Page 220 - Neglected Arabia 1902-1905

7

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF WORK
FOR THE WOMEN

AMY ]i. ZWI£Ml：U.

Many things have taken place tlic last few mouths and much
has happened to upset the even tenor of our way—if we ever
have an even tenor.
The bubonic plague came at the beginning of May just when
the weather was warming- up. Altho the constant passenger
and mail service, without quarantine, made it possible for plague
to reach us at any time ciuring' the past six years, yet until this
year these islands escaped infection from the dread disease. Even
now, as we write, we have almost forgotten the trying but inter­
esting experiences of May and June, As soon as the disease was
well established and p<anic had Uikcu possession of Iho people
¥ the dispensary patients dropped in numbers Y<-*ry suddenly, anti
• in the Woman’s dispensary almost entirely; just ail odd one would
venture to come. The story noised abroad was that the doctor
had taken the poison serum which he had sent for to Bombay and
had scattered it about the town and so infected the people; some
of them said that he had clone this in order to kill oft all the
Moslems and have a Christian island! Of course I was also im-
.plicated and interested in the same way. However t lie re were
some few of the poorer classes who dared to seek our assistance
and we were glad to help them in their distress, altho it was a
most difficult undertaking.
There was no segregation-camp and no government assist­
ance of any sort. Each patient remained in the place where ho
was and so we had to go from house to house each morning
with dressing-trays, stimulants and tonics. Every few days new
cases wore added to the list. Three women died uiulor treatment
from us but they wore in a precarious condition when the plague
overtook them and the high fever brought on secondary com­
plications, so that it was difficult to treat both symptoms at once,