The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-12-11
DIPhTHERiA.
Excitement In Regard to the Monu
ment street SchooIhouse.
Interviews of the Press Reporters
with Persons Interested.
Meeting of the School Committee II
Regard to the Matters.

In order to obtain, if possible, some clue to the
cause of the affliction of Munjoy Hill, reporters
for the PRESS last evening interviewed several of
the physicians who had been called to cases in
that locality.
Yesterday morning the committee on public
buildings, accompanied Superintendent of Schools
fash on a tour of inspection through the school
house, but as far as coule be seen everything was
in good condition.
DR. C. A. RING.
DR.. Ring said that there had been nine or ten
deaths the past year ON Munioy from diphtheria,
and three of these occurred recently, which were
said TO have originated in the Monument street
schoolhouse. He had not had any cases since
last spring. AS far as he could see he could md
nothing to cause the disease in that schoolhouse,
but he couldn't look underground and therefore
couldn't say what malign influence, if any there
was, in that particular place. He thought the
school should be suspended and a thorough exam
nation made by the building committee and
board of health. He thought very probable that
one very important factor In the spread of the dis
ease had been owing to the fact that the funerals
of those who had fallen victims to the disease had
been held without any restrictions, which was a
most prolific source of contagion.
DIR. c. A. BAKER.
DR.. Baker said he might sit down, If he had
time and talk enough to fill two columns of the
PRESS and then be as far off in getting at any de-
cided reason for the prevalence of diphtheria on
the HILL as if he had said nothing. He had had
several cases, the causes for which were 'untrace-
able In some cases it might reasonably be
thought that defective ventilation was the cause,
and then other cases occurred where the sanitary
way to get at the cause surely was to trace the
disease through an expert. A case might occur in
pupil at the Monument street schoolhouse and
contact with another child from a family where
diphtheria had occurred. He agreed with DR..
Ring in regard to the highly contagious character
of the disease and the necessity for isolation and
all other precautions such as should be observed
in all highly contagious diseases. He approved
of having a thorough examination of the school
house and its surroundings.
DIR. SMITH.
DR.. Smith, city physician, thought that there
was in his experience, great lack of sanitary pre-
cautions in cases which had come to his kuowl-
edge, and he cited case of sewer and sink drain
combining to throw out their poisonous gases in
mans cellar where diphtheria occurred. He had
had cases ON the hill in spring and summer
Mr.. Fl. H. Shaw of Shaw, Cooling g. Co., is a
prominent resident of the hill, to whom many
have been with complaints. He thought that after
the spring session closed at the Monument street
school, and during the summer vacation, there
was cessation of diphtheria in that locality, or
at the worst but a case or two. He thought a
thorough investigation should be made.
DIR. c. R. CRANDALL.
DIR. Chas r. Crandall stated that he knew Of 10
or 20 cases Of diphtheria on the hill during the
past six months. Twelve of these cases were
among children attending school at the Monument
street schoolhouse, and who were in classes occu-
plying the rooms on the lowerfoor of the building.
The remainder of the cases occurred In children
too young to go to school. The majority of these
children belonged to families in comfortable cir
cumstances, living in houses provided with Sebago
water, and properly drained and ventilated. OF
the twelve children from the school who were
stricken with the disease, five recovered. The
number of deaths from diphtheria on the hill
during the last six months is twelve. OF the eight
school children who have been under DR.. Gram
dalrs care while sick with dipththeria during this
term, six have come from properly drained and
ventilated houses.
DR.. Crandall said that some of the rooms on the
lower floor of the Monument street schoolhouse
were modelled out of the former water closets,
the closets being removed to the basement Com
plant has been made about the building for
long time. The teachers have complained of the
bad odor which came from the basement. Last
spring the School Committee investigated the
condition of AFFAIRS and it was thought that the
work done at that time improved the condition OF
things. DR.. Crandall said that he did not believe
any schoolhouse having water closets in the base
ment could be healthy, but he did not know that
the diphtheria in this school was caused by the
condition of the building, although when the
school closed last summer the disease died out,
and there were no cases on the hill until shortly
after the reopening of the school in the fall, when
the disease reappeared. Nearly all of the cases
have been of the most malignant type.
DIR. HENRY p. MERRILL.
DR.. Henry P. Merrill stated that he knew
nothing of the condition of the Monument street
schoolhouse, and could not tell where the chill
dren suffering with malignant diphtheria on the
hill during the past year had attended school.
DR.. Merrill has had two cases of diphtheria from
the hill, both being children from healthy homes.
MISS EMMA j. WILSON
is the principal of this school, She was called
upon last evening by PRESS representative, and
gave the following statement concerning the
school. Miss Wilson said that she had been q
twelve years, nine of them as principal. She has
seven teachers under her, all of whom, she said,
enjoyed excellent health and had not lost any
time through Illness that she was aware of. The
school building is divided into eight rooms-four
on the lower and four on the upper floor In these
eight rooms are distributed about 800 children.
Miss Wilson says she has considered her pupils
as, on the whole, healthy In past years the
vaults were the old-fashioned kind, and were To-
Gated on the upper and lower floors, but during
the past year these were taken out, and water in
troduced. Before this change was made, she had
noticed disagreeable odors in the building fire.
quently, coming from the vaults; and since then
she has detected slight odor at times, in some of
the rooms, though not disagreeable. She has
heard complaints from the parents Of some of her
scholars, that when the old vaults were removed
and water put in they were not properly cleaned
out AS to that, however, she was not,prepared to
give an opinion. She said the building was kept
neat and clean in every part of it. AT the rear Of
the school room. last year, were an old stable, in
which pigs were kept, and a fish market.
In that vicinity ALSO were several buildings whose
sanitary arrangements were said to be poor. She
was not prepared to say that the drainage from
these might not have had some bad effect on the
scholars
In answer to an inquiry as to how many deaths
from dphtheria had occurred among her schol-
ars Miss Wilson said six, all within the past year.
In June last there were two, but she had learned
their deaths had been traced to poor drainage at
home; one in July, one during the summer yaca-
ton, and three since the present term began in
September. All of these, however, had been Of
children who, while in school, were placed in the
rooms considered most healthy-that is, on the
lower floor and at the front of the building. No
cases of diphtheria had been reported among pu-
pills in the upper rooms.
She was asked again if there was much excite
ment among the parents of her pupils. sob, yes,
it is great" she replied "In my room were forty
three pupils daily, but today I had only twenty
one. In another room were ifty-one, and today
there were but twenty-four. The number of pu-
pills in the other rooms has dropped off in about
the same ratio. so that today nearly one-hah, or
over one hundred pupils, were absent. All this
excitement and dropping out of the children has
occurred during the past week"
All the water closets in the building are now To-
Gated in the basement, and in the one used by the
boys water is kept running all the time.
ACTION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
special meeting of School Board was held yes
day afternoon at 4.3o o'clock All the members
of the board were present except the Mayor who
was absent from the city.
On motion of Mr.. Holden Col. Merrill was