The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-09-28
FLIES CARRIED TYPHOID.
Reports on the Spread OF the Disease
I'm the Camps.
Ncu York Sun.

general public has been specializing as
to why the soldiers suffered from ty-
Phoid fever and the war, department.
has beer, moving everything to dis
cover and eradicate the cause, the fly
has been getting in his deadly work all
the time iinsu5pccted. Blame has been
cast on the water supply of the camps,
on the rains, OH the location of the
camps, on the food, and on the sur
geons, but hitherto the fly has escaped.
the blame has been placed where it
belongs. 1t was tho common, busy
house fly that caused the typhoid fever
in the camps and is directly RESPONSE
BILE for the deaths of hundreds of brave
soldiers.
This is the scientific conclusion of a
commission of scientific men, appoint
ed to investigate the condition of the
camps, the cause of typhoid fever in
them, and authorized to recommend
measures to prevent it's spread and for
it's prevention i'll the future. The COM
mission is composed of Major Lee, DIR.
Vernon G. Vaughn and DR.. Shakes
peare. of Philadelphia, all prominent
medical corps. The commission has
spent several weeks in the Southern
camps, going over the ground in the
most thorough manner possible, and
has embodied its conclusions in re-
port to the war department.. The conl-
mission is u unit in declaring that the
fly is responsible for the prevalence Of
typhoid fever III the camps, and brings
forward apparently indisputable facts
to support its conclusion.
The report is considered of the great
| est Importance not only to the war de-
partment and the army, but to science
itself, and will undoubtedly be the
subject of much discussion. 1t is ex-
tn IN, 1,AU .v1A, 4
termining the future course of the war
department in dealing with typhoid
fever in the camps. and the members
of the commission are willing to base
their regulations as physicians and
scientists on the accuracy of their con-
| cluSiOns.
Surgeon Lee stands high in the army;
Dr.. Vaughn is leading professor in
tho University of Michigan, and DR..
/ Shakespeare is one of the leading sur
geons in Philadelphia, and has been
Government expert on cholera. There
fore, while the report of the commits
sion is unusual and rather surprising.
it is not intended as jest and will re-
ceive the highest consideration. The
sonville, Huntsville, Fernandina and
Chickamauga. Everywhere it found
it spreading. 1t was there to discover
where the typhoid fever came from,
why it spread and how to prevent the
! spread. 1t was also to discover, if
possible, how typhoid fever could be
prevented in other camps.
The commission found that in the
majority of cases the typhoid fever
was brought originally to the camp by
regiments coming from the State
camps. At Chickamauga the commsi-
sion found the location almost ideal;
the ground was firm, the drainage good,
the water excellent and the weather,
although warm, was superb. Yet ty
first question was how did the fever
get there. After Investigation, the
commission concluded that it had un-
doubtedly been brought in by the regi-
ments from their State camps. The
commission then sought to learn why
the disease had spread and how it had
spread: The water supply of the camp
vas almost entirely obtained from
Chickamauga Creek, and the water was
said to be responsible for the spread of
the disease. But one company did not
get it's water from Chickamauga Greek
and never had got its water from that
source, yet many of its members were
| i'll with typhoid fever.
The commission found that flies, as
was naturally the case, were present in
the camp by the millions. 1t was the
same way III every camp, their num-
bels being cGualled only by those of
the flies which infested Egypt during
Pharoah's plaques. The surgeons look
ed into tho matter further and found
that the flies fed on the focal matter
from the hospitals, and then ut meal
| time shared the hard tack and bacon of
! the soldiers. In the first instance the
| fly picked up on his six hairy little
! feet iniinituSiIIiai pal ciIi;os containing
the germs of typhoid fever, and as he
merely prOmenaded over the hard tack
and bacon he deposited them there.
lions of them conveyed Il sufficient
quantity of germs. to inoculate large
numbers of the soldiers. The inOcu-
lation was slow but sure.
The accuracy OF this conclusion is, to
the minds of the members of the COM
mission, amply demonstrated in the
case of the company above mentioned,
which drank no water from Chicka-
/ mauga Creek. This company escaped
the attack of typhoid fever until after
q heavy aud prolonged rainfall. Then
q number of the members of this COM
pany were taken i'll with typhoid and
the conclusion was immediately reach
contaminated, and that it was due to
| this fact that the fever made its ap-
| pearance. But the Eiedical commits
| sion holds that this was not the case.
Everyone knows that during rains and
threatening weather flies hunt cover
and become moro persistent il; their
attention to human beings than when
they are able to skirmish for food in
| : the open air. AS soon as the rain be-
| gan at Chickamauga the flies took re-
fuge in the tents of this company, and
| before they had been there long a
number OF the men were down with
| typhoid fever.
The commission found that in all the
camps typhoid did not appear in is0-
lated cases, but that whole messes, and
In some cases whole tents of soldiers,
| went down with. the disease at the
same time, showing. conclusively that
sonville the commission found that
there was little typhoid fever, owing to
the fact that the sinks were connected
with the sewers and frequently flushed.
At Fernandina, where the system of
q y < n - -