Chapter LXXIX: Section IV (6)

From that time there appears to have been a nearly steady
subsidence of the disease until the following September, when
it showed renewed virulence at Poona, and began to be newly
spread, invading districts in the Punjab and elsewhere outside
of the Bombay Presidency. By the middle of November Poona was
substantially empty of inhabitants, except those stricken with
the disease and those who bravely cared for the sick and dying.
In December there was a fresh outbreak in Bombay, which soon
became more deadly than that of the previous winter and
spring. By the beginning of February, 1898, and through March,
the deaths from plague alone in Bombay had risen above a
thousand a week. Then another subsidence occurred, followed by
another recrudescence of the disease in August, and another
decline in October. But the variations in other districts were
not uniform with those in Bombay. At the end of 1898, the
total of mortality from plague in all the afflicted districts
of India, reckoning from the beginning, was believed to exceed
100,000, including 70,000 in the Bombay Presidency and Sind
(28,000 in the city of Bombay), and 2,000 in the Punjab. In
Calcutta there had been but 150 deaths. Although the measures
taken for checking the spread of the pestilence were far less
stringent than they would have been among people more capable
of understanding what they meant and what their importance
was, they alarmed the religious jealousies of both the Hindus
and the Mohammedans, and were resisted and resented with
dangerous fury at a number of times. At Poona, in June, 1897,
two British officials were murdered by young Brahmins, who had
been excited to the deed by native journals, the language of
which was so violent that the government found it necessary to
prosecute several for sedition. At Bombay, in March, 1898,
when the plague was at its worst, there were very serious
riots, in which a number of Europeans were killed, and troops
were called to the help of the police before the frenzied mob
could be overcome.

Again, in 1899, there was a revival of the disease in India,
especially at Bombay, during the winter, with a decline in
April and fresh virulence in September. At the end of the year
the estimate of total mortality from plague in India since the
beginning was 250,000.

Of the wider spreading of the pestilence during 1900 the
following summary of information is given in the annual report
of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, in connection
with details of quarantine measures: "The Surgeon-General
reports that plague has been more widely distributed during
the year than was ever known in history, and for the first
time obtained lodgment in the Western Hemisphere, at Santos,
Brazil, in October, 1899. By this it is not meant that the
disease has been actually more prevalent than before, but that
its points of contact have embraced nearly every civilized
country in the world, though its prompt recognition and
application of modern methods have either entirely prevented
its spread or have caused it to disappear after a short period
of infection. The scientific knowledge of the disease renders
it far less to be dreaded than before, but increase in rapid
communication between different parts of the world facilitates
its transportation. In illustration, the fact is cited that 20
vessels have been reported, arriving at as many principal
seaports in different parts of the world, on which plague was
discovered on arrival or had manifested itself during the
voyage. As heretofore, its chief ravages have been in India,
where preventive measures have been hindered by religious
fanaticism. In India during the year there were 66,294 deaths.
Notable outbreaks of the disease occurred in Kobe and in
Formosa, Japan, at Oporto, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Honolulu,
Sydney, Mauritius, Hongkong, and Glasgow.

"In December, 1899, on account of the apparent spread of this
disease, 12 commissioned officers were detailed by order of
the President for duty in the offices of the United States
consuls at the principal ports in England and on the
Continent. In June, the disease fortunately not having become
as widespread as anticipated, they were recalled, with the
exception of five, who are still retained for the purpose of
furnishing information and for service at any needed point.
Two of those thus retained, when the plague was announced at
Glasgow, Scotland, on August 28, 1900, were immediately sent
to that point and began inspection of vessels for the United
States and also for Canada, by request of that Government,
thus enabling vessels to be entered at ports on this side
without undue restraint. In the laboratory of the Service,
scientific investigations as to the viability of the plague
bacillus and the methods and efficiency of disinfection have
been conducted, and the results, together with excerpts from
all available literature hearing upon the prevention of
plague, have been published in the Public Health Reports,
forming, for this year, a volume containing most complete
information upon this disease. About 700,000 doses of
Haffkine's prophylactic were also prepared in the laboratory
and sent to the United States quarantine officers at home and
abroad, together with large quantities of Yersin's serum,
purchased early in the year from the Pasteur Institute in
Paris. In these two preparations, the one (Haffkine) a
prophylactic and the other (Yersin) both prophylactic and a
cure, the Surgeon-General says that science has effective
methods of combating the spread of this disease."

_United States, Secretary of the Treasury,
Annual Report, December 4, 1900._

The "antitoxin, or serum, first prepared by Professor Haffkine
as a plague inoculation, called Haffkine's prophylactic, is
now being used in Bombay and western India with remarkable
results. This prophylactic is prepared by first taking the
plague bacilli, or the young germs, from a person affected
with the plague and cultivating them. These microbes are
killed by artificial means and a high degree of heat. From
these dead germs and their poisonous excrements is produced a
fluid that is believed to have acquired the power, when
injected into the human system, to render the blood immune
from the attack of plague germs and to neutralize their
effect. The injection of such a poison has the effect of an
antitoxin and prevents the system from nourishing plague. A
dead plague germ being inoculated into a person, plague will
not follow. A person after having one attack of the disease is
rarely liable to a second. The person first inoculated is
subject to symptoms of the plague.
{406}
In vaccination for smallpox
a living germ is dealt with, whereas in plague inoculation
dead seed only are injected. … Inoculation is exceedingly
unpopular among the natives. The government has had great
labor in persuading the Hindoo mind of the efficacy of
Haffkine's prophylactic against plague and at the same time of
its utter harmlessness in every other respect. The Hindoo is
suspicious that the dead germs and their toxic excreta may be
of animal rather than vegetable substance, which would make
the injection of the fluid into their body a religious
offense."

