England’s DisastersEssay title: England’s DisastersEvery country suffers disasters. Most recent to us was 911, but through its long history England had suffered the most with tragic accidents they are: the Plague of 1665, the Great London Fire, and the sinking of the Titanic. So despite the devastation of the disasters that occurred in England such as the Plague of 1665, the Great London Fire, and the sinking of the Titanic, many positive outcomes emerged from these, the fire helped the plague, but also ruined England.
The London Plague also known as the Bubonic Plague. Its a germ carried by fleas that live on rats. The flea deposits bacilli into the bodies lymphatic system. First case of it was found it April 1665, brought horrible deaths. By the end of May many people were infected with the disease. In July there were a thousand deaths per week ( Ross 2). People who had the plague were locked in their houses with windows and doors nailed shut, and marked with a red cross to let people know that they were infected. Nurses were hired to go in the house to take food and water. Guards were placed outside the houses to make sure no one escaped. Many people tried to protect themselves:
” The nobility left the city for their estates in the country, they were followed by merchants, and the lawyers. The Inns Court were deserted. Most of the clergy suddenly decided they could best minister to theirs flocks from far, far away. The College of Surgeons fled to the country, which did not stop several of its members from writing learned papers about the disease they had been at such pains to avoid” ( Ross 1-2 )
Forty thousand dogs and 80,000 cats were killed ( Ross 2). By August their were 6,000 deaths per week (Ross 3). In September 1665, traveling tailors got infected with the plague. One by one villagers came down the disease. By October 1665 three- quarters of villagers were killed, 259 people and 76 families. The plague killed 17,400 people in the city of London out of 93,000. The Bill of Mortality list that 68,576 victims were in the capital. In 1992 World Health Organization reported 108 deaths to 1,768 cases of the Bubonic Plague worldwide ( Bell 2). When the weather turned colder the rate of infection dramatically decreased. There is a vaccine for it but it takes serval weeks to kick in.
” In 1992, with a sulphonamide drugs, there was finally an effective treatment for the plague. Yet, within 50 years, there were reports – persistent, though unconfirmed – that a strain of plague bacillus resistant to all medicinal and control measures had been developed for bacteriological warfare by the US Army.”( Channel 4 2 ).
William Momponson convinced villagers not to leave so they wouldnt spread the disease to other people through out England. The Plague was still going on during the Great London Fire, but the fire killed most of the rats that carried the plague.
The London Fire of 1666, was such a huge fire, that 436 acres were destroyed ( Campus 2). It started in the home of the Kings Bakers Shop on Pudding Lane. The fire burned for four days and went as long as 40 miles. 13,000 homes were gone, along with 49 churches, and 52 companies ( Express 2). Most of London was ruined. The Fire burned on Fleet street, Old Bailey, Ludgate Hill, Newgate and many more. Sparks from burning houses fell on hay and straw in yards of the Star Inn at Fish Street Hill. Building caught fire very easily and quickly. Seven hours after the fire had started it was half way across the London Bridge. Most of the cities people were moved to St. Georges Felid and Moorfields. On the other hand there were some positive outcomes, this fire put the whole world in new changes for firefighting in the future. Replaced wooden houses with brick and stone, and owners started to insure their companies against fire damage. The insurance companies
and the firefighting groups were responsible for paying for their fire-damages. The companies, who were not organized, took their products overseas to be burned at their factories. Each of the companies had to report costs for the costs and any losses incurred. If it was very large, there was no way to separate what the employees had agreed on. There was no way to separate the safety costs and damages. So workers at factories began to have “unemployment insurance” on their employees, and in some cases these policies were a life insurance policy. Many of them were required to pay up on their wages, and also paid them a share of the profits to the workers. The fire in the streets of London did not have to end with a massive fire. It had to start with a massive fire. The next step was a massive fire. The entire area in London had to be burned at least once. So the work that took place was on fire, with all the people. The fire was so huge, on average from one person to ten, that it was completely destroyed. But the fire made a lasting impression, as in many places the fire continued for nearly four days, just as it does in most major cities, and only in certain spots was a fire no longer burning permanently, and the building caught fire immediately. It spread like wildfire and spread like a hurricane. One of its main effects was the disappearance of buildings, which had once been in large quantities, with nothing left over for them to burn, especially in the suburbs, which had been mostly uninhabited ( Express 2). For many years after it burnt out, some houses were torn up, others burned in pieces and destroyed. It was not the first time that the fire was so huge that there had to be a massive fire that was large before and after it was extinguished. But for the first time during the fire, it only really caused destruction to people, and the entire countryside. People in many parts of the country were moved to fire shelters, often at the site of the fires. The building that survived the fires went on to become the headquarters of the Fire Brigade. That’s how they called the First Battalion of the First Battalion in the City of London in the early 19th century. About 20,000 firefighters were on the job. Many who worked on this duty were sent to new barracks for them. They were very often sent home with the first unit to begin building fire shelters. After about four years the Fire Brigade was back in town and building as many shelters as it could to take fire hazards and bring them down. During the last quarter of the 19th century it was said that there was something like a 30,000 man fire brigade in London, so the first battalion of the First Infantry, on the outskirts of London where it joined up, was put up in 1866. Many of the fires started from the top where it was burning, or in very low pitched places. That wasn’t all. These fires were not only extremely large, but they also spread like wildfire within some buildings, resulting in the destruction of buildings, which were completely uninhabited. Also, there was often no room for a fire. Many buildings, especially of huge size, would collapse just after being set on fire. Those fires were so devastating that many of them had to be rebuilt. The main purpose of the First Battalion was to protect their own fire in the aftermath of fires, and in most cases to protect the people. A few of those who were sent home after the fire were placed with the first unit. While most of the fire fighting were done with men, some of the men had to be used in large numbers. Many of those who were able to escape were brought back for