Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
With the plague widely diffused over the Indian empire, what measures
have been taken to prevent its spread to other parts of the world?
There are two routes by means of which the disease may pass from India
to Europe. One of these is by ship through the Red Sea, the Suez
Canal, and the Mediterranean; the other is overland from the
northwestern provinces of India through Afghanistan into southeastern
Europe. In fact, there are three overland routes from northwestern
India into Europe. One of these leads from Lahore, the capital of the
Punjab, through Afghanistan into the Transcaspian Province of Russia.
The Transcaspian Railway extends from Samarkand, a place of about
thirty-five thousand inhabitants, through the desert to the Caspian
Sea at Ouzoun Ada. The latter place is connected by steamer with Baku
and the Russian railroad system. The second overland route starts from
the northwestern provinces, or Afghanistan, or Baluchistan, passes
through Persia, extending on up between the Caspian and Black Seas,
and crosses the Caucasus Mountains in the neighborhood of Tiflis. Both
of these routes are quite extensively traveled and pass through cities
of considerable commercial importance. Samarkand has extensive
manufactures of cotton and silk, and carries on considerable trade by
means of the Transcaspian Railway with European Russia. The second
route passes through Teheran, the capital of Persia, with a population
of about two hundred and twenty-five thousand. This route is also
largely employed by commercial travelers, especially from Russia. The
third overland route passes through Persia and Turkey in Asia up to
Constantinople. This route can not be called a commercial highway, but
it is used to a considerable extent, especially by pilgrims, and since
at no point do travelers along this route come in contact with
European guards against the plague, it is most likely that the pest
will find its way into Constantinople by this avenue, if at all. The
first two overland routes are guarded by Russian medical inspectors.
Russia has not been slow to protect itself against the introduction of
this epidemic. In December, 1896, the following lines of action were
determined upon, and have apparently since that time been carried out
quite thoroughly: First, Russian medical men were sent to the larger
cities of Persia, such as Teheran and Meshed, for the purpose of
watching the approach of the plague. All Russian consular officers in
Persia were requested to inform these medical men of every rumor of
the epidemic. Second, points of embarkation on the Persian shore of
the Caspian Sea have been watched, in order to detect suspicious cases
that might pass to Russia along this route. Third, observation
stations have been established along the frontiers of the Transcaspian
Province. Inspection officers stationed at these places have been
notified to close the frontier, with the exception of certain points
where inspection stations have been established.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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