Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-10-28
WORST is OVER.
The Eastern Maine Smallpox
Epidemic Waning.
There Are Many Cases But No Deaths
Have Occurred.
A General Vaccination and Many
Amusing Incidents.

1 Bangor, Me-, Oct. 27.-(SpeciaD Now
under control it is amusing to hear
what folks have to say on the subject
Hunt as you may it is practically an
impossibility to find man, woman or
/ child who was the least bit frightened
or who deemed it necessary to be
vaccinated. And yet, strange as it
seems, the fact remains that thousands
and thousands of Bangor and Brewer
| folks have had their arms scratched
and are now enjoying? all the pleasures
of the cowpox. What is more, too, the
desire to be inoculated does not in the
last abata, as can be easily tablished
by a visit to most any physicians office
Said one of the leading physicians of
the city to the writer only day or two
ago:
1T takes about all my time to attend
the people who wish to be vaccinated.
If I didn't work about all night it would
be necessary to neglect my other
patients"
This man has been and is now vacci-
mating from 20 to 120 people day. AS
the price is 81, in most cases, a few escap-
ing for 80 cents per scratch it look as
though the doctors were doing some
thing in the money making line. Still
no ones kicking, while most all are glad
to see them do ii, as it is in the interest
of public health. Perhaps the record
for Vaccinations is that OF an east side
physician who inoculated 10 people af-
ter supper one night in the early days of
the scare. Possibly some other may
have eaualled this, but, if so, he hasn't
reported his figures. Besides the resi-
dents Of the two cities who nave taken
the preventive and so kept the doctors
busy there are to woodsmen employed
in the lumber camps up river. Several
physicians have visited these camps in
the past three weeks and Vaccinated
from e to 300 men.
In connection with the epidemic there
has been one interesting thing. 1t is
the surprising amount of knowledge
which the ordinary people have pos
sessed on the subject of smallpox.
Could all this be gathered together and
published it would make a volume, or,
more truthfully, Il number of them,
which> would be of unquestioned inter
est, if not of value. to the medical pro-
fessiofl. There has been all kinds of
statements as TO the progress of the
disease, how it was gaining; how care
less the physicians were in their meth
DDS of handling the outbreak and the
laxity of the boards of health in their
efforts to stop the spread of the
of llpnY h1
been talked threadbare and the most
astonishing part of it is that no two of
The lecturers agreed on the symptoms,
so that after an hour spent in listening
to che discourse one has decidedly
clonded idea of how he must feel if
coming down with an attack of the
dreaded malady. After having mixed
these different symptoms together,
shaken the compound in good shape and
then drawn off a fair sized dose
one would be safe in deciding that
there had beer no smallpox at all, but
that people had been suffering from an
ottack of rose measles. SO much for
the knowledge of the doctors of the
street corner hospitals.
If half the things which are told are
true there are good grounds for the
talk that some of the doctors have
been lax in their manner of handling
the cases. OF course, there is a
ground to doubt these stories, as it
seems scarcely creditahle that any
physician would take any chances
when dealing with such a disease as
smallpox. On the other hand many OF
the stories are told by men and women
of good repute and have regulations for
truthfuness, so that they ought to be
entitled to some credence. But,
while they may be telling the truth,
they may be mistaken in their under
standing of the facts.
The method of quarantine which has
been followed, especially in Brewer has
been great. A red flag, or card, has
been depended on to keep the people in
the house and others from entering.
This worked all right in the cases OF
intelligent people. but when 1t came to
dealing with ignorant people it was
another thing. This was SHOWN in the
case of the boarding house, at the ship
yard Of Z. & I. X. Stetson. Brewer,
where case was found. The people
were quarantined, the flag being used
as a guard. Five men walked out of
the house and took themselves to
Bucksport. Down there they were
brought to stop with a very en-
phatic period. They had reached East
| Bucksport, when discovered by some
farmers. These farmers were deter
mined chaps. Arguments We're useless