Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1915-06-24
THE TYPHUS EPIDEMIC
ATHHGHT IN SERVA
Where Washington Doctor Gave
His Life-A Native Of Mary
land.
DR.. ERNEST ;MAGRUDER VICTIM.
Son Of c. c. Magruder Annapolis
Typhus Kills 80 Per Cent of
Population.


sanitation experts and nurses pro-
crossing in the fight against typhus
in Serbia? Have conditions improv-
ed 10 any extent since our Red Cross
workers took mp the battle?
Mrs. William X. Draper, secretary
or the New York Chapter of the Amer
Jean Red Cross. of whom the ques-
tions were asked slipped an elastic
band from bundle of papers on her
desk in the Red Cross offices, at $50
East Twenty second street. and ex-
tracted a letter.
Here" she said. lis something /
received this morning. II was writ
ten by Miss Emily Simmonds. a grad
uate nurse of Roosevelt Hospital, in
Washington. who is at Valjevo. Serbia.
IL conveys a fair idea of what condi
tions are in the typhus hospitals"
IN part. the gruesome document
read
Here in Vafjevo the mortality of
the population from typhus is estima-
ted at 80 per cent and three-fourths
have contracted il, but il now seems
to be on the wane. and we are busy
cleaning up the hospitals, or what do
duty as such
Il am stationed ina school which is
really meant TO be the surgical hos
pital for the town There is accom-
modation for about $50 wounded, but
for weeks we have had as many as
500, sometimes more. two in one bed
and ever so many lying in their
clothes. just as they came from the
field, on the floor, with a little straw
for a pillow, and no blanket. 80 in a
room, that should certainly not ac-
comodate morethan 20 II is not at
all uncommon, when making rounds,
to find that one man has breathed his
last and the others are lying on either
side knowing nothing about il.
when we first came here there
were only three doctors on their feet
One of them was our director. who
had / 500 patients to look after all by
himself He seemed very much re-
lieved when we said we would take
charge of the dressing room. Ne do
most fearsome dressings, mostly gan
grenous hands and feet, which are
simply dropping off. and no one here
TO amputate them. / had one poor
man with both feet gangrened past
the ankle and both hands dropping
off, and still he lives and is hoping to
to be sent to Nish to be operated upon
about two days and two nights jour
ney in Red Cross traini Poor thing.
he was so grateful when | held a
cigarette for him so he could smoke
it, sometimes wish | could screw
up enough courage TO take them off
myself | have done a few fingers
and toes, and am now quite an ex-
pert at incisions; these latter with a
very blunt knife
Every hospital has had zinc bath
tub sent up from Nish but weare very
short of soap, so we make up with
lysol. And then bed linen is another
proposition We have only enough
TO give one sheet to each bed, and
this once in ten days, and they GER
tainly are needed oftener. Also we
need all kinds of drugs and disinfect-
ants We have had to use so much
these last few months.
'The three units of American Red
Cross. each unit consisting of twelve
nurses and three surgeons, when they
arrived in Serbia, found themselves
in the midst of a terrible outbreak of
typhus fever. One by one they were
taken with the deadly disease them
selves. DR.. James f. Donelly, of
Brooklyn. died in February, and in
April the American Red Cross officials
in this country were deeply grieved
to learn that DR.. Ernest p. Magruder,
of Washington. d. c., had fallen a vic
tim of the plague which he was en-
deavoring TO check
"Dr Magruder died at Belgrade.
where he had been transferred with
other American Red Cross surgeons,
and nurses who had been at Djevdjeli.
1t is said to have been due to DR.. Ma
gruder and DR.. Ethan F. Butler, also
of Washington, the latter the only one
of six Red Cross surgeons originally
in the typhus district TO escape the
disease, that most Of the party sue
ceeded in conquering the disease
among themselves.
with other American surgenos DR..
Magruder went to Belgrade to aid DR..
Edward W.Ryan, director of the Amer
ican Red Cross outfit there. in COM
batting disease and caring for the
thousands of wounded Serbians and
Austrians. He was taken down with
typhus and died within five days
DIR. Magruder left his wife and two
children, who are now with Mrs. Ma
gruder's mother, Lady MacGregor, at
Lochearnhead. Scotland, and an aged
father and mother, Mr.. and Mrs. c. c.
Magruder, of Annapolis. For four
years DR.. Magruder was superintend-
ent of the Emergency Hospital in
Washington, and for the five years
Immediately preceding his departure
for Europe, was professor of cliuical
surgery in Georgetown University.
He was fellow of the American Col
lege of Surgeons.
Upon his death the American Red
Cross headquarters at Washington re-
ceived this message from DR.. V. NJ
Soubotitch, general secretary of the
Serbian Red Cross at Nish:
Our deepest condolences on DR..
Magruder's death at Belgrade. We
ourselves hava list Ing ano-o,.