New-York tribune., 1903-02-24
.SCHURMAN'S STATEMENT.
ACTION At CORNELL.
Cause of the Epidemic, and Precau-
fionQru Measures.

Ithaca, n. v, Feb. 23.-In reply to a request
for an authoritative statement concerning the
origin of the typhoid fever epidemic as it has
affected Cornell University, its cause, the num-
Der of cases and deaths and the steps that nave
been taken TO remedy existing conditions al 'iie
university President Jacob G. Schurman mas
given out the following:
The cause of the epidemic of typhoid IS gen gen
orally elieN-ed tc be conta mnation OF the MdtII
Of Six Mile Greek, which, along Win butse ~, - -,
Creek furnishes the water supply OF Ihe Ni.'
of ithaca by a band of laborers VINO were en-
gagged in the fall and early winter IN lhg g,o So
stri,ction of a dam in that creek for the l,naSa ~
Water Company This belief IS coIlIiILeo ri I-ni
investigation, which, on behalf OF CoLllea oT, INV
--a,sitv has been made by DR. V A moore, oi1
hacteriologist. and Dr. f NJ Chaiiiot ,4a5 oIL
cologist and which they nave J JUS - I which
They say a study Of the various ways W 80
,ynhoid hacfllf are disseminated VII! SNOW nc i.
IN orr rlesent epidemic we should loon 70 - ~,
rwo of the channels of disselnllat ro
I'm, ,,,5 water for sources of injection a CSaie
Cal inquiry into distribution OF routes o1Hs - -
eS,o,r or e,ve reason to suspect that MIX naS
1 . os,-,.e Of Infection This leaves us with
1r,. on. possfble source for such a WlqespiS.iu
;Tfec-ion namely, drinking water Inc us
,p5hl,rtnn OF the cases OF typhold lever sIIoNS
sta+ ~ disease. has not existed in CirsD fam
ilies 1lsing water from Fall Creek eAcluSlleiS' C
which is the source of the water Supply VI - q
nell University: tsecond), in families using 10!
drinking purposes spring or other water prouSn.
10 the city: third). among those VINO nave ~ uSeu
1,aT water exclusively for drinking purposes
and ffourthl among those who nave uSeo toI
several months past boiled city water oIly " 10y
drinking purposes Thus Cornell Helghls' IN. ttle
csnapDs portions Of the fats not having cllS
water and West Hill are exempt Fever cases
have been restricted. with possibly rare eA- S
ceptions. to those using city water Tor ofiilhins
purposes without first properly hlterlhs vi
boiling. 49,,
We are informed by the Water Works Com
pany that there are three distinct ZONES it I eIt
civ one receiving water from SiX-Nile creek
exclusively one from Buttermilk Creek eAcIu-
sivey. and one mixed water OF the Two
We find large number Of cases on East HILL
where the water supply is from Six Mile Greek.
There are however. some cases OF dlsease IN lile
area alleged to be supplied by Buttermlik Greek
water Many of these cases are peopie WI!o WIZ!
spent more or less of their time in other parts
Of the city and could easily have become IN
fected with water there.
Drs Moore and Chamot, however. assert tnat
this hypothesis of water contamination by
laborers at the dam is not conclusive untll II
can be demonstrated that at least one OF the
laborers had suffered from typhoid teVer ana
as all OF the laborers have returned to their
homes in and about New-York City, this link IN
the chain of inference cannot be supplied
The water supply OF the university comes from
Fall Creek which is different source from the
water supply of the city No cases of typhoid
fever are known 10 have occurred among those
who used exclusively the water supply OF the
university campus. No person at sage toilege'
in which more than two hundred women stu
dents board and lodge and which is supplied
by this water. has had typhoid fever, ana no
case Of typhoid has occurred in the famlhes OF
professors living on the campus. Typhoid fever
has developed among those students only VINO
live in other portions OF the city, which are sup
piled by the Ithaca Water Company, with water
from the SiX-Mile Creek, and from ButternllK
Creek.
other large institutions of learning in having
no dorrn.tory system or dining hall for its men,
and they live in private houses situated over
an rsrts of the city. There are this year about
. 7nO s+ndents of Cornell University resident
in Ithaca OF these at least one-third nave gone
10 their respective homes since the
Of the fever epidemic, the university euthorlues
having advised all students who had the least
Illness or were aPprehensive of illness TO leaNe
the university and many have been imperative
" summoned 10y their parents.
Of those that remain in the university sew
entv-eicht are on the sick list in Ithaca. OF
mis- number fiftv-seven are confined in the
university infirmary and its anneXes, ana
tyeny-one i'll either at their own roIns or IN
private hospitals in the city The majority OF
these patients in the university inflrmary ana
ite annexes have typhoid fever, mostly milo
though some are serious and few critical or
the tWenty-one outside the 1nflrmary seven are
recognized as typhoid patients. Of which num-
Der one or two are serious Inc n1lv-seNel SICK
students in the university lnflrmary ana ITS an,
Y7avas are attended by fifty trained or skilled
nurses while the student patients outside the
ir7fr.77ar-v are cared for by their friends. Ihe
condition Of all student patients. whether IN
the infirmary not, is reported by the Pits!-
dent of the university in daily letters TO their
r-b,3e far there have been eleven deaths among
Students in Ithaca due 10 the present epidemic,
as follows;
rp.,Sr1s II c. freshman Philadelphia
1cOrIT.c O. W. freshman Rochester. = y
,tAtIFR W e freshman. Brewster. y Y
PRIME e, freshman. Huntington, N Y
scT4LH-NK ER c J. freshman. Batavia y Y.
sCHoFNBoRN H. A. freshman Hackensack' N =
eC-ET-MARD O. C, graduate. Bethany Mo
SPENCER Miss c. 2. sophomore. Jasper n y.
swARTZ F e. senior. Marlboro. n y
vrnToN c J. tunior. Canal Dover, Ohio
H-T2scMAN G. A 1unior. New-Nork City
The University authorities have made arrange
,7,anrs to enable students to secure pure water
aulv inspec1ed Artesian water has been placed
in all the University buildings. where students
NAV draw il freely. Distributing stations nave
also baen esta blished both and near the cam
pus and students have been offlclally INFORMED
mai they may have pure water in any quantlty
6esirad Al the expense of the University Fur
rhern7ore some time ago the University secured
from 204 boarding house keepers IN Ithaca the
following pledge:
/ hereby agree that l will not serve or permit TO
he served on nv table IN students rooms for
drinking in my house any city water except IL De
,I5ich have not been washed in boiled water: thai
an dishes used fer serving food ana drink shaH pe
washed and rinsed in boiled water, and, IN sefler-
al that I will take every precautlon against the
spread Of typhoid fever
Every student however, has been warned that
he must take precautions TO protect himself and
all have been urged to TO il that the above
rledge is lived up TO. The university has also
offered in case there any who do not feel
ahle TO trust their present boarding house keep
ers 10 open UP a mems dining room in sage
College 10 accommodate three hundred.
To insure pure water for the city and uni
versity not later than September l, this year the
hoard of trustees have authorized the eXpendi-
4ura Of $4,000 for the installation OF a COM
r,lete and adequate filtration plant