Show KISSES THAT DE depopulated POPULATED TOWNS red ruin ran like fire over tho little town of aurara curara in cuba as the result of a kiss and de populated the place within a few hours A spanish trading vessel chanced to anchor in the small natural harbor adjacent to aurara curara to kill time before proceeding to havana at which port she was not to arrive until a certain date leave was given to the crew to land and they went off in a body to aurara curara it was a rough crew picked up from the very scum of refuse population and included two or three who had been taken on to fill gaps naturally the first thing men did was to push their into a wine saloon where they drank until they could pay tor no more there was a young cuban girl in the saloon and her pretty face attracted tho attention of more than one member of the crew and conversation soon circled round her finally one of the sailors rushed up to and embraced her before she was aware of his intention the next instant he paid the price for the girls lover who chanced to be present without a moments hesitation struck him dead with a knife the death of their brutal companion kindled all the fierce passions in the sailor who were already mad with liquor and they dashed forward to kill the lover other men in the saloon however who had witnessed the tragedy drew knives to defend the murderer against the sailors and a pitched battle ensued the sailors were victorious and put to flight those men they did not kill or maim then they rushed out at cackin every one they met men women and children the news spread and the townspeople fled in terror before the bloodthirsty sailors away to the neighboring plantations without stopping to think what they did not caring to follow the fugitives for fear ot meeting police or soldiers the crew kept to the town and hunted high and low for any one upon whom they could pour out their hatred they found but few and thoe they killed from first to last fourteen men and two children fell their victims their own losses were but three not content with their revenge they set fire to every house which being lightly built ot woodburne wood burnt merrily within a few hours of their landing aurara curara was in ashes deserted but for its dead and to this day the name of the ship and the crew are unknown it was a kiss which practically depopp eden a town of sofe 1400 inhabitants in queensland A stranger tramped into the town one day and after refreshing himself at a little eat t t t ing house insisted on kisling the wife of the proprietor the latter was arca and laughed heartily at what he considered a fine joke tor hid spouse was past her prime and far attractive the stranger passed on along his way inland next day the woman was taken ill within forty eight hours she was dead and her husband and two children were dying when news went around that a violent disease bad broken out in the town most of those people who could leave hurried away at once some struck toward the coast others went inland A few of the latter passed en their way the body of uie stranger who had come into eden and kissed the innkeepers keepers inn wife ot those Ede nitea who chose or were to nore than one hundred lost their ic i c ars deith kiss it wn alv months ere the cp passed away altogether and nuri ei e i of people wh still travel ut of their wa to avoid the town s nov 1 deserted A similarly terrible kiss was given some years ago by a sailor to his sweetheart who lived in bandalo Can dalo a small port in florida plague broke out on the sailors vessel a few days before it reached florida and as it was flying the yellow flag when it ran into bandalo Can dalo it was put in quarantine and all leave was forbidden blut it happened that one ot the crew who believed himself to bo in the best possible health had a sweetheart in the town and lie octet mined to resist orders to go and see her lie managed to steal one of the ships boats and got ashore but it seemed as it he had risked all for nothing for he biad not found her when it became time for him to return to his ship if he wished to escape detection by his officers a hand in liis fate was playing game however for on his way to tle chero chehad moored his boat he ran across his sweetheart lie kissed her and told her what he had dared to have one word with lier and when sho heard ho halcome had come arom the ship in quarantine she fled arom him in terror but she fled too late for in the single kiss her lover had conveyed the fatal disease to her even though he was unaware he had it the girl died and the disease spread on the conr winds over the town within a terrible brief period more than two hundred persons in bandalo had died of the disease fear seized upon the townspeople and hundreds of them fled away from the stricken town which at the time of the plagues height was little better than a city of deserted dying |