The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-07-14
SICKNESS At CLEMSON.
C CMMiTTEE OF STATE BOARD OF
REA-TH INVESTIGATES.

| son Should be Had in Summer and Not
winter
The committee OF the State Board OF
Health made their report to Governor
E!lec5e as to the causes OF the sickness
at Clemson College, which is publish
ed herewith:
To His Excellercy, Governor Ellsroe.
Dear Governor: y cur committee
has the honor to report that in obedi
once to your Exceliency' ) instructions
ne visitod Clemson Agricultural Col
laga ard Investigated the cause and
| character Ct the prevailing sickness at
shat point snd nothing remains out to
render 10 you officially the results Of
! oEr examination.
Uoon our arrival q. Clemson on
| Tuesday, the 9th of June, we were
! waited upon by President Craighead
and the faculty, who expressed much
qualification 81 our arrival and an earn
est desire 10 give US all possible sid in
solving the serious problem by which
they ~ere confronted and which had
excited painful apprehension through
out the Stata. It may not be inele
CANT 10 refer to the extremely pictur-
aaque appearance of Clemson Callege,
| crowning the gracefully uudulating
hills and standing an enduring monu.
mant to its founder, with silent and
irrazistable eloqUerce in behalf OF gen
! araiions TO come, who, sheltered in its
banefciensarms, shall learn the lessons
of a.alwart, enlightened citizenship
uRon which our government mus rely
for peaceful. prosperous and happy
parpetW:y.
In advance of making one tour Of
| senitary inspection we visited the hos
pital, In which there were few pa
! jisnts, probably dozen, some couva.
jeecing and others quite i'll. We re
grctted the absence Of Dr. Redfern,
himself sick, probably w;th the pre-.
vailiug fever, and we found Dr.. Har-
din ia cheerful and efficient discharge
Of the duties Of resident physician.
We were informed that approximate
~ between seventy and eighty cases
Of sickness had occurred among the
students within few weeks, necessi-
aGting the disbanding of the college.
! OF that number Of fever cases not
more than thirteen were of prolonged
duration and that several had died.
Tee fever was thought to be ''rnalariap
but there were two caSes IN hospital
concernlng which there was some
| doubt but might be typhoid fever.
as to the causes CT this lever
various theories were entertained.
One theory was that the students had
! 5athed in the river near where the
sewerage empticd. Another theory
was that number Of students had
worked in the low swamp lands. rich
! in alluvial deposits, and had inhaled
the roxious exhslations from stag
aant water, tho cutfow Of which had
been recently checked By dam. a
third theory was that large percent
age of the students had come from
their homes in maiarial sections OF the
State and that the latent material IN
them had developed by higher lati-
| Euoe, by an excessive amount Of work
and the severe military discipline Of
rhe institution. That these causes had
gradualiy devitalz ID the students,
rendering them easy prey to Sickness.
The disproof OF the first theory was
shat some of the sick students dis
cl&imed ever hsving been in the river.
| TIE second theory could net hold be-
cause tbs sickness was not entirely
confined to the students VINO had
worked IL the swamp land, and in re-
ply to the third theory it may be said
that the sick students represented all
sections OF the State.
In the presence OF so many con-
fic:ing opinions entertained by gen
tlemen OF intelligence, Discrimination
and 0baerva.ion. your committee pro
c:eded to make systematic and Wig
orous examination Of every place aud
yerything which might possibly sug
ges: clue to the solution OF the prob
lem in question. Your Excel!ency
will recall the physical appearance OF
Clemson, is hills and valleys, and
the relative distances and positions Of
the various buildings. Taking the
college building as centre, 1t Will De
observed that the watershed OF the hill
UPON which it islands causes a part CT
the storm to flow north to the river,
west to the barracks and south and
est through a gradually developed
valley, round and about the dairy
and into the ravine which is the natu-
raj vent OF most Of the water OF avJa-
cent hills upon the east, north and
southern sides. On the northern edge
! of the ravine, in the valley, IS located
the dairy, building probably nifty
isst aouare. The site upon whicn II
stands mad been q small pond which
had bseu flled IN with deorls OF Varla-
biz character, organic and Inorganic,
and had been practically dralaed. b
tween the dsiry and the abrupt NUS
erth there is a small space IN which
TWO s0rings rise. The larger spring
! wss sid 70 become muddy after rain.
aad accordingly it had been enclosed
VITA brick on inrse sides. The smaII-
ar soriag beside the door of the dairy
is included in casing Of imper7ious
material about two feet in length by
one foot in width. This spring some,
times is milky and used exclusively IN
pairing the produces OF the dairy. The
day Of our arrival it rained ne&yily,
and the next morning we traced the
storm water from the adjacent hills
over and around the imperfectly con-
structed storm di'c1, beside the spring
and upon the limited area occupied 2y
the dairy. Ga the surrounding hills
oCer which the storm water Il )Gs are
open pri9ies 70 which nc specjsI attea-
lion hid been given and the contents
Of which must be wasoed oy each re
curing rain into the valley and thence
! INTO the rayIne.
Your committee in continuance OF
tasir duty examined the barracks
which they found defective IL location,