4.4 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
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February 7, 1900. The bubonic plague comes to America, but the man charged with defeating the disease finds his greatest challenge comes from the politicians.
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0:16.4 | Music It's February 7, 1900, in the Chinatown District of San Francisco. |
0:31.8 | 41-year-old lumberyard worker Wong-chut King hurries out the door of a Chinese herbalist |
0:36.6 | clutching a paper package to his |
0:38.6 | chest. It's so bright on the street that it hurts his eyes. But as Wong squints in the sunlight, |
0:44.7 | he can't see where he's really going or what he might be treading in. He jerks his foot back |
0:49.8 | in disgust as he realizes he just put his foot through the swollen carcass of a rat. He's used to seeing |
0:56.0 | rodents on the streets, but usually they're scurrying around, feeding on trash. Over the last few weeks, |
1:01.8 | though, there have been dead rats everywhere, and there's a growing unease that there is something |
1:06.4 | wrong in Chinatown. Long senses that there's something not quite right about himself, either. |
1:11.6 | His skin inches, his head pounds, he's feverish, and he's feeling weak. |
1:16.6 | He hopes the package he just bought from the herbalist will help. |
1:19.6 | It contains a remedy that's been used for centuries to combat fever and fatigue. |
1:24.6 | He'll try to take them while on break later, but for now he must hurry to the |
1:28.6 | lumberyard, or else he'll be late for work. The more Wong hurries, however, the more he struggles. |
1:35.6 | Despite the cool San Francisco air, he's soon sweating through his clothes. His light jog turns to a walk, |
1:42.6 | the walk turns to a stagger, |
1:48.1 | and before long, he needs to lean against a wall just to support himself. |
1:54.2 | As he tries to regain his strength, the busy streets around him begin to darken and then blur. |
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