_United States Consular Reports,
January, 1900, page 101._

"In the present epidemic, plague-spots are scattered over the
whole face of the globe from Sydney to Santos and Hongkong,
and recently from San Francisco suspicious cases have been
reported. The annual pilgrimage of Moslems to worship at the
shrines of Mecca and Medina is now, as in the past, of all
human agencies, the most active in spreading the pest. … Since
Egypt is nearest, plague first appears there in the seaport
towns, particularly Alexandria. Sanitary conditions have
improved vastly, like economics, under British control; and,
last year, what in other times might have been a devastating
epidemic was limited to relatively a few scattered cases.
Recognizing the danger to themselves, the European powers have
been led to take steps, under the Venice Convention, for their
own protection. An international quarantine, under the control
of the Egyptian Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Council, in
which the powers have one vote each and Egypt three, has
established stations at two points on the Red Sea."

_American Review of Reviews,
May, 1900._

PLATT AMENDMENT, The.

See (in this volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).

PLURAL VOTING.

See (in this volume)
BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895.

PLYMOUTH COLONY:
Return of the manuscript of Bradford's History to
Massachusetts.

See (in this volume)
MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1897.

POET LAUREATE.

To the line of English Poets Laureate (see, in volume 3,
LAUREATE, ENGLISH POETS), there was added on the 1st of
January, 1896, the name of Alfred Austin, succeeding Tennyson,
who died October B, 1892.

POLAND, Russian:
Relaxation of oppressions.

See (in this volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1897.

POLAR EXPLORATION, Arctic and Antarctic:
A chronological record.

Until quite recent years, the antarctic region had had few
explorers. In 1598-9 Dirk Gerritz was carried south by a storm
and found land, probably the South Shetlands, at 64° South
latitude. Capt. Cook made two antarctic voyages, in the second
one reaching latitude 71° 10' South, at longitude 106° 54'
West, sailing entirely around the southern ocean in a high
latitude, and discovering many islands. In a Russian
expedition, 1819-21, Bellinghausen discovered Peter I. Island
and Alexander I. Land. Enderby Land was discovered by John
Biscoe in 1831-2. In 1840-3 the great English expedition under
Captain (afterward Sir) James Ross, in the Erebus and Terror,
discovered and named Victoria Land, and reached latitude 78°
11', February 23, 1842. The continent which Captain Charles
Wilkes claimed to have discovered in 1840 has not been found
by later explorers. In 1874 the Challenger was turned back by
the ice in latitude 66° 43' South.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1892-1893.

Whaling voyage of the Dundee vessels, the Balæna, Active,
Diana and Polar Star, equipped for geographical observation by
the Royal Geographical Society and others interested, carrying
William S. Bruce, C. W. Donald, and W. G. Burn Murdoch.
Accompanied by the Norwegian sealer Jasen, under Captain
Larsen. South Shetlands and Graham Land visited and valuable
observations made.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1893-1900.
Scientific exploration of Labrador by A. P. Low.
Operations still in progress.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1894-1895.

Commercial voyage of the Norwegian whaler Antarctic, under
Captain Kristensen, sent by Captain Svend Foyn, fitted out by
H. J. Bull, and carrying the scientist C. E. Borchgrevinck.
The valuable right whale was not found, but large beds of
guano were discovered in Victoria Land, where a landing was
made near Cape Adare.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.

Return of Peary relief expedition with Lieutenant Robert E.
Peary and his companions. In spite of great difficulties
Lieutenant Peary had again crossed the ice-sheet to
Independence Bay, determined the northern limits of Greenland,
charted 1,000 miles of the west coast, discovered eleven
islands and the famous Iron Mountain (three great meteorites),
and obtained much knowledge of the natives. The purely
scientific results of the expedition are of great value. The
relief expedition was organized by Mrs. Peary.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.
Cruise of Mr. Pearson and Lieutenant Feilden in Barents Sea.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.

Return of Martin Ekroll from Spitzbergen after a winter's
study of the ice conditions there. Convinced that his plan of
reaching the pole by a sledge journey had little chance of
success.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.

Survey of the lower Yenesei River and Obi Bay by Siberian
hydrographic expedition.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.

Commercial expedition of Captain Wiggins from England to
Golchika, at the mouth of the Yenesei.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.

Russian geological expedition to Nova Zembla.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895.

Russian expedition under the geologist Bogdanovich to the Sea
of Okhotsk and Kamchatka.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1895-1896.

Two scientific voyages of the Danish cruiser Ingolf
in the seas west and east of Greenland.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Summer expedition of naturalists and college students to the
northern coast of Labrador.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Attempt of Lieutenant Peary to remove the great meteorite
discovered by him at Cape York, Greenland. After dislodging it
he was compelled by the ice to leave it. Small parties from
Cornell University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and one under Mr. George Bartlett, left by Peary at different
points to make scientific observations and collections,
returned with him.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Hydrographical survey of the Danish waters of Greenland and
Iceland.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Hansen sent to Siberia to look for traces of Nansen.

{407}

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Return of Dr. Nansen from voyage begun in 1893. After skirting
the coast of Siberia almost to the Lena delta, the Fram was
enclosed by the ice and drifted with it north and northwest.
On March 14, 1895, in 84° 4' North latitude, 102° East
longitude, Nansen and Johansen left the Fram and pushed
northward with dogs and sledges across an ice floe till they
reached latitude 86° 13.6', at about 95° West longitude, on
April 8, within 261 statute miles of the pole. With great
difficulty they made their way to Franz Josef Land, where they
wintered, and in June met explorer Jackson. Returning on the
Jackson supply steamer Windward, they reached Vardö August 13.
The Fram drifted to latitude 85° 57' North, 66° East
longitude, then southwestward, reaching Tromsoë August 20,
1896. Nansen demonstrated the existence of a polar sea of
great depth, comparatively warm below the surface, apparently
with few islands; though he did not find the trans-polar
current he sought.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Spitzbergen crossed for the first time, by Sir W. Martin
Conway and party.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Many parties visit the northern coast of Norway and Nova
Zembla to view the total eclipse of the sun, August 8-9.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1896.

