Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 April 1900 — Ve[?]in sad Pestllence. [ARTICLE]

Ve[?]in sad Pestllence.

A case of bubonic plague has been discovered in Sydney, Australia, and it is said that the man stricken, who is a wharf laborer, was probably infected by the bite of a flea. In some places where this pestilence has broken out the main vehicle of infection Is believed to have been rats, and rewards havs been offered for every rat killed. In Western!.Africa, where malarial fever stakes great regions uninhabitable for white men not native bora, It is argued that mosquitoes cause the trouble. Their bites are considered the main source of danger. It will be interesting to watch the development of this line of scientific investigation. The world Is pretty well convinced that humanity Is warred upon, constantly and with deadly effect, by minute organisms perceptible only to the microscope, and it remains to be seen how much connection can be established between these microbes and the larger forms of animal life which are now believed to play a leading part ln spreading various diseases of the tnost serious character. It is possible that some of the smallest creatures which bother human beings, insects like fleas and mosquitoes, will be attacked, as the world grows older and wiser and more disposed to worry about Its health, with greater energy than has ever been shown ln hunting down wolves or venomous serpents. No one will mourn for the victims ln any war which may be waged upon the stinging, biting, buzzing, creeping things that are one of the greatest nuisances of warm countries and warm weather, even if they are not considered a sohree of disease or danger.— Cleveland Leader.