The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 531 - 277: The Bustling Scotland Yard (4K6)

London, Westminster, 4 Whitehall, headquarters of the Greater London Police Department.

Boots struck the floor, their firm and crisp footsteps echoing throughout Scotland Yard.

The hall was bustling with Scotland Yard officers scurrying back and forth, coming from different police districts across London, facing different security situations and neighborhood characteristics, but today, the purpose of their visit to the headquarters was strikingly similar.

It wasn’t because of theft, robbery, arson, but due to an epidemic outbreak without any sign.

"Inspector Matthews, St Thomas’s Hospital and the London Bridge Hospital suddenly announced this morning that they were full. Unable to find beds for patients, many relatives of the ill have gathered outside the hospitals to demonstrate and protest. The local stations request that the headquarters dispatch armed police forces to assist in maintaining order."

"Inspector Cline, here’s a special report from Hackney Station. Starting from last evening, Homerton Hospital suddenly received many patients with unknown illnesses, and the local station’s transport for patients is extremely scarce, they plead for the headquarters to divert some police force to support Hackney."

"Sir Mayne, there’s also a similar outbreak in the East India Docks area, with many sailors becoming suddenly ill. The Thames River Police is currently unable to arrange more police for waterborne security work, and they have passed on a request for assistance via the London Port Authority. The relevant documents are currently under review by the Home Office, and I have detailed the situation in the annex of the documents."

Arthur walked briskly down the corridor of the hall, a hat tucked under his arm and a white glove in his mouth, as he hurriedly changed his attire.

Following him was Louis, who had returned to Scotland Yard one step ahead to organize the relevant documents. He walked quickly behind Arthur, unfolding the documents to report, "According to information fed back from various police districts, outbreaks of the epidemic have occurred in the East, North, and South districts. All major hospitals in London are working hard to treat patients, and currently, with the exception of those in the West District, nearly all hospitals are almost full, with other regions also transferring excess patients to the West District. However, judging from the current situation, it won’t be long before the West District’s beds are also filled to capacity..."

Arthur took off his white glove, put it on while he walked with his head down, and said, "Time is urgent, stick to the main points. Any new progress from the Cabinet?"

Louis hurriedly turned to a new page, "The Cabinet has just ended its emergency meeting. According to the Lord Chancellor’s Office, they have already begun a tracing operation for this epidemic outbreak. Currently, the work reports submitted by local governmental medical officers indicate that the disease can now be confirmed as the cholera that is raging on the European Continent. The source of the cholera in Britain may come from Sunderland on the Durham coast.

A few weeks ago, sailors in the Port of Sunderland were the first to fall ill, but local doctors at the time misdiagnosed it as a localized illness and did not pay it further attention. After tracing, the Lord Chancellor’s Office found that the disease has now continued to spread up the Tyburn River, passing through Northumberland to reach Scotland, with suspected cases already appearing in Haddington and East Lothian.

The Earl Grey, the Prime Minister, has requested the Lord Chancellor’s Office to convene specialists in tropical medicine from all the major hospitals in London to discuss the next steps in prevention and treatment. The Home Office has asked Scotland Yard not to act rashly before the health meeting concludes, and all police officers are to continue maintaining local order as per the usual work protocol."

"Not to act rashly?" Arthur stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Louis, "The outbreak of cholera is already a very clear matter, what’s there for the Home Office to hesitate about now?"

Louis closed the document and replied, "It’s not the Home Office that is hesitating, but the Lord Chancellor’s Office, which is indecisive. Currently, in the committee, proponents of the miasma theory and the contagion theory are at a stalemate, and many from these two groups have experience working in cholera-stricken areas. Hence, until it is certain which theory to follow, the Home Office dares not act rashly."

After saying this, Louis passed the documents he held over to Arthur.

Arthur glanced over them quickly and understood the current situation.

The so-called miasma theorists were mostly doctors with experiences treating cholera in India or engaged in the research of cholera reports from India. As they found that medical personnel treating cholera patients in India rarely contracted the disease, they, based on their own experience, naturally insisted that cholera and all diseases did not possess infectiousness but were determined by environmental factors such as climate, temperature, and air.

Current investigations into Indian cholera further corroborated their viewpoint, as almost without exception, outbreak areas were located in low-lying, humid, and hot localities. And even in Sunderland, the origin of Britain’s current cholera epidemic, many doctors held the same opinion. In a meeting this morning, a representative of the miasma theorists even submitted a report by a local doctor, Henry Dodd.

In the report, he claimed that before the appearance of cholera cases, extreme unseasonal weather had occurred locally, creating and dispersing fatal gaseous substances that accumulated in the area, a situation sufficient to cause the outbreak of a major cholera epidemic among the local populace.

Although the miasma theorists’ views and examples seemed undeniably correct, their opponents also brought forth many pieces of evidence strong enough to refute it, one of which was the clear path of transmission of cholera.