JIM and others, Cholera was very prevalent in the European theatre as well as the US in the 1800s. I found one of my gr grandfathers in the Cholera death index in Sicily during that time, too. People just did not wash things like we do today. And did not bathe themselves on a regular basis either. Working on the fishing boats back in Sicily, they probably thought there was not reason to wash, as they were dipping their hands in the salty water working as fisherman. Gosh, they sure must have smelled. No wonder they had to have arranged marriages. I don't think I would have come very close any man who fished all day and did not bathe. Whew! Sharon Bognar Reif