Expedition sent by Russian Hydrographic Department to find
site for a sealers' refuge in Nova Zembla. Bielusha Bay, on
the southwest coast, chosen.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Expedition sent by Canadian government to investigate Hudson
Bay and Strait as a route to Central Canada. Passage found to
be navigable for at least sixteen weeks each summer.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Seventh Peary expedition to Greenland. Accompanied by parties
for scientific research. Preliminary arrangements made with
the Eskimos for the expedition of 1898, and food-stations
established. Relics of Greeley's expedition found on Cape
Sabine, and the great meteorite at Cape York brought away at
last.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Second expedition of Sir Martin Conway for the exploration of
Spitzbergen.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

A summer resort established on west coast of Spitzbergen, with
regular steamer service for tourists during July and August.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Cruise of Mr. Arnold Pike and Sir Savile Crossley among the
islands east of Spitzbergen.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Cruise of Mr. Pearson and Lieutenant Feilden in the Laura in
the Kara Sea and along the east coast of Nova Zembla, for the
purpose of studying the natural history of the region.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Expedition of F. W. L. Popham with a fleet of steamers through
Yugor Straits to the Yenesei.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Hydrological and commercial expedition, comprising seven
steamers, under Rear-Admiral Makaroff, sent by the Russian
government to the north Siberian sea.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Balloon voyage of Salamon August Andrée and two companions,
Mr. Strindberg and Mr. Fraenkel, starting from Danes' Island,
north of Spitzbergen, in the hope of being carried to the
pole. Four buoys from the balloon have been found. The first,
found in Norway in June, 1899, and containing a note from
Andrée, was thrown out eight hours after his departure. The
"north pole buoy," to be dropped when the pole was passed, was
found empty on the north side of King Charles Island,
north-east of Spitzbergen, September 11, 1899. A third buoy,
also empty, was found on the west coast of Iceland July 17,
1900. Another, reported from Norway, August 31, 1900,
contained a note showing that the buoy was thrown out at 10 P.
M., July 11, 1897, at an altitude of 250 metres (820 feet),
moving North 45 East, with splendid weather. Many search
expeditions, some equipped at great expense, have returned
unsuccessful. In spite of many rumors nothing definite is
known of the fate of any of the party. One message from Andrée
was brought back by a carrier pigeon. It was dated July 13,
12.30 P. M., in latitude 82° 2', longitude 12° 5' East, and
stated that the balloon was moving eastward.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

New islands on the southern coast of Franz Josef Land
discovered by Captain Robertson of the Dundee whaler Balæna.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Return of Jackson-Harmsworth expedition from three years'
exploration of Franz Josef Land and the region north of it.
Franz Josef Land was resolved into a group of islands and
almost entire]y mapped. Small parties journeying northward
over the ice, establishing depots of supplies, the most
northern in latitude 81° 21', discovered and named Victoria
Sea, the most northern open sea in the world.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897.

Anglo-Australasian antarctic conference in London.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897-1899.

Journey of Andrew J. Stone through the Canadian Rockies, down
Mackenzie River and along the arctic coast, in search of rare
mammals and information concerning the native tribes. Mr.
Stone often had only one companion. He traveled rapidly, in
one period of five months covering 3,000 miles of arctic coast
and mountains, between 70° and 72° North latitude and between
117½° and 140° West longitude.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1897-1899.

Belgian antarctic expedition under Captain Adrien de Gerlache
to lands south of America. Sailed from Antwerp to explore and
chart coast line, expecting to leave party to winter at Cape
Adare and explore interior. Near Alexander I. Land the Belgica
caught in the ice pack and held for a year, drifting as far
south as latitude 71° 36', in longitude 87° 39' West. Finally
released by the cutting of a canal through the ice. This
dreary winter the first spent by men far enough south to lose
sight of the sun. The continent found to be mountainous,
glaciated, and without land animals except a few insects,
though sea fowl abounded. One flowering grass, and a few
mosses, rock lichens, and fresh-water algæ constitute the
flora. Some 500 miles of coast chartered.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Expedition of Dr. K. J. V. Steenstrup to Greenland to study
the glaciers of Disko island.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Completion by Dr. Thoroddsen of his systematic exploration of
Iceland, begun in 1881.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Spitzbergen circumnavigated and surveyed by Dr. A. G.
Nathorst. Coast mapped and important scientific observations
made.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Pendulum observations made in Spitzbergen by Professor J. H.
Gore, with instruments of the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey, for the determination of the force of gravity in that
latitude.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Cruise of Prince Albert of Monaco, on coast of Spitzbergen,
for the purpose of making scientific observations.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Some claim to Spitzbergen made by Russia. Never before claimed
by any nation.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

German arctic expedition under Theodor Lerner to the islands
east of Spitzbergen, for scientific purposes and to obtain
news of Andrée if possible.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Andrée search expedition under J. Stadling sent to the Lena
delta, the mouth of the Yenesei and the islands of New Siberia
by the Swedish Anthropological and Geographical Society.

{408}

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Conference on antarctic exploration held in the rooms of
the Royal Society, London, February 24.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898-1899.

Reconnoitring expedition by Danish party under Lieutenant G.
C. Amdrup, to east coast of Greenland. Coast explored and
mapped from Angmagsalik, 65¾ North latitude, to 67° 22'.
Remains of a small extinct Eskimo settlement found.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898-1899.

