Rock Island Argus., 1902-01-29
FAMILYISSTRICKEN
Four Cases of Smallpox in the
Home of j. r. ConoVer, on
Fourth Avenue.
DISEASE COMES FROM DAVENPORT
Relative From There Visits the
HOuse-Guilty of Care
lessneSs.

| TINS morning TO investigate Il dis
ease which had made its appearance
at the home of j. II. Conover. i914
Fourth avenue. brought 10 light the
most dangerous source of smallpox
contagion with which the department
has So far had to deal.
Three members of the family were
found to have well advanced cases
and Il fourth had practically recnv-
cred from mild form of it. The pa
tients are Mrs. Lucinda Conover, aged
80; Charles, her son, aged 16. and
Oscar Akers. -, n relative who
makes his home with the Conovers.
An Investigation showed that the
family had been guilty of a degree
of carelessness almost incredible in
view of the prevalence of the disease
and the general knowledge of its
symptoms and results.
The contagion in the first place
was left with the family abnnt five
weeks ago by a relative living in
Davenport, who was taken down with
smallpox the day following n visit aI
the Conover home.
Young Son Taken Ill.
Two weeks later n younger son
became i'll. an eruption appeared and
he passed through what any physi-
elan would have had no hesitation in
pronouncing a light form of the dis
ease. But no doctor was called in
and events followed their usual
course till about Il wek ago, when
Mrs. Conover began to feet i'll. She
summoned n physician but her
symptoms were not sufficiently mark
ed to excite his suspicious and the
eruption of the young IN had 6isap-
peared.
When conditions were investigated
today the three members of the fam
lily had been sick nearly Il week and
the husband and father had iu 1he
meantime been employed as a bar
keeper in an uptown saloon.
The first thing doGc H. the health
officers was to quarantine the hinse
and then to close the saloon. The
latter place will he fumigated. Ow-
ing to the fact that there are SO
many cases i'm the family no attempt
Will be made tu m"ve the patients.
hut the place will he turned intu Il
smallpox hospital.
Precautions Advised.
In view of the danger that the ma
iority of people of Rock Island are
running of being brought in contact
with smallpox contagion. which is
constantly spreading in unexpected
places, Health Commissioner De- Silva
has outlined for the Argus in Il gen
eral way the IHa4ner in which the
public may LcIp in stamI ing out the
disease, or =, least in III. prevention
of an epidemic. The four rules II
be observed are:
First-Naccinate.
Second-Avoid promiscuous gath
erings.
Third-Guard the general condition
of the system.
Fourth-Watch carefully AMI re-
port symptoms.
Vaccination needs no argument in
its favor as Il preventive measure.
Ordinarily once in five years is suf-
ficient, but during times ot especial
danger it is cons'deced best to make
''i,, period ti,:9e years.
Danger In Gatherings.
There is eve y danger in gatherings
where all classes of people ere
thrown together. In such places !
hundreds If the situation becomes |
much more severe it is probable that |
promiscuous gatherings will be pro-
hibited in the city.
The person who is in poor condition |
physically is much more liable to be |
affected by contagion in all furIus |
than one who is full of vitality. |
Proper food, air and exercise are inn
portant.
The symptoms vary in different
persons. In the majority of cases
they begin with n chill, headache and |
pains in various parts of the body, |
accompanied by a rising fever. At |
the same time there is an unusual /
redness of the skin of the FACE and |
in about three days signs of an eruP- /
tion appear on the forehead. The |
latter spreads until the entire hody
is covered. With some the first |
symptom is vomiting and feeling
of nausea followed by the fever and
other indications above named. The
danger of contagion begins with the
rise of the fever and increases till 1
the eruption is in its worst state,
when it is at its height.
Quarantine Effective.
There is one encouraging phase of |
the situation and that lies in The |
fact that so far there has been no
spread from cases after they were
discovered. This shows the effective |
ness of the quarantine.
The health committee of the city
council will meet this evening and |
the matter of providing detention |
hospital in accordance with the rec
ommendation of the health commits |
sioner will be taken up. Vaccination |
is being done by the wholesale. y
number of the larger business houses |
have requested employees TO submit |
to the operation and in the schools /
many certificates have been received |
Cortf,r..st -, No., rss~h.