Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-27
BY WHITEWATER
Informs Mayor that Smallpox Situation is
Not Alarming.
SUGGESTS WAYS TO ERADICATE DISEASE
Mayor Moores VIII Act Upon All suE-
gestions of Expert from the
United states Marine Hos
pItal Service.

The report Of the smallpox situation in
Omaha as made by DR.. c. P. wertenbaker
of New Orleans, who is officially inspecting
conditions all over the state, was received
by Mayor Moores yesterday morning and is
most gratifying to him. He said:
The doctors report Is OF such n nature
as TO be both encouraging and helpful to US
In handling this problem Of public health.
His compliments are appreciated and most
assuredly his advice will be followed as
nearly to the letter as possible. The in
spectors will at once take up the house-to-
house examination in infected blocks, as
he recommends. and l shall prepare a cir
culsr letter embodying his vaccination ar
gument. which letter will be sent not to a
few, but to every business house, factory or
other place in which FIVE or more persons
are working together. In this circular l
will add to his remarks my own strongest
solicitation that they all be vaccinated.
This new glycerine lymph does away with
extremely sore arms and there is really no
excuse why practically all Omahans should
not take this precautionary measure"
DR.. Wertenbaker left Omaha to go to
South Omaha early yesterday morning and
will go from there direct to Lincoln.
DIR. wertenbaker'H Report.
The report of Omaha conditions, one copy
Of which he sent to the State Board Of
Health and another to Washington, is given
below In full:
OMAHA, March e4.-To his Honor,
Frank +. Moores: In accordance with the
instructions of his excellency, Governor
fibi EasSs a'v ana inYes WiSa e gHu n. cV smsnnox sintSnsaes
ton In Omaha. l have the honor TO sub
init the following report, with such sug-
gestions as seem advisable to improve ex-
listing methods.
DR.. j.. b. Ralph, your commissioner of
OF the methods followed by this city for
the suppression OF smallpox, as well as
the tam GonGiti S1tb as NJ they exist at p Isise6 tb In
emergency. hospital this afternoon and
made an inspection Of the building and
various stages of smallpox at the time
of my visit. Several were about recovered
and will be ready for discharge in a few
The emergency hospital is decidedly
above the average of such hospitals. The
buildings, while rough, are warm and
comfortable and sufficiently equipped for
the purpose. The dining room and cooking
bountlful and much better than is usually
furnished II was well prepared and. well
as contented as possible under the circum-
stances. The hospital seems to be eff
GENTLY managed. All the patients were
In. regard to existing conditions and
methods, It is evident from the continued
pTtbenCe OI bD1dilpON III tHe CITY lndt
there must be some weakness in the
present methods. It appears that there is
no systematic house to house inspection
TO ascertain the existence of hidden cases
OF smallpox, the health department relying
on the reports OF. physicians and others
for information. There are doubtless some
cases that are not seen by a physician, or
otherwise escape being reported. Each of
these cases becomes a center of Infection
from which spring up a new crop of cases,
and the chain becomes interminable.
Locating New Cases.
In order to check this process II is neces-
sary to locate as soon as possible each
new material. This Is best done by a house
toulouse inspection, which should be re-
peated at short Intervals until all LANCER
Is past.
Next to locating, and isolating existing
cases, II Is most important to render all
persons liable to Infection immune to the
disease by vaccination. The use of a pure
Elycernized lymph win obviate all trouble
from the excessively sore arms that have
raised a prejudice against vaccination. and
with such a simple preventive at hand 1t
seems criminal to permit persons to be-