Second attempt by Walter Wellman to reach the north pole.
Wintered in Franz Josef Land, establishing an outpost, called
Fort McKinley, in latitude 81° North. In February Mr. Wellman,
with three companions, started northward and seemed likely to
succeed in their undertaking, but a serious accident befalling
Mr. Wellman, and an icequake destroying many dogs and sledges,
a hurried return to headquarters was necessary. Here important
scientific observations were made. The 82d parallel was
reached by the explorer.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898-1899.

German expedition for deep-sea exploration in antarctic
waters, in charge of Professor Carl Chun, on the Valdivia.
Southern ocean found to be of great depth.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898-1900.

British antarctic expedition under Borchgrevinck to Victoria
Land; the funds provided by Sir George Newnes. Latitude 78°
50' South reached, and the present position of the southern
magnetic pole determined.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.

Carefully planned expedition of Lieutenant Peary, purposing to
advance toward the pole by west coast of Greenland,
establishing food stations and depending upon picked Eskimos
for co-operation with his small party. In the last dash for
the pole, supply sledges to be sent back as emptied, and the
returning explorer, with two companions only, to be met by a
relief party of Eskimos. The Windward was presented by Mr.
Harmsworth for this expedition. Lieutenant Peary was disabled
for several weeks in 1898-9 by severe frost-bites, causing the
loss of seven toes. The Greeley records were found at Fort
Conger and sent back by the annual supply vessel. Sextant and
record of the Nares expedition found and sent back; presented
by Lieutenant Peary to the Lords of the Admiralty of Great
Britain and placed in the museum of the Royal Naval College at
Greenwich. Vessel sent to Greenland each summer to carry
supplies and bring back letters, carrying also small parties
of explorers, scientists, university students and hunters, to
be left at various points and picked up by the vessel on its
return.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1898.
Expedition of Captain Sverdrup to northern Greenland
Lieutenant Peary's especial field.

Having planned a polar expedition similar to Peary's he sailed
up the west coast, but the Fram was frozen in near Cape
Sabine. Sverdrup therefore explored the western part of
Ellesmere Land, then sailed again in an attempt to round the
northern coast of Greenland.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

International conference held at Stockholm in June recommended
a program for hydrographical and biological work in the
northern parts of the Atlantic ocean, the North Sea, the
Baltic, and adjoining seas.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Scientific expedition of Edward Bay, a Dane, to Melville Bay,
Greenland.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Swedish expedition under Dr. A. G. Nathorst to search for
Andrée in eastern Greenland. Valuable observations made and
fjord-systems of King Oscar Fjord and Kaiser Franz Josef Fjord
mapped.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Explorations in Iceland by F. W. W. Howell and party.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Hydrographic surveys on the coasts of Iceland and the Färoe
Islands by MM. Holm and Hammer in the Danish guard-ship Diana.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Joint Russian and Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen, for the
measurement of a degree of the meridian. Owing to the
condition of the ice, the northern and southern surveying
parties unable to connect their work.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Explorations in Spitzbergen by the Prince of Monaco, with a
scientific staff.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Successful experimental voyage of the Russian Vice-Admiral
Makaroff in his ice-breaking steamer, the Yermak, north of
Spitzbergen.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Russian government expedition, to cost £5,400, to explore
northern shores of Siberia to mouths of the Obi and Yenesei.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899-1900.

Arctic expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi. His ship, the
Stella Polare, was left at Crown Prince Rudolf Land during the
winter. The Duke became incapacitated by a fall and by the loss
of two joints from the fingers of his left hand, incurably
frost-bitten; but a small party under Captain Cagni pushed
northward till provisions were exhausted. Nansen's record was
beaten, the Italian party reaching latitude 86° 33', at about
56° East longitude. No land was found north or northwest of
Spitzbergen. Three men were lost from Cagni's party.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1899.

Exploration of Ellesmere Land, Greenland, by Dr. Robert Stein,
of the United States Geological Survey, Dr. Leopold Kann of
Cornell, and Samuel Warmbath of Harvard, who took passage in
the Peary supply ship Diana, trusting to chance for conveyance
home. Their totally inadequate outfit was generously augmented
by Peary's friends of the Diana. Dr. Kann returned in 1900,
leaving Dr. Stein.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Seward peninsula, the most westward extension of Alaska,
explored and surveyed by five government expeditions.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Exploration of the interior of northern Labrador by a party
from Harvard University. Soundings along the coast by schooner
Brave.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Second Danish expedition under Lieutenant Amdrup to east
Greenland, completing the work of 1898-9 by mapping the coast
between 67° 20' North and Cape Gladstone, about 70° North, and
making valuable scientific collections.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Swedish expedition, under Gustav Kolthoff, to eastern
Greenland, for study of the arctic fauna.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Swedish scientific expedition of Professor G. Kolthoff to
Spitzbergen and Greenland.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Exploration of Spitzbergen by a Russian expedition under
Knipovich.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Russian expedition to east coast of Nova Zembla by Lieutenant
Borissoff to complete survey of the islands.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Dr. Nansen's expedition under the leadership of Dr. J. Hjort,
for the physical and biological examination of the sea between
Norway, Iceland, Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

German expedition, under Captain Bade, to explore East
Spitzbergen, King Charles' Land and Franz Josef Land, and to
look for traces of Andrée.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Attempt of a German, Captain Bauendahl, to reach the north
pole, leaving his vessel in the ice north of Spitzbergen and
traveling over the ice with provisions for two years, weighing
ten tons.

{409}

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1900.

