e better world.

At one time cases of cholera appeared scattered generally throughout
the Mariquina valley and without apparent connection. For some days we
were unable to make a guess as to their origin. Then we heard that a
"Queen" had arisen at the town of Taytay near the Laguna de Bay. An
investigation of the Queen and her activities resulted in rather
astonishing revelations. She was a very ordinary looking Tagalog girl
who had secured the body of an old bull-cart, stopped the cracks with
clay, partially filled it with water and decaying vegetable matter,
and at rather frequent intervals had bathed in the fermenting mass
thus concocted. In due time she announced herself a healer of all
the ills to which flesh is heir, and the sick flocked to her. Cholera
was then prevalent in some of the towns near Taytay, and there were
persons suffering from it among those seeking relief. Some of them
were directed to wash their hands in the extemporized tank, while
others bathed their bodies in it. As a result it soon contained a
cholera culture of unprecedented richness. This was given to patients
applying for treatment, and was bottled and sent to those who were
too ill to come in person. Hence numerous scattering cases of cholera
which did not bear any relationship to other known cases.

It proved quite an undertaking to put the Queen of Taytay out of
business. We first asked the local authorities to have her sent to
Manila, but the presidente and the police declined to act. We then
applied for a warrant to the Filipino judge of the court of first
instance having jurisdiction over Taytay, but that worthy official
found it convenient to be suddenly called out of the province. At
last we prevailed upon soldiers of the Philippine constabulary to
arrest the queen and bring her to Manila.

We had anticipated that she might prove insane, but she showed herself
to be a very keen-witted young woman. We employed her at the San Lazaro
Hospital to look after cholera patients. The people of Taytay were
not satisfied, and a few days later a large delegation of them came
to Manila and demanded the Queen. I was at my wits' end to know what
to do, but old Spanish law can usually be relied upon in emergencies,
and the attorney-general discovered a provision couched in very general
terms, which provided against disobedience to the authorities. It was
only necessary for an "authority" to have read to an ordinary person a
statement setting fo