Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-09-29
WHO SAID DIPHTHEaiA?
The Scare Seems to Have Been ExpIoded-lt
Is Only Tonsilitis.

1t would seem that the great diph
iberia scare that this city has had for
the past four days had been exploded.
The little razZle- dazzle that the matter
got from the board of aldermen, Mon
day night, brought the thing to finish
in the morning. There is no mistake
about the first Latlipp child dying of
diphtheria and that the house should
have been properly quarantined which
it was not. Developments, yesterday.
however disclosed the fact that the
second Latlipp child has not been i'll
With diphtheria but rather of tonsilli
tis.
DR.. A. L. Bessey was seen by the
Journal, yesterday morning, and the
doctor said there was no cause tor
alarm from diphthera, that he did not
believe that there is diphthera in the
city. This is indeed pleasant news.
The doctor also said that the third case
that was thought to be diphtheria and
which was announced in these columns.
Monday morning, is also case of ton
slitis.
Perhaps a review of the case will be
well in order that the public may I'M
it without a desire to create a sensa-
ton, is to say that the doctors believe
that there has been but the one case
of diphtheria in the city. When DR.. M.
w. Bessey was called to attend the
first child of the Latlipp family, he
found a pronounced case of diphtheria
and it was in an advanced stage. The
doctor did the only thing to be done to
save the child, and that was to ad-
minister anti-toXin.
When the second child was taken
sick the same treatment was resorted
to as precaution, but the case proved
to be tonsilitis and the child is now all
right or nearly so. The third case, that
of the patient of DR.. A. E. Bessey, not
on the same street, but in that section
of the city also proved to be a case of
tonsilitis.
DR.. A. e. Bessey tells the Journal
that physicians may be deceived in the
diagnosing of a case of tonsilitis, that
the flrSt symptoms are the same prac-
t1cally as those of diphtheria, and ply
slclans may mistake the one disease
Tor the other in the diagnosis. The only
way to determine whether or not the
patient has diphtheria is to apply the
meteorological test. 1t requires from
II to "a hours then for the test to DEM
onstrate what the disease may be. This
test was applied in the case of the sec
ond Latlipp child and the third case as
reported to DR.. A. f. Bessey The test
showed no symptoms of diphtheria and
the patients were treated for tonsilitis.
Both the patients are all right now.
ana unless the remote possibility of the
disease OF diphtheria having been com
municated to other children by the sec
ond child of the Latlipps. who attended
schooi for several days while the first
was ILL., asserts itself, there is no cause
Tor alarm from diphtheria
. TO make all things as safe as possble !
however, the board of education has
caused the Brook Street school TO he
closed and to remain closed until the citv
physician has declared that there is no |
danger from the dread disease This GER
talnly Is not an unwise move
The Journal was intending to interview
pr: Jolly: secretary of the board of health, !
but that gentleman was ahead. by first
interviewing the Journal DR., Joly takes
exceptions to some things that were
stated in the meeting of the aldermen
Monday night and explains as follows:
DR.. M. w. Bessey left word at his house
Friday night, that there was a case of