Scientific expedition of Baron E. von Toll to the unexplored
Sannikoff Land, sighted in 1805 from the northern coast
islands of New Siberia. Preceded by a party which established
food depots at various places months before.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

Three exploring parties sent to Alaska by the United States
Geological Survey.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

Expedition sent by the Duke of the Abruzzi to Franz Josef Land
to search for the three men lost from his party in 1900.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

North polar expedition under Mr. Evelyn B. Baldwin of the
United States Weather Bureau; splendidly equipped by Mr.
William Ziegler of New York. Mr. Baldwin, who has had arctic
experience with Lieutenant Peary and Mr. Wellman, will
probably proceed by way of Franz Josef Land.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

Several expeditions to co-operate in exploration of the
antarctic region and to reach the south pole if possible. The
British expedition, long striven for by the Royal Geographical
Society and the Royal Society and made possible by L. W.
Longstaff's contribution of £25,000, to be under the command
of Captain Robert Scott and to explore the Victoria (90°-180°
East) and Ross (180°-90° West) quadrants,—in the main the
region south of the Pacific. The Weddell (90° West-0°,
Greenwich) and Enderby (0°-90 East) quadrants assigned to the
finely equipped German expedition, under Drygalski, which will
first explore south of the Indian Ocean. The Swedish expedition
under Dr. Nordenskïold to explore the lands south of America.
A private Scottish expedition under William S. Bruce to
explore the Weddell Sea region south of the Atlantic Ocean. An
Argentine expedition to visit the South Shetlands.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

Projected expedition of Captain J. E. Bernier of Quebec, on
Nansen's principle, with a specially built vessel, to sail
through Bering Strait, coast Siberia to longitude 170° or 165°
East, then enter the ice. Sledging parties to push toward the
pole, marking the route with hollow signal poles (of aluminum)
packed with records and provisions, and maintaining
communication with the ship by wireless telegraphy. This is
one of two plans which he lays before the Canadian government.
The other contemplates a movement, with dogs and reindeers,
from Franz Josef Land, coming back to Spitzbergen, taking 12
or 14 men, all scientists.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

Projected expedition of Herr Annschütz-Kämpfe, of Munich, to
the north pole, in a submarine boat capable of carrying five
men and remaining under water for fifteen hours at a time.

POLAR EXPLORATION: 1901.

As this goes to press (April, 1901), a national antarctic
expedition is being fitted out, jointly, by the Royal
Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Great Britain,
assisted by a subsidy of £45,000 from the British government.
A steamer named the "Discovery," built especially for the
expedition, at Dundee, was launched in March, and is being
equipped with remarkable completeness. Special arrangements,
says "The Times," will be made for magnetic work, while
meteorology, geology and biology will be well cared for. "The
staff of navigating officers and of scientific specialists has
been carefully selected, and under Commander Robert Scott. R.
N., who will be in command of the expedition, their work, we
may be sure, will be so well organized that nothing of
importance will be neglected. There will be five navigating
officers, three of them belonging to the Royal Navy and two
others to the Royal Naval Reserve, while the special
scientific staff, including the two medical officers, will be
of equal strength. … Captain Scott is at present investigating
the question of the utility of balloons."

POLISH PARTY, in Austria.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1895-1896, and after.

POONA, The Plague at.

See (in this volume)
PLAGUE.

POPE LEO XIII.

See (in this volume)
PAPACY.

POPULATION:
Of Europe and countries peopled from Europe.

See (in this volume)
NINETEENTH CENTURY: EXPANSION.

POPULIST PARTY, The.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

PORT ARTHUR: A. D. 1894.
Capture by Japanese.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1894-1895.

PORT ARTHUR: A. D. 1895.
Trans-Siberian Railway.
Russo-Chinese Treaty.

See (in this volume)
RUSSIA IN ASIA: A. D. 1891-1900.

PORT ARTHUR: A. D. 1898.
Lease to Russia.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (MARCH-JULY).

----------PORTO RICO: Start--------

[Image: Map of Porto Rico.]

PORTO RICO:
Area and Population.

In the testimony given, January 13, 1900, before the United
States Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico,
General George W. Davis, Military Governor of Porto Rico, gave
the following information: "The island of Puerto Rico has an area
of about 3,600 square miles, according to the best information
that now exists, but that area has to be verified, and it is
doubted if the area is quite so large. It has a population of
about a million, perhaps—certainly one of the most densely
populated areas of 3,000 or 4,000 square miles on the face of
the earth, approximating the density of population of Belgium,
I think, and considerably greater than that of any of our
thickly settled agricultural regions in the United States. New
England has about 200 to the square mile while Puerto Rico has
nearly 300. The inhabitants are mostly of Spanish
origin—emigrants from Spain during the last 400 years and
their descendants. There is a large representation from the
Canary Islands and the Balearic group in the Mediterranean, a
large number of Corsicans and their descendants, and
consequently they are French subjects, a few Germans, a few
English, and very few Americans before the occupation; a few
Venezuelans, a few from Santo Domingo, and a few Cubans, but
the most of the population is Spanish. Included in that
million are about 300,000 negroes and mulattoes, approximately
a little more than that number.
{410}
About one-third of the entire population is of the negro or
mixed race, what would be called in the United States
'colored' people. Of pure-blood negroes there are about
70,000, the remainder mulattoes, and all speaking Spanish, and
largely the slaves liberated in 1874. The number of slaves
liberated at that time was considerably less than the number
of negroes in Puerto Rico, the number being only about 30,000,
for whom some $11,000,000 was paid the owners. That statement
gives a fair idea of the character of the population as
respects numbers and race." Several small adjacent islands are
regarded as belonging to Porto Rico and were included in the
cession to the United States. One of these, named Viequez,
about 15 miles long and 3 or 4 miles wide, is very fertile,
and has about 7,000 inhabitants. On another, called Culebra,
there are some 600 or 700 people. The remaining islands are
smaller and unimportant.

_56th Congress, 1st Session,
Senate Document Number 147, pages 1-2._

PORTO RICO:
The government as it was under Spanish rule.

