Waterbury Democrat., 1902-04-21
HARTFoRD' FIRST VICTIM.
Death of Johnny Higgins-Bristol Man
 Brought Disease to Hartford.

drought DlSeuSe to t1artfOru. Hartford, April 21.-One of the smallpox victims, Johnny Higgins, years old died at the pesthouse yester- day morning and was buried last night on the almshouse grounds, in metal lie coffin. His younger brother, Tom my Higgins years old, was reported as very ill last night, but with some chance of recovery No new cases developed in the city yesterday, al- though all sorts of rumors were ahoat and each one af these had to be run down by Dr Kane, president of the health board and his assistants. A corps of physicians have been busy yaccinating people on the East Side and up to now over 1,500 persons have yaccinated.
 There was sadness in the Higgins home at No S1 Arch street yesterday, although the the family was kept in ignorance of the death of the little boy. Early in the morning the mother, who has been very i'll herself, had learned that there was no hope for the child.
 then she received the news her means and sobs could be heard across the street. No person had the courage to
 
 other families ill the house knew of it. Through the day the mother would make inquiries of the policemen on guard if they had heard any further news. Acting under instructions they told her that there was no change. AL though she had no actual knowledge that the boy was dead and that she would not even see his body and would probably never know where he was buried, the mother broke down again late in the afternoon. As if in mockery of her sorrow, gay dance music came from house not far away.
 While the Higgins home was closely guarded by two stalwart policemen and the inmates were virtual prisoners of the law, the house opposite was the scene of a polish wedding. The con trast between the two homes was so marked that the stoniest-hearted pas serby could not help feeling it. Every once in while a tear-stained face would peer out of the window in the Higgins apartments and then the cur tain would be dropped Across the street a steady stream of gayly dressed Polish people were coming and going unmindful of what was happening just across the way. Little Johnny Higgins was buried at 10 o'clock last night. There was no regular funeral cere- mony. A little metallic coffin was used and this was filled with disinfectants. The body was buried in the aims house grounds in place set aside for that purpose, and there it will remain. The board of health at last believes that it has found out where the small pox came from which attacked the Higgins family. It was through Mrs Higgins that the discovery was made. She remembered yesterday that q friend from Bristol ha dvisited them about three weeks ago. He had just had the disease and had been released l from the pesthouse in that place the l day before he came to Hartford. His trip to Hartford was for the purpose of consulting lawyer with a view of suing the town of Bristol for damages 1 for property destroyed. The man saw the lawyer and then visited the Hig- gins home. He was there for some time and played with the two children, who were taken with the disease. Dr Kane in speaking of this last night said that he saw no other source from which the disease could have come and he declared that the man from Bristol should not have been allowed to bring an article of clothing away from the pesthouse no matter how thoroughly 1t had been disinfected. He was an advocate of destroying everything that could possibly carry the germs of the disease.