THE ENGLISH MAIL.

West Coast Times, Issue 93, 4 January 1866, Page 3

THE ENGLISH MAIL.

CHOLERA AT SOUTHAMPTON.

The alarm excited by tho reported appearance of Asiatic cholera at Southampton, was intensified, writes the Argus London correspondent, by the advent of yellow fever at Swansea. Ncithe'r can be said to havo assumed an epidemic form, though numerous fatal cases have occurred. Tho history of the outbreak, of lever at Swansea is \ as follows : — The barque- Ilecla, from Cuba, ari'ived at the port in question a few weeks ago with a cargo of copper ore. The fact transpired, shortly after its arrival, that yellow* fever wns on board, and that one man had died of that disease on the day after the vessel reached Swansea. Tho mayor, on hearing of the circumstance, ordered the vessel to be fumigated, the clothes of the deceased to bo burnt, and other precautions to be taken. „ After the lapse of a few days, tho disease revealed itself in the town, and in another week some ton or twelve deaths had taken place. Its ravages have sinco been checked by a lowering of the temperature, and as the summer may now be regarded as at an end, it may be hoped that they will extend no further. The introduction of this terrible scourge of Africa, tho West Indies, and tropical America, to English soil, however, has naturally awakened considerable alarm, and had the importation occurred two or three months earlier, the loss of life would probably have been very severe. Dr Buchanan, physician to the London Fever Hospital, who was despatched by Government on tho first rumor to investigate the matter, is said to have expressed opinions of. a reassuring N character. It is only on the excitement of this untoward event that the local authorities of Swansea have appointed a medical officer for the borough, at a salary of LI 00 per annum !

Several undoubted cases of Asiatic cholera, have occurred at Southampton and some outlying villages. The first victim was a working man, about thirty years of age, who succumbed about 36 hours from his first attack. The illnes was ascribed to his having been engaged a few days previously in cleaning out a very offensive cesspool, and for s^me time past ho had been working on the steam mud-dredging machine in the harbor, which had brought on diarrhcoa. The second case was that of a woman^ living in a different part of the town ' and presented similar symptoms. Th c third was a highly respectable man, 6" years' of age, who was attended by fou v of the best medical practitioners of tho district; but all their efforts to savo his lifo wero in vain. Every symptom of the dreadful disease was present in this case. Several other deaths have taken place at Sliding Common and Bitterne, healthy spots, from two to four miles from Southampton, in the direction of Netley. Tho disease is not believed to havo been introduced by tho mail steamc.is.

Tho terrible disease has made its appcaranco at Sheffield and at Wisboach, and almost every week several cases aro reported in tho metropolitan bills of mortality. The victims are not numerous, but these sporadic cases, breaking out so capriciously, aro full of significance and warning. Tho most alarming instance of this kind has occurred at Epping, where twelvo cases of great virulence happened, of which five died. With tho exception of a medical man, who contracted tho disease and succumbed, tho victims all belonged to one household. The house which has suffered by this awful visitation is said to be beautifully situated on. rising ground ; but the drainage is very bad.

In France, tho ravages of the malady havo bpen % mpve Revere- and alarm-

ant has spread to Toulon, to Aries, Nomes, Sollies, Pont, La Cistul, aud to Paris. From Marseilles and Toulon there bus been a rather extensive emigration ; nnd in Paris, though every precaution is taken not to disquiet tho public mind, a slight panic has taken place. The apprehension, however, hns had reference more to tho possible developements of tho pestilence than to the losses which have been actually suffered. In Gibi altar, the deaths by cholera in two months amounted to about 470, in' a population of 24,000. In Malta, where tho disease appears to have died out, from fifty to sixty deaths occurred weekly for some time. In Madrid, great consternation has bucn excited by the havoc committed. There was for several days a regular stampede from tho city, and soldiers had to be placed at tho railway stations to keep order, for in their mad haste to get away, tho fugitives rushed into the trains without waiting to ta'cc tickets. Between 140 and 200 cases per day havo been reported. From, tho seaboard towns of Spain, from Constantinople, and the whole Turkish littoral of of tho Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, the epidemic is fast disappearing.