The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1897-10-29

The Dread Diphtheria.
1t may be mooted point as to the advisa-
bilty of advertising diphtheriaeven when 1t
is absolutely present in community, es.
pecially from business point of view.
The contagion of diphtheria Is by no
means certain, for frequently single case
occurs In family of children and the others
escape entirely, which they would not, were
1t smallpox, scarlet fever or measles. |
Again, 1t occurs dc 1000. That Is, without
any known contact, which Is not the case
with the diseases mentioned.
The first case that the writer ever saw
occurred in young married woman, living
In low wooden building, located about
block and half east of where the Wilder
muth house now stands, In 1859. The
most of that section of the city was COM
mons, with here and there la small frame
dwelling scattered over the Saharah of
miasm, with which the atmosphere was
ladened. She was In aaticulo mortts when
l arrived, and died in an hour or SO, but
there was no spread of the disease, and as
that was long years before the Egyptian
disease had become epidemic, at least In
this country, and before its literature, his.
| tory, and treatment had been written up,
| confess that it was sumner to me. That
J epidemics of the disease, however, by vari-
Gus names, have occurred all along down
since the middle ages, Is well authenticated,
but it is comparatively of late years that it
has been more prevalent and better under
stood.
That 1t spreads epidemically without any
contagion, is true, but 1t is frequently high
ly contagious. The discharges from the air
passages arennespecially poisonous, but
singularly enough, the breath is not, and no
disease that doctors and nurses have to at
tend, causes so much fatality among them.
Examinations of the throat are fraught with
danger, as the child not unfrequently coughs
and chokes, and speck of diphthertic dis
charge lodged on the mucous membrane of
the examiner, anywhere, is sufficient fire.
quently to inaugurate the disease, especial
ly in youngerly people. An old ase.hard-
ened doctor don't mind 1t so much.
So you gentlemen who audit the doctors
bill of diphtheritics, consider how much a
shot you would take TO stand up and be
fred at with Winchester rifle, so rods off,
in the hands of toerable fair marksman--
then govern yourself accordingly.
1t has been a query to me whether the
endemic influence of the case spoken of
HASN'T extended down through the long
lapse of years since that poor woman died
there in that shanty, for the disease certain
ly seems to be endemic in the vicinity. That
is, it remains in the soil or water, or both,
and crops out occasionally like smolder-
ing fire. When this comes to be- the case,
as it is in many places, the only remedy is
drainage, sewerage, and pure drinking
water
The Shiawassee river, in the good old
days, was beauty as it swept rapidly
through the city limits; but 1t has degen
Grated, and still it must require deal of
gall on the part of Saginaw man to call it
a ditch, even now, and complain as one is
reported doing the other day about its being
such an unhealthy stream, when the river
of his own lovely town runs either way, and
is so clotted with debris that broad soled
man can walk on the water without any
supernatural assistance. Consistency is a
jewel, and Saginaw men are privileged al
ways to say or do almost anything; but we
must draw the line on river water.
Owosso has always seemed more like
home to me than any other spot on earth,
and hate to see 1t kicked at by man with
dirty boots and no hat, regardless of where
he comes from.
In conclusion allow me to say that In my
opinion the city and surroundings are men,
aced more today by pedantic pill pedders,
than by diphtheria WARD.
Laingsburg, Oct. 25, 1897.
p. s. The pr0priety of closing schools to
prevent the spread of dlphtheria is very
questionable, as the children run the streets
and are more exposed than at school. A
child with sore throat should be kept at
home always, and in the epidemic here a
couple of years ago, the schools were al
lowed to run right along, and there was no
evidence to prove that 1t was the means of
spreading the disease.
Addend,tm: That meeting mentioned in
last weeks TIMES as being held in Owosso
by certain friends of one of the candidates
for postmaster here, was work of superer-
ogation. When we want you gentlemen
frino Vernon, Bancroft, Woodruff, and so
on down the meanderiDg Lookingglass
river to select postmaster for Laingsburg,
we will ask you and pay you for SO doing.
w.
L A. I'll. HoN anal a nd