"The civil government of the island was the Governor-General,
and the Governor-General was the civil government. All power
was lodged in his hands and he was accountable only to Madrid.
He was at once the executive, the legislative, and the judicial
head. As Captain-General, he had chief command of the military
forces, and made such disposition of them as he chose; as
Governor-General, he conducted civil affairs, whether insular
or municipal, according to his own pleasure. … If, as
occasionally happened, he was a wise and good man, seeking the
welfare of the people rather than his own personal enrichment
or the advancement of his political friends, there was less
cause for complaint from the people, who were completely
ignored. As the position was one of great power and of large
opportunities for pecuniary profit, it not infrequently went
to those who were prepared to exploit it in their own
interests. …

"The system of autonomy, which was proclaimed November 25,
1897 [see, in this volume, CUBA: A. D. 1897 (NOVEMBER)], was
never fully installed. The war intervened, and the provincial
legislature, which was its most important feature, was
dissolved when Sampson's fleet appeared, and the
Governor-General conducted the government practically on the
old plan, except that the ministry, as provided by the
autonomistic law, was retained, as follows: Secretary of
government or of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary
of the fomento or interior, including public works, public
instruction, public lands, mines, etc., agriculture and
commerce, and secretary of justice and worship. The last three
secretaries were subordinate to the secretary of government,
through whom all orders from the Governor-General and all
communications to or from him must pass. The autonomist law
allowed the secretaries or ministers to be members of one or
the other of the two legislative chambers. The
Governor-General with his council constituted the executive
power. No act of his was valid unless approved by one of the
secretaries, and the secretaries could issue no order which he
had not countersigned. He had the power to convoke or dissolve
the chambers, to refer objectionable bills to Madrid for
approval or disapproval, and to appoint or remove the
secretaries. All matters of a diplomatic character were in his
hands exclusively, and, constituted by the Pope patronato
real, he was the head of the church in the island and
practical director of ecclesiastical affairs. The legislature
consisted of two chambers, the council and the house of
representatives. The council was composed of fourteen members,
eight of whom were elected, and six appointed by the Crown;
the house of representatives of one representative for each
25,000 inhabitants, elected by the people. The liberality of
this law is further indicated by the fact that it gave the
right of suffrage to all males of 25 years of age and over.
The two chambers were empowered to legislate on all insular
questions, such as the estimates, which must be adopted by the
Cortes at Madrid, public instruction, public works,
sanitation, charities, etc. It will be seen that the reforms
granted by this autonomistic decree were large in the letter,
taking powers which the Governor-General had exercised
unquestioned and giving them to the people, who had never been
allowed to participate in the government of their own country.
Whether it would have proved liberal in practical operation is
not so certain. The Government invariably discriminated
against Porto Ricans in favor of Spaniards, and it is also to
be remembered that Spanish laws as written and Spanish laws as
administered are not always identical."

_H. K. Carroll (Special Commissioner),
Report on Porto Rico, 1899, pages. 15-16._

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898 (May).
American bombardment of forts at San Juan.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (APRIL-JUNE).

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898 (July-August).
American conquest of.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: PORTO RICO).

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898 (July-December).
Suspension of hostilities.
Cession to the United States.

See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-DECEMBER).

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (August-July).
Popular feeling in the Island on the American occupation.
Welcome to the Stars and Stripes.
Expectations and desires of the people.
Their character.
Extent of illiteracy.
The Peones.

"All classes of natives of the island welcomed the American
Army, American occupation, and American methods, and accepted
without hesitation the Stars and Stripes in place of the red
and yellow bars. They had not been disloyal to the old flag;
but it had come to represent to them, particularly during the
present century, in which a class feeling developed between
the insular and the peninsular Spaniard, partiality and
oppression. In the short war, some of the natives occupying
official positions made demonstrations of loyalty to the Crown
of Spain, as was perfectly natural, but they were among the
first to submit to American rule when the protocol promised
cession of the island to the United States. On the other hand,
as the commissioner is informed, a Porto Rican who had hoped
and prayed for American intervention for fifty years enrolled
himself as a Spanish citizen some months after the war was
concluded, and his hopes had been realized. Porto Ricans
generally complained that the former Government discriminated
in favor of the Spaniard, who, in the distribution of the
offices, was preferred to the native, and who, aided by the
powerful influence of the authorities, prospered in business
as banker, merchant, manufacturer, or agriculturist. They also
insist that the internal improvement of the island was
neglected; that agriculture bore more than its share of the
burden of taxation; that the assessments were very inequitable
and unequal; that education was not fostered, and that in
general the welfare of the people was not the first concern of
their rulers.

{411}

"They expect under American sovereignty that the wrongs of
centuries will be righted; that they will have an honest and
efficient government; the largest measure of liberty as
citizens of the great Republic under the Constitution; home
rule as provided by the Territorial system; free access to the
markets of the United States and no customs duties on goods
coming from our ports; a school system modeled after that of
the United States; the adoption of the English language in due
time and the general adaptation to the island of all those
institutions which have contributed to the prosperity,
progress, and happiness of the American people. The largest
and most representative gathering, since American occupation,
was held in San Juan, October 30, 1898, without distinction of
party or class with the object of consultation and formulation of
a programme for the future. In brief, the propositions of the
congress as submitted to the commissioner for presentation to
the President of the United States were these: Immediate
termination of military and inauguration of civil government;
establishment of the Territorial system, with laws common to
other Territories of the Union; a legislature in two branches;
suffrage for all male citizens of 21 years of age or over, the
right to be surrendered at the end of the first two years by
those who do not then know how to read and write; judicial
reform; introduction of the jury system; autonomy for
municipal governments; taxation on the basis of valuation;
free and reciprocal commerce with the ports of the United
States; aid for agriculture; obligatory and universal
education; trade schools; savings banks. This programme of
reforms seems to have very general support, although there is
a difference of opinion on certain points. Many Porto Ricans
urged the commissioner to represent them as desiring that the
military regime be made as short as possible, not because the
military governors were in any way objectionable or their rule
oppressive, but because the civil status of the island should
be fixed with no unnecessary delay. There was no other opinion
except among foreign subjects, many of whom thought that the
people were not yet ready for self-government, and that the
firm hand of military power would be needed for probably two
years. …

