimage and by the manufacture df sacred relics. Compared with the Problem of dealing, witb. an Indian fair, fee purification of Mecca would seem by

no means an insuperable difficulty. Clean dry rocks, pure water, and. a blazing, desiccating sun are tbe materials on which we have to work ; man, and man only, is the difficulty. The proceedings of tbe pilgrims themselves, the ritual gone through by tham duriug their Btay, none of which they like to miss, little as its meaning m_y be ur;di>r. tood, also tend to spread the disease, if onca it be implanted among them. Tho march toArafa, the night spant therein devotion or in the crowded coffe9 booths, the "stand" by the Hill of Mercy, the rush to Micah, the sacrifices, th 9 intolerable stench from the thonaanda of slaughtered animals, the •• tawaf " or sevenfold Circuit bi the sanctuary, eaoh of the many thousand pilgrims kissing the black stone as he passes, the blazing hest, the intolerable thirst, the religious fervour which leads them to accept everything as holy which belongß to Mecca, all drive the unfortunate pilgrims to the consumptiou of tho vilest fluids under the name of water. The natnral functions must be attended to, the ground is defiled, there is no attempt at conservancy, the wells are poisoned . by filth, and if that happens to be choleraic, cholera breaks out. ■'• -,; THE W£___ 2A___AH. One of the observances iB especially dangerous. Next to tne Kaiba, the prinoipal point of interest in ,tbe Mosque is the wellZamzsm (Well of-Hagar), a deep shaft said to be the source from which Hag .r drew water for her eon Ishmael. The pilgrims are many, the well, however, is but one, and its water not plentiful atthe best, fot every one wishes to drink and to baths in these miraculous waters. Eaoh pilgrim in turn, stripped to the waist, stands^, eside the well While a bnoketof tbe water is poured over him; of this he eagerly drinks as ib flows from the bucket, the reßt flowing over his naked body, soaking through his loincloth, and streaming back into the wellto be used a«ain. His place is immediately taken by another and another, and bo on, each drinking the washings of the rest. A THOUSAND DEATHS A DAT. From June Bto June 25 this year there were 2201 deaths at Mecca, apd in one day, June 26, there were 499 at Minah and 500 at Mecca, making in a day 999 deaths. From June 26 to July 24 there were 499 deaths at Minah, 8408 at Mecca, and 303 at Jidda. Mecca 16 the place in which _ toatop the cholera.-' From every .point where cholera can originate .pilgrims, set ' out, each of whom may bring.with him 'the infection. All fcilgrimß, however, go to Mecca, where thay wait time enough to trap the cholera, and render it harmless if Mecca were but a cleanly place.