PLAGUE RIOTS AT CAWNPORE.
Not many days ago there came over the wires from India the information that the government in India had decided to make less stringent regulations in regard to the plague; but there was no indication that the officials were practically forced to do this on account of the growing hostility of the natives. The following extract from a letter to the New York Observer, by Rev. J. J. Lucas, explains the necessity for this step :— "It is now four years since the plague made its appearance in Bombay, and in spite of all the efforts of government, it has been as virulent the last few months as at any time since it appeared. City after city has been smitten, and now for some months it has taken root in Calcutta. No one really knows the number of deaths, as the people refuse to report such cases as long as they can, in order to escape the plague regulations, especially the segregation of the patients in hospitals provided by the government. Last week the Hindus and Mohammedans of the city of Cawnpore united, and without a word of warning, made a rush for the Plague Hospital, burning it to the ground in broad daylight, killing four or five policemen who were on duty at the hospital, and throwing their bodies into the burning building. "The troops were called out, but the mob defied them, and when scattered in one place they gathered quickly in another. The European women and children on the railway lines fled for protection to the railway station and spent the night there. The ladies of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Mission, with native Christian girls, took refuge in the church. No provisions could be had from the city. The servants of Europeans were waylaid by the mob and robbed of the provisions they were taking to the European quarter of the city. All the shops and mills were closed, and business suspended for several days. Sir Anthony McDonnell, governor of the province, hastened to Cawnpore, and by the issue of a proclamation practically leaving the plague regulations in the hands of the people, restored quiet. Thus the mob overawed the authorities and had their way. "This has opened the eyes of not a few to see what a seething volcano we sleep on in India, one ready to burst forth at any time and swallow up every European and Christian in the country. One of the remarkable features of the riot is the sudden and cordial union of the Hindus and Mohammedans, both bodies seemingly at one in the determination to sweep away the plague regulations, and failing that to—well, do what they can to sweep away the British Government. The most monstrous stories were circulated to arouse the animosity of the people, i. e., that the government burns to death the sick in the plague hospitals, and thus strives to stamp out the plague. During the riot a report was circulated that the government intended poisoning the water in the water works and thus bring the people of the city to terms. When such stories are circulated and believed, one understands how quickly the mass of the people, only seven in a hundred able to read, can be aroused by designing men and incited to deeds of cruelty and violence." The English Government dares not risk the possibility of an Indian rebellion while its hands are so thoroughly tied in Africa and China. s.