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Show THE 11!..U-K l.KATH. i In tiie fourteenth cen'ury a fr.ufi.il dii'.a?e bruke out .nnidst the di'iice population of thn Cuim-fi r in pi re. People lell in myr..:ds, and death iVl-lowtd iVl-lowtd io rpidiy after the first eymp tonid thai the wtll wt re appal. td at.d died from tht-er fiiybt. tiltei-u millions mil-lions ditd in Chin-, and the poor wretches lltd trotu lb- iulected districts dis-tricts to carry the contagion lo other lands. The mortulity was increased until Ihe u ir was inftcti-d ovtr liu; whole of the eajUrn hemisphere, aid lhat pirt of the world was a vast charm-1 house, with putrid corpses fettering every whore; no ordinary corruption, bu'. livid, swollen bodies, flecked with Idbck sjKits, f'rm which oozi d the poison which channel the beulihy lisstics into fjul odurs, and the strong man of ihe morning, ere tho Hie iiiu went dowa, wis a decomposing decom-posing mass (Hi the turlaue ot tho earth, to rot in the darLnens and add to tue con lag ion. The uluio.-phere was impregnated with de..th. When the sun rose, it reefcul from the foil, and the morning brei z- wafted it, dark aid dismal, lo laudd beyond the 1 seua. Tho worst plagues of lurmer years eeemed mild in comparison, and it appean d as though sumo malignant, power had obtained control, con-trol, and waa determined lo depopulate depopu-late the world. Not mercifully, as when the deluge swept over city and country, hiding ihe last throes beneath the curtain ot water, but driving the victims to such a horrid and learlul end Lhat demoniacal demonia-cal malice waa at a loss to inveut further torture. When the World became eo wicked mat only the chosen few were spared, the avenging deity whs merciful in the puuUhment. Husband and wile, pureni and child, lover and m stress sank in each other's embrace, and when the waves closed over them, the soul took flight in visions of rupture. There might be a shiver as the hist look was taken of the leaden sky; there might be a gasp or two as the lunga collapsed, but after lhat there wi-re brilliant imaginings, and then the relief of sinking into a sweet slumber. The black demon punished thoso who were left worse than Ihe victims, lor a few hours ended thiir suflerings in oblivion, while the survivors could never forget, never overcome, tho bideouanets they had witnessed. II memory reunited ibe lair face, the graceful form, that image was aupplauttd by features distorted out of human shape, the body bloated and bursting like that which tho waves cast on the beach. Tne transformation trans-formation was so rapid that the aflrighud k'okers-on rushed from the companionship while there was still sigUG of recognition in the bloodshot eye, and while the black protruding toDgue was vainly endeavoring to articulate its wan id. Onco stricken, every tie was sundered, and if t single cupful of water would have brought relief there was not a hand to minister to the neetl. The child, which maternal affection ; had cherished, was cast from the bosom in loathing, and the ardent, lover fled in dismay from the presence 1 which bad been tho eun ol his existence. exist-ence. A corpse could not be so revolting, revolt-ing, for Lheeo were living corpses a soul still haunting a body decayed, putrid, horrible too horrible to contemplate. con-template. Fifty two millions, at tho lowest computation, were the victims. For fifteen je irs it was confined io China, and it took a quarter ol a century to eradicate it after it got a foothold in Europe. What guaranteo ia there against a recurrence of this black death ? What assurance ia there that the hordes of Asiatics, if again that plague breaks out, will not overrun over-run this con u try in their eflorts to escape ? 'They are acquiring the arts of navigation, and purchasing ebips to take the place of the junks so that wide oceatiB are not barriers and with the right to come in unlimited numbers, fleets will take the place of single vessels, disembarking multitudes multi-tudes in lieu of hundreds. Already the cable tells that the rineaso is spreading ii Russia, and tho nations to the westward are adopting Btringent quarantine regulations. Eastward and to the 60Ulb is China, and it may be, ns it was five centuries ago, that it originated among the four hundred millions crowded, in some ineUnces, into the smallest space, where the fluid they breathe is thick with offensive offen-sive emanations. Who can say that it will not break out in the holds ot veeeelsin which a thousand are huddled, hud-dled, or in the dens of Dupont streot, or the cellars on a level with the sewers, where tho Mongolians work, eat and eluep ? If other nations can establish quarantine regulations for self preservation, who should California Califor-nia be debarred from protection 7 Why Bhould it be contrary to international inter-national law for the United Statea to do what Germany and Austria accomplish ac-complish ? Ban Francisco Call. |
