The Washington times., 1915-09-06

ures only Of the victims who came TO
, the military hospitals. Serbia had not
victims among the civil population, and
SO the above figures give. as a matter of
fact no accurate idea Of the extent Of
I'm fact, few figures of any kind are
to be had. but presumably. the total
deaths from the epidemic have been
about 100000. and the number of victims
took charge was very likely OF equal
"As such an epidemic Of typhus never
modern medicine, l freely confess that
It was with no little concern we first
arrived here. A quick survey Of the
wts sey. sGnynSsa ns ss that
could be wiped out, and In four months.
l am still confident that when the four
months are entirely past. the last Of
the GOO cases still remaining will have
disappeared.
Practical End of Work.
Following the preliminary organiza-
! ton Of national sanitary board, some
thing Serbia had not had. and the divi-
| sion Of the country into sanitary dis
| tricts. we at once went after the prac-
| tical end Of the work-namely, the
chasing down and determination Of the
louise from whose bite alone the disease
| Is transmitted.
"As the quickest means of reaching
| the greatest number OF the stricken
| population In the shortest possible time,
we had two refrigerator cars placed at
our disposal. In one Of these was in
stalled an apparatus for the disinfecting
| Of clothing by heavy steam pressure and
Its immediate drying afterwards. In the
| second car was fitted the necessary ap-
pllances for a disinfecting bath of the
victims.
with the arrival Of the car at each
| town. tent was at once pitched by the
side Of the railroad In which the popula-
| ton could undress. They then entered
the first car where they left their cloth
ing for disinfection and passed imned-
| ately into the second car for disnfec-
ton of their bodies. ONLY ten minutes
were required for the toint operation at
the end Of which time each person was
given back his clothing. dried and ready
to put on. with the absolute assurance
that not a single louise or nit rema ined.
| Our average speed was 500 to 600
cases a day, and In the three and a half
months we have had the cars In opera
ton we figure that a total of not less
| then 100000 persons have been reached
In this manner.
unfortunately. railway communica-
ton in Serbia is very limited, and the
| reaching Of the population in the In
| terior presented a different problem In
dividual sanitary missions were there
fore sent to each important town travel
v
and frequently having their supplies car
ried in OK carts. Disinfecting and bath
ing plants were then esta blished In
each big center Of population and the
same process OF determination carried
Where the Serbian government had
funds at its disposal these plants were
erected at its expense. but where II did
total Of nfty-three plants were thus in
stalled by us. and they constitute a
permanent part OF serbias equipment
for fighting a similar situation should
1t ever come again.
THE next most important phase Of
the work was our sanitary assault OF
the military hospitals. These from the
start had beep. the most prolific centers
for the spreading OF the disease They
were at all times congested to the limit
with wounded or sick soldiers, whose
infested clothing quickly spread the
disease to almost every inmate.
Another Important Phase.
still another most important phase
Of the work was the visiting Of every
house almost in the entire Kingdom and
sepa arating the diseased from the we'll
The Quarantining Of the infected per-
sons was something which the local
authorities had no: been able to under
quickly and thoroughly carried out
While we were hard at work on this
determination Of typhus we also had
our eyes constantly on the lookout for
former was found. but the latter was
abundant. Against this. and against
tho former. too. we therefore prepared
In our laboratories which we had es-
tqtllshed in the old Turkish town. OF
cholera. typhoid. and paratyphoid.
I'm connection with this laboratory
work. we started from the very first on
a search for the typhus germ. but up to
the present moment. complete success
has not crowned our efforts. The or
ganism discovered by Dr., Plotz, at Mt.
Sinai hospital in New. Yark. has not
Of efSres here by us but WITH
at our disposal. complete success may
yet crown this end Of the work 1t is
being actively pushed by DR.. Zinsser. OF
Columbia. and DR.. Sellards. Of Harvard.
! Doctors Kept Free.
"One Of the most happy features OF
the whole work was the manner in
which we. ourselves. after the terrible
experiences Of the Serbian and Ameri-
can Red Cross units. kept free from the
disease. Not one Of the fifty-four men
, comprising our mission fell a victim
! I'm Montenegro we were most fortu-
nate in being able to check the cpl.
demic before 1t could become general
DR.. Grinnell. Of Harvard. who was as.
|
the disease had only got into the towns
These were quickly Quarantined and the
plague stamped out at once.
Thus by the middle OF August.
think l will be able to guarantee tina,
typhus will be thing Of the past ir
Serb. Not only that. but we would be
greatly disappointed II 1t ever came
again. But still. even in this latter case
Serbia now has at Its disposition all OF
the facilities necessary for speedily
combating any outbreak.
THE other bright spot which stands
out most vividly was the unfa!ling kind.
ness Of Sir Thomas Upton to the mem
bers Of the mission. Not only did ht
cheer us up with words at every mo-
ment when cheer was most needed, bu'
his unending efforts to furnish the mem
bers Of the mission with little odds anc
ends for their material comfort gave
evidence Of a kindly consideration Of
others such as have never before met
"As a result Of our four months worl
here. / think I can safely say that Ser
bia is n regenerated nation from a san
itary point Of view and the effects Of
A this. I feel certain will be reflected II
n her national life and development fol
= years to come"