The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-09-27
the law Of cause and effect. only the result
Of our criminal carelessness.
VIM. A. Boxell, NJ. ID.
Corrects DR.. stuart.

Corrects DR.. stuart.
| To the Editor Of The Post.
Navasota, Texas, September l4-"nA
the veteran yellow fever expert" Dr. u.
+. Stuart, whom / claim as my most In
innate acquaintance and Oldest and best
friend In the medical profession OF Texas
permit me in all kindness ana the best
of intentions to make a few corrections
| OF slight but material errors occurring IN
The Pests published interview with MIN
| last week?
He stated that the epidemics Of sickness,
| not yellow fever. he claims, occurred IN
| Shreveport, Calvert and Columbus In 1878,
| when II is well known that during the fear
| full epidemics of 1889 in the Mississippi
valley, from New Orleans to Memphis, not
| single case was ever found in our broad
State while the eagle eye Of that prince OF
health officers and military men, Colonel
| DR.. Rutherford, watched with ceaseless
| vigilance, and controlled with tireless en-
| ergy the States quarantine machinery,
| then in its infancy, but since perfected
| by the faithful Swealingen.
| My friend and confrere. DR.. Stuart, errs
in saying that the epidernics in the three
| first named places occurred in 1873, when
in truth 1t was 1873, i've years prior and
to my great surprise he commits a graver
! error still In putting himself on record at
| this late day as denying that the disease
| was yellow fever. i wish my friend would
| give The Post for publication a certain
| certificate given him at Calvert about the
| 18th OF October, 1873, signed by Dr. Will
liam Field, who died in less than a week
with black yomt, and myself, for l have
| forgotten its exact yerbiage and full pur-
| pose, as / was then ON the verge OF q fear
| full relapse. This was Friend Stuarts sec
ond encounter with yellow jack" the first
| being In the terrible epidemic of 1867, in
which Bronze john had the best Of 1t,
| leaving the good doctor scant time to
study and investigate his peculiar char
acteristics and pranks. DR.. Stuart was in
Calvert twice during the epidemic, for
few hours only each time; the first visit
| being on the 10Th or Both of September,
in the interest OF the Houston and Texas
Central railroad, and he was accompanied
by the late DR.. Howard Of Houston and
an old expert from New Orleans, whose
name / have forgotten. 1t did not take
him and his expert but a few hours to de-
eide that ii was not yellow fever, and they
left on the evening train for home, but
Dr. Howard differed from this snap judg-
ment diagnosis and remained with me,
then in bed with a light attack. till
Wednesday, when he was forced to re-
turn by their threats to quarantine him
if he did not come home and sign their
report Note Inconsistency! But we got
the quarantine all the same later on, and
a bitter one IL was, for we got our collins
sent US pitched from Hat cars as they ran
forty miles an hour through town. Ten or
fifteen days after the first visit my friend
returned, accompanied by fifteen promi-
neM physicians from Galveston. Houston
and along the line Of the Central among
them the veteran Or. Peete. health officer
OF Galveston. On arriving at Calvert
about | a. IN. and entering the almost de-
serted Kendrick hotel they found in the
first room young lawyer. a brother of
Judge Rector Of Austin. and his nurse.
Young Rector was squirting black vonit
N every direction, and DR.. Peete re-
marked; Gentlemen, this is as much yell
low fever as | care to see tonight. You
younger men may inspect the town If you
wish but / am old and tired. and am
going to bed II can find one"
The exact amount of experience, observa-
ton and experimentation required to con-
stitute ore an expert in any disease is
still an unknown quantity; but after study
ing this disease from the great epidemic
Of 1893 almost continuously down to 1879
having written my graduating thesis on
II, / dc not pose as an expert but I do
every time, from its inception through
all the stages to the first appearance OF
that never failing fatal symptom, black
voInit. ling a specific disease, produced
by a specific uoreign) infection, emanat-
ing originally from a peculiar filth. the
filth OF another and Totally different race
from the Anglo Saxon, it ever presents
pher-mena mere characteristic than those
81 the other specific diseases. variola, ru-
beo!a. scarletlna, partuosis, ETC., which en-
abe the close observer. not expert. to
make an unerring diagnosis at any stage.
lhese phen'mena are to be found. most
Of them, In the living subject only; hence
the expert often fails to make a correct
diagnosis after an autopsy. But did NOT
SCI oGt TO write a brochure on the subject.
ana vii! close with a prediction, based
upon more than forty years experience,
tEat there Will be no general. widespread
epidemic. unless there were concealed cages
occurring in Southern Mississippi and
louisiana long before they were publicly
announced. One can tell the wears of gem
eral sp.demics from The Posts tabulated
history OF thirtytwo years by finding how
early the first case occurred, before npting
the lumber Of deaths
W. L. Coleman. M. d.