"If the desire to assume the burdens of local self-government
may be taken as indicating some degree of capacity for
self-government, the people of Porto Rico certainly have the
desire. They may be poor, but they are proud and sensitive,
and would be bitterly disappointed if they found that they had
been delivered from an oppressive yoke to be put under a
tutelage which proclaimed their inferiority. Apart from such
qualifications as general education and experience constitute,
the commissioner has no hesitation in affirming that the
people have good claims to be considered capable of
self-government. Education and experience, although too high
a value can hardly be set upon them, do not necessarily make
good citizens. … The unswerving loyalty of Porto Rico to the
Crown of Spain, as demonstrated by the truth of history, is no
small claim to the confidence and trust of the United States.
The people were obedient under circumstances which provoked
revolt after revolt in other Spanish colonies. The habit of
obedience is strong among them. Their respect for law is
another notable characteristic. They are not turbulent or
violent. Riots are almost unknown in the island; so is
organized resistance to law; brigandage flourished only for a
brief period after the war and its object was revenge rather
than rapine. They are not a criminal people. The more violent
crimes are by no means common. Burglary is almost unknown.
There are many cases of homicide, but the number in proportion
to population is not as large as in the United States.
Thievery is the most common crime, and petty cases make up a
large part of this list of offenses. The people as a whole are
a moral, law-abiding class, mild in disposition, easy to
govern, and possess the possibilities of developing a high
type of citizenship."

_H. K. Carroll (Special Commissioner),
Report on Porto Rico, 1899, pages 55-57._

"On the 25th day of July, 1899, an election was held in
Adjuntas for municipal officers, and the registration was made
in conformity to General Orders, No. 112, c. s., Headquarters
Department of Puerto Rico. The order imposed the following
qualifications for electors: Men over 21 years old, able to
read and write, or who were taxpayers of record, who had been
actual residents of the island for at least two years, and of
the municipality for six months preceding the date of the
election. The number who proved these qualifications before
the board of registration was 906, out of a population,
according to the census of 1897, of 18,505; that is, less than
5 per cent could vote under the conditions stated. There was
much public interest in this election, and it is believed that
about all who were eligible were registered. This incident
indicated that in the whole island there may be approximately
45,000 who could vote under the conditions of the order above
referred to. The class who can not fulfill these conditions,
say 75 per cent of the males over 21 years of age, are usually
in a state of abject poverty and ignorance, and are assumed to
include one-fifth of the inhabitants. They are of the class
usually called peones. This word in Spanish America, under old
laws, defined a person who owed service to his creditor until
the debt was paid. While those laws are obsolete, the
condition of these poor people remains much as before. So
great is their poverty that they are always in debt to the
proprietors or merchants. They live in huts made of sticks and
poles covered with thatches of palm leaves. A family of a
dozen may be huddled together in one room, often with only a
dirt floor. They have little food worthy of the name and only
the most scanty clothing, while children of less than 7 or 8
years of age are often entirely naked. A few may own a machete
or a hoe, but more have no worldly possessions whatever. Their
food is fruit, and if they are wage-earners, a little rice and
codfish in addition. They are without ambition and see no
incentive to labor beyond the least that will provide the
barest sustenance. All over the island they can be seen to-day
sitting beside their ruined huts, thinking naught of
to-morrow, making no effort to repair and restore their cabins
nor to replant for future food.

{412}

"The remarks of Mr. James Anthony Froude in his work on 'The
English in the West Indies' apply with full force to these
people: 'Morals in the technical sense they have none, but
they can not be said to sin because they have no knowledge of
law, and therefore they can commit no breach of the law. They
are naked and not ashamed. They are married but not parsoned.
The women prefer the looser tie, that they may be able to lose
the man if he treats her unkindly. Yet they are not
licentious. … The system is strange, but it answers. … There
is evil, but there is not the demoralizing effect of evil.
They sin, but they sin only as animals, without shame, because
there is no sense of doing wrong. They eat the forbidden
fruit, but it brings with it no knowledge of the difference
between good and evil. … They are innocently happy in the
unconsciousness of the obligations of morality. They eat,
drink, sleep, and smoke, and do the least in the way of work
they can. They have no ideas of duty, and therefore are not
made uneasy by neglecting it.' Between the negro and the peon
there is no visible difference. It is hard to believe that the
pale, sallow, and often emaciated beings are the descendants
of the conquistadores who carried the flag of Spain to nearly
all of South America, and to one-third of North America."

_General George W. Davis,
Report on the Civil Government of Puerto Rico,
September 30, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, pages 1293-1294)._

"The educated class of Puerto Ricans are as well educated and
accomplished as the educated men of any country. They have had
the benefit of a liberal education, a few in the United
States, a good many in France, and a great many in Madrid and
Habana, where they have passed through the universities. The
lawyers and doctors are all graduates of either the university
in Habana or some university in Spain, with very few exceptions.
The merchants are largely Spanish, many of whom will probably
preserve their nationality under the provision of the Treaty
of Paris which gives them that right. A few may adopt American
citizenship, and ultimately possibly all will, but many of the
merchants who conduct the largest part of the business of
Puerto Rico will retain their Spanish citizenship. There are a
number of merchants who are natives, a few Germans, and a few
English. I do not remember any American merchant in business
there before the occupation. The schools in Puerto Rico
conducted under the Spanish system were few in number. The
amount allotted for education by the insular budget was
something like 300,000 pesos a year, as I now recall the
figures. The teachers were officers of the government, holding
life positions and receiving pensions when superannuated. They
belong to a civil-service class which is not dependent upon
any change of administration, only being removed for cause.
The lawyers, or judges, rather, of the island, occupy a
similar position."

