Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-26
THE 1850 Epidemic.
A Comparison ON smallpox Drawn by
DIR. Smart.

DR. and Major Charles Smart of the army
who is now on duty in the surgeon generals
office, related to Star reporter this morn
ing the story of the smallpox epidemic of
1880. in the suppression of which he. as the
representative of the national board of
health. was largely instrumental.
II believe" he said, that the conditions
now are parallel to those which existed in
1880. The. primary case then was d!scov-
cred in the vicinity of the jail. Two weeks
later thirteen more cases were developed,
all of which were directly traceable to the
original patient. AS soon as reported these
cases were transferred to the shed-like
structure near the Jail, which Was secured
for use as a contagious hospital. The next
crop coming two weeks later consisted of
SiXty-three cases. We naturally expected
that the following two weeks would de-
velop another crop numbering over hun
dred cases, but were gratified beyond meas
IRE when only two or three cases were re-
ported. and we found that mad succeed
ed in stamping the disease out. This was
due to the fact that during the period
which elapsed from the discovery of the
first case until the third crop was developed
:D,GO or WWD persons were vaccinated in
the District of Columbia, the physicians to
the poor having vacinated 3U,U,1 OF this
number.
The Probable Course.
81 have not made a close study of the
primary case of the Coston child, but as
you tell me that all the recently developed
cases have been traced pretty directly to
that patient I believe that the coming
weeks will be similar to those which mark
ed the prevalence of the disease in 1880.
You know it take fourteen days two
weeks for smallpox to develop after a per-
son has received the contagion, so the cases
at present in the hospital are most proba-
bly, the first crop or wave resulting from
the original case of the Coston child. One
or two more may be reported in the next
day or two, and then none will appear and
the public will think that the disease has
been stamped out by the health authorities.
While there is no need, in my opinion, for
any alarm, still such confidence Is to be
deprecated because in the course Of the
next two weeks the third crop will I'M
doubtedly appear and the cases be con-
siderably more numerous. l have every
confidence in the ability Of the health au-
thorties to stamp out the disease by
means of the measures they were so quick
TO adopt. 1t was a great pity that persons
living in the boarding house where Judge
Rucker was stricken could not have been
rigidly quarantined until 1t was definitely
known whether or not they were going
TO have the smallpox. L understand from
the papers that many of those people left
the house. and, of course, they have come
in contact with numbers of Others with
the possibility of having contaminated
them, but, as 1 said before, the system
being pursued by the health authorities
will. in my opinion, prevent anything like
a general epidemic OF the disease. While
the people cannot be too careful. there Is no
occasion for alarm. Vaccination by the
physicians of the poor and the assistance
of the intelligent members of the COM
munity in submitting to the operation
themselves will largely aid toward swift
eradication of the complaint. Within the
next two weeks L have no doubt a large
number of cases will be reported as was
the case in the third crop of 1880, but the
1nt hA oil al 80
of the progression of the disease"
Value of Vaccination.
II am aware" continued DIR. Clark, that
many people are opposed to vaccination. and
fortify their antagonism by calling attention
to instances where persons who have been
vaccinated have yet contracted the small
pox Still, 1T is possible for persons who have
already been afflicted with the disease in a
viruent form to catch 1t again. A very sad
instance of this occurred during the epidemic
in 1880 When the first patient was taken
to the contagious hospital, or the dilapidated
structure that was placed at our disposal to
be used as such, the roof was leaky and the
walls full of cracks. We employed a man
to make the repairs necessary to make the
hospital alright. We gave him high rate
of daily wages with the promise of a new
suit of clothes when he had finished the
work. The man engaged had suffered from
the smallpox at one time and his face was
deeply pitted In consequence of 1t. He
plastered the room in which the smallpox
died. SO 1t is with vaccination. While 1t
will not insure the safety of every person
who submits to 1t, it does so in an over
majority of cases"