The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-11-04
FATHER QUINN'S
Roeollections Of Battles With
Dread Yellow Jack,
Labors in Three Epidemics,
1923, 1873 and 1874

L
To answer 100 sick calls in q day;
to see thrice that number Of agonized
patients pass away within twenty-four
hours and be carted off unceremon-
iously to a common and unmarked
grave or their corpses consigned to
the river bed of the Father Of Wa
| tiers" as last resting place; in short,
to escape unscathed from three cpl
denies Of yellow fever is an expert
! ence terrible in the extreme and
grin, distinction that almost defies a
parallel.
And yet this Is the true, thrilling
and tersely told record Of Rev. D. A.
| Quinn, who now resides with Rev. E.
f. Carrigan. rector Of st. Edwards
church, Pawtucket, R.. 1. Father Quinn
was born i'll Ireland October 10. 1916,
but he completed his education and
| made his theological studies in the
seminary at Cincinnati,, Ohio, where
he was ordained to the priesthood by
the late Archbishop Purcell, June 81,
| 1871, being only in his 25th year. He
was at once assigned to Memphis,
Tenn. where two years later, the
dreaded and deadly yellow fever made
its first appearance in the United
States, having been brought here from
Brazil or some other country in the
torrid zone.
Father Quinn is not only a. remark
able man himself, but he comes Of a
remarkable family that has given two
of his brothers as priests to the
Gently, was forty-two years monk
of the Trappist order in the Dubuque,
Iowa, diocese.
| He has seven nieces in various Sis
terhoods. Four are in st. Paul, one
in France, one in South Africa, and
/ the seventh is Sister Bernardin" con-
nected with the convent Of st. Joseph's
parish, Pawtucket, r. I.
Talking of some Of his personal ex-
periences in the yellow fever cpl
denies in Memphis in 1873, 1873 and
1879, Father Quinn said:
Cholera preceded the fever in 1873,
and we also had visit, but not so
severe, from smallpox. The fever be-
gan about the middle Of September
md lasted more than a month; for it
| s sure to wane with the appearance
| If frost. About a half dozen priests
lied, but Rev. William Walsh and my
self survived. He, with Rev. Alloy
ius Weifer and myself, went through
he fearful epidemics Of 1873 and 1879.
Tr. Weifer died at Los Angeles, Cal,
! n 1900, and FIR. Walsh at Knoxville,
,enn., January 81. 1902, so that your
tumble servant is the only immune
urviving today. !,
"After five-years interim the fever
[ eappeared about the middle of July,
| S7S, and for a month almost every
IAN, woman and child attacked died
within anywhere from nine to forty
| light hours. In the second month
bout half the patients passed away
us. manv as 800 a day-and in the
bird month a majority survived. The
ourth month saw us pushing into
rosty November, and then there was
/. suspension until the next year. I
| ay suspension, for I am inclined to
he theory that the 1879 attack was
prolongation of that Of 1878, while
1any classify them as three epidemics
1873, 1873 and 1879
$1,000 souls persisted in 1873 and 1879,
| including forty doctors, while nearly
| 90 physicians scurried off to- SAFER
lelds to health. In theic dying agony
! mfnistered to upwards of 1000 souls,
ind Fathers Walsh and Weifar from
i 1000 to 1000 more. There were two
amps, each about four miles outside
he city, Camp FIR. Mathew, Inn charge
# FIR. Walsh, with as many as 500
afflicted, and Camp Howard, with L.
700 patients. Undertaken John Walsh
buried 1000 paupers at his own ex-
pense. OF the entire Protestant min
istry, only two Episcopalian, clergy
men and six Episcopalian Sisters re-
NAMED behind, but to their credit let
tit be told that like the Catholic priests
t-more than score and double as
many Of the good Sisters-tl1ey obeyed
the call of the Master, fearlessly faced
and fought thu pestilsnce and sacri-
feed their lives like true martyrs I'm
the cause Of afflicted humanity.
Il believe said q score Of Catho1ic
priests died Of the plagues. Well. the
record shows twenty-five including
Vicar General Reardon himself. Rev.
James J. Mooney was sent from NASH
willie. and he made his wi1r before leav-
ling. He said he could smell the fever
fifty miles outside Of Memphis. ana he
survived but short tine after his ar
rival.
| 1.-THE symptoms are similar to those
Of typhoid fever, stRattns with high
Temperature. intense thirst and gen