Omaha daily bee., 1911-04-30
HEROES IN MEDICAL RANKS
Modern Crusaders Who Have Died
Fighting Disease.
tIvEs THE PRICE OF KNOWLEDGE
Sacrifices OF Men who Have Fought
the Deadly Germ and the Treach-
erOus BacIIIus-Many More
VIII Follow

on board the steamer Martha Washing
ton few weeks ago. the ship physician
stepped to the rail to await the tug that
4 was putting out from Fire Island, N. Y,
Nlln1wn TO the steamer world as quarantine.
VT.nn as the quarantine men came over the
side, the ship physician greeted them with:
- spinal meningitis in the steerage."
Much of TT" the men from quarantine
asked
IAN epidemic. Nine cases fully developed
Lord knows how many more are coming"
1t all meant a long siege of quarantine
for the Martha Washington. II meant also
long hours Of work for the physicians who
form that protecting bar which. stretching
out from New York. serves as a barrier to-
ward the entrance of infectious diseases to
this country. II was O'Clock in the morn
ing. Soon afterword, telephones were car
rying calls to various Of the physicians who
answer the summons In cases like this.
And among those who answered were DR..
Edward +. Ashley, one of the chief bac-
tcriologists of health bureau staff and DR..
Raymond w. Brown, house surgeon of the
J Hudson Street hospital. Nurses we're hur-
ried to quarantine also. The work began.
Armed with the serum Of cerebro-spinal
meningitis, discovered by DR.. Simon Flex-
ner OF the Rockefeller institute the various
physicians began their attempts at life
saving. Soon the tug put out again to
bring back the PATHS and here again were
immigrant Greeks suffering from the dis
ense. Well. more work, less sleep, that was
all, and the doctors kept busily on.
Peril of OverwOrk.
Case after case was administered to and
tho serum sent into the blood to fight the
battle against the disease there. Now and
then patient rallied, now and then a patti
ent sank. The physicians worked among
them without sleep, without meals, almost
without tho necessary precautions that
should have been taken. Chief among these
were Drs. Ashley and Brown, who never
wavered in their efforts to save lives
Gradually the shades OF the battle turned
to the side Of the nurses and the physi
ycians. The Greeks, under the influence OF
! Ehe serum began to improve-with the ex
ception Of one. He died two weeks ago
The death meant autopsy. As DR.
Ashley was one of the foremost bacteria
logists of New York, he was the one e
make the autopsy, and he complied with
the desire Of the other physicians. Despit,
his desire for sleep, his desire for rest. h,
went into the work of the investigation
Of the causes OF disease with all the yea
that characterizes the enthusiastic ply
sician. Then, that finished and the pa
tients all near recovery, it was the time TO
4 DR.. Ashley and DR.. Brown to rest
The sequel began to make itself known I
week later, when DR.. Ashley began to fee
within himself the symptoms he so Otter
had diagnosed In others-those of cerebro
spinal meningitis. This time II was DR.
Simon Flexner himself, the dscoverer o
the serum, who came to the aid of tn
physician. The first injection of the SERUM
was made exactly twenty-four hours afte
the first symptoms had appeared. But tn
case was malignant. 1t had fastened It
self upon the constitution of the physical
with a grip which even the serum, whicl
had saved the lives of the steerage load o
Greeks. could not shake DR.. Edward F
Ashley died Tuesday night.
Within twenty-four hours there came an
other hurry call for DR.. FIexner at tn
\ Rockefeller Institute. This time DR.. Ray
pond Brown was the victim. Again tn
serum was attempted, again DIR. Flexne