In China's Capital

Cholera, which raged in Calcutta in May, got out of hand in Chungking in June. China's crowded, noisome wartime capital, which gets part of its water supply from the same river which receives its garbage and sewage (and the rest of its water wherever handy), is almost helpless against the disease. Last week the pestilence was still spreading -- 8,000 cases to date, of which about 20% have died.

City officials have done what they could. They condemned the sale of fresh fruits (which might carry the bacteria), dumped boatloads of peaches in the river, where children drowned diving for them. They made a dent in garbage and "night soil" accumulations by having laborers lug the filth away on foot. They appropriated over $2,000,000 for burying corpses which had been left to decompose. They began construction of a 6,000-ton reservoir.

Sewage Flood. But heavy rains caused sewers to flood the city ten feet deep in some places. The price of coffins rose 150%, the cost of prayers for the soul soared from $5,000 to $15,000. And the need for both coffins and prayers increased because the people trusted garlic (almost unobtainable at $20 to $50 a stem), and red paper crosses pinned on their doors to prevent cholera. Others found a rooster tied to a corpse more efficacious. Many heard that a stagnant pool behind a certain temple would save them, and the police had to drive away would-be drinkers.

U.S. medical men fought the epidemic. The Army sprayed with DDT (to cut down disease-bearing flies). The Navy gave free immunizing injections to thousands of Chinese. U.S. doctors have tried to stop the local practice of bleeding, which reduces body fluids already depleted by the disease. (All U.S. troops and officials going to potential cholera areas are immunized and none have caught cholera in Chungking. The Norwegian ambassador, Alf Hassel, caught it, but is recovering.) UNRRA dispatched seven experts, tons of water-purifying and other equipment to Chungking.

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