_General George W. Davis,
Testimony before Senate Committee.
(56th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document. No. 147)._

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1898-1899 (October-October).
The military government instituted by the United States.

"The government of the island, its various civil institutions,
its codes and its courts, the systems of taxation, etc., have
been modified in very important particulars since the American
occupation began, October 18, 1898. It will be useful, perhaps,
to indicate the more important changes. Under General John R.
Brooke [in command of the Department, October 18 to December
5, 1898] orders were issued declaring

(1) That the political relations of Porto Rico with Spain were
at an end; that provincial and municipal laws were in force in
so far as not incompatible with the changed conditions, and
that they would be enforced substantially as they were before.

(2) Abolishing the use of all stamped paper and stamps of
every kind for documents, public and private.

(3) Exempting all conveyances and contracts from the payment
of royal dues.

(4) Discontinuing the diputacion provincial, and distributing
its duties among the secretaries or ministers.

(5) Directing that appeals should not be sent to the supreme
court in Madrid, but should be heard by the superior court at
San Juan.

(6) Abolishing the subdelegation of pharmacy which gave
degrees to pharmacists.

(7) Making the fisheries free to all.

Appropriations for the support of the church ceased with
American occupation, and the Government lottery was
discontinued.

"Under the military government of General Guy V. Henry
[December 6, 1898 to May 8, 1899], orders were issued:

(l) Appointing military commissions to try cases of arson and
murder which had accumulated in the civil courts.

(2) Closing public offices on Sunday, as far as possible.

(3) Suspending the municipal tax on fresh beef for use of the
Army.

(4) Making Christmas and New Year's holidays.

(5) Forbidding grants or concessions of public or corporate
rights or franchises without the approval of the commanding
general and the Secretary of War.

(6) Abolishing the municipal consumo tax on articles of food,
fuel, and drink, and providing for additional assessments on
the sale of liquors and tobacco.

(7) Separating the collection of customs duties from that of
direct taxes.

(8) Establishing a new system of land taxation, by which
agricultural lands should be taxed according to the several
classes instituted, from 1 peso down to 25 centavos per
cuerda, and levying 50 per cent additional on lands whose
owners reside abroad.

(9) Providing for the free vaccination of the people of the
island.

(10) Prohibiting the exhumation of bodies in the cemeteries,
recognizing the right of priests to control burials in
consecrated grounds, and requiring municipalities to keep
cemeteries in repair.

(11) Reducing notarial fees from $1.88 to $1, from $4.50 to
$1, from $11 to $1, and from $1 to 50 cents, according to
class of document, and canceling others.

(12) Reorganizing the cabinet, so as to make all the
secretaries directly responsible to the governor-general.

(13) Suspending the foreclosure of mortgages on agricultural
property and machinery for one year.

(14) Appointing February 22 a holiday.

(15) Prohibiting the sale of liquor to children under 14 years
of age.

(16) Modifying the civil marriage law.

(17) Declaring that eight hours shall constitute a day's work.

(18) Creating an insular police.

{413}

"Under the military government of General George W. Davis
[May 8, 1899, to May 1, 1900], orders were issued

(1) Modifying the order of

General Henry concerning hours of labor, so as to allow
agreements between employer and employee for longer or shorter
hours.

(2) Naming May 30 as a holiday.

(3) Allowing the writ of habeas corpus to be issued.

(4) Constituting a board of prison control and pardon.

(5) Continuing the observance as a holiday of June 24.

(6) Creating a provisional court on the basis of circuit and
district courts of the United States for the hearing of cases
not falling within the jurisdiction of local insular courts.

(7) Creating a superior board of health for the island.

(8) Reorganizing the bureau of public instruction and the
system of education.

(9) Relieving the judiciary from all control by the department
of justice, discontinuing the office of secretary of justice,
and appointing a solicitor-general.

(10) Abolishing the sale at auction of the privilege of
slaughter of cattle, and making it free.

(11) Reorganizing the judicial system of the island, with a
supreme court in San Juan and district courts in San Juan,
Ponce, Mayaguez, Arecibo, and Humacao, and with modifications
of civil and criminal procedure.

(12) Discontinuing the departments of state, treasury, and
interior, and creating bureaus of state and municipal affairs,
of internal revenue, and of agriculture, to be placed under
the direction of a civil secretary, responsible to the
governor-general, and continuing the bureaus of education and
public works, with an insular board of nine members to advise
the governor-general on matters of public interest referred to
them.

"The reductions in the budget of expenditures have been
extensive. That of 1898-99, adopted in June, 1898, amounted to
$4,781,920, native money. The appropriations for 'general
obligations,' which went to Madrid, $498,502, for the clergy,
$197,945; for the army, $1,252,378; for the navy, $222,668,
making a total of $2,171,493, ceased to be obligations,
leaving $2,610,428 for the fiscal year. A new budget was
adopted for the calendar year 1899, which still further
reduces expenditures, calling only for $1,462,276. This
budget, if carried out, would have involved a reduction from
the proposed budget of 1898-99 of $3,319,644; but a new budget
was formed, as already stated, for 1899-1900, which appears to
call for an increase over this very moderate sum. The revenues
were reduced by the abolition of stamped paper, personal
passports, export duties, royal dues on conveyances, the
lottery system, and other sources of income, amounting, all
told, to less probably than a million of pesos."

_H. R. Carroll (Special Commissioner),
Report on Porto Rico, October 6, 1899, pages 53-55._

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1899 (August).
Destructive cyclone.