New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-12-06
FEAR EPIDEMIC OF
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
Scarlet Fever and OIphtnerIa
Rage Among School Children
in East New York.
DOCTORS BUSY WITH CASES
Join with Parents IN Demanding
That Cypress Hills Schools
Be Closed Until All
Danger Is Over.
DOCTORS BUSY WITH CASES

- ecarIet fever and diphtherla
have recently spread to an alarming e
+o,+ among the school children IN tne
C,,.,ross Hills section of East New YORK
,,+bouph the Health Department au-
thorfties in that district deny liiaC Inc
snread of the infection has reacneo the
size of an epidemic. persons nVIhs III inc
o..,borbood are greatly alarmed ana
go demanding that Public School 6o. In
r;cb-,ond street. near Ridgewood ave
&c where il is said there are more
10, ono hundred cases, be closed imrne-
diately.
The contagious diseases have also ap-
Deared in School los. at Linwooo street
and Arlington avenue, but SrnaLel
.,rr,t,er of cases are reported there
r,t,,-sicfans in the affected district are
l,an+ busv with the number or cases
brought TO them, and are supporting the
,arents in their contention that both
schools should be closed. TO prevent
more serious spread of the contaglon-
Three deaths from scarlet fever nave
been reported in that neighborhood With
in the last day or two, and II IS sald
that several more are known TO nave oc-
CURED from the same disease. Dr. VIII
lam 7. FIannery, of No 23S Arlington
averne. said Yesterday that he knew OF
sixtv-fve cases among the school chill
dren. He said he had known OF cases
where the children had been allowed TO
return to school while the skin was
peeIing as the result Of scarlet fever, a
stage when the disease is still very con-
tagious.
A physician living in Ridgewood ave
n,a said that he had had forty cases
of dtDhtherfa and scarlet fever recently
Other physicians declare that the Health
Department officials have been negligent
in taking precautions against the spread
of the diseases
The recent deaths reported are those
of William Luther, eight years old. of
No. 81 Grand street; Henry Boyer, ten
wears old. of No. 132 Crescent street, and
John Granun. seven years old, of No
S6 Nichols avenue. There are five chill
dreu in the Crescent street house, and
two more of them have developed cases
of scarlet fever. Many of the younger
children in the neigh borhOOd who are
not Vet in school have been affected by
one disease or the other. it is said
DIR. T. r. MaxfieId, assistant sanitary
superintendent of that district, who has
been investigating the contagious dis
eases. said last night that conditions had
not reached a state of epidemic as yet.
He said the percentage of cases IN a So
called epidemic was about seventeen out
of every hundred. The percentage was
much less .han this. he said, when it is
taken into consideration that 1.340 pu-
pills attend School 10 daily
James j. McCabe, Assistant Superin-
tendent of Schools. said the Board of
Education had no present intention OF
closing the schools. but that the precau-
ton had been taken of fumigating the
buildings. DR., MaxfieId said no fumigat-
ing had been done so far by the Health
Department. He did not consider il nee
eSsarv AT the present time he added