Ted on our list wrote me of how this cholera tip hit home and it reminded me of something I'd like to share. Cholera was fast acting in most instances and the agony the people who had it endured was unbelievable. As an instance, here in Glasgow in 1854, when the cholera hit after a traveling circus infected the town; over 1/2 of the population died. There was no known cure really despite the various concoctions that people tried. Here it was suggested that pine tar be poured into a bucket of water, strirred and the water drunk. It didn't help. If one touched the body or clothes of an individual with cholera, they would contract the disease also. People dropped like flies. At first, the local coffin maker was called on to make coffins and somehow they got the body into a makeshift coffin, not touching the body. But as the epidemic spread, he couldn't keep up and furniture makers, neighbors and friends were called on to make coffins. They couldn't keep up. So finally it became necessary just to dig a grave where the people fell and taking a shovel or whatever was available, roll the body into the grave. The individual's clothes or whatever he had touched could not be handled by anyone else either, these were all burned. Here in Glasgow it is recorded that there were bodies buried all around the square. At this time Glasgow was smaller of course and there were private residences around the square, primarily on the top floor of the businesses. This is what caused the epidemic to last so long here, during the rainy season the rains were washing over the bodies of those who had been buried around the square and flowing down to the Big Spring that was the main watering source for the town. It was contaminating the water, people were drinking the water, bathing in it, letting their livestock wade in it ... and the epidemic went on for months until someone figured it out. I have spoken before on the list, way back when, that Glasgow was isolated during this epidemic. No other town would come in to help and the food supplies ran out. A farmer who had a grist mill offered grain and what foodstuffs as he could provide and his beloved slave drove his wagon right into town weekly and unloaded. The slave did not get the cholera; he was the town's angel believe me. It is noted that the names of many of those who died were never recorded; there were so many deaths, so fast, that the peoople were buried on the spot. In the vital statistics kept for that year, there are hundreds of deaths recorded due to the cholera or other similar diseases which looked like and were kin to cholera. But there are many that never were recorded. We had two doctors and they did all they could. With all that sadness ... have yourself a good weekend!! Sandi Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/