The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-03-31
1YPHUS KILLS many
BARELY ENOUGH sERBIANS LEFT
TO BURY THE DEAD.
VICTIMS LIE In ROADS
Sir Thomas Upton Returns From a
Trip to Servia With the Horrifying
Story Of Appalling Disease-Ver.
min Everywhere Garry Infection
American Nurses Wiz Admiration.

"Just as it took fire to stop the
great plague in London, so fires are
needed to clear Serbia Of typhus. In
fected houses and the clothing Of the
people must be- burned, as the disease
is carried by vermin which are omni-
present." said Sir Thomas Upton OF
London in a statement in which he
recounted the appalling conditions in
Serbia, where he spent considerable
time in personal Investigations.
Il met on the country roGds," he
said, many victims too weak to
crawl to a hospital. Bullock carts
were gatherin them up. Often wo.
man and her children were leading
the bullocks, where in the case the
husband and father were raving with
fever. Scarcely enough people remain
unstricken to dig the graves for the
dead, whose bodies lie exposed in the
cemeteries.
"The situation is entirely beyond
the control Of the present force.
which imperatively needs all the help
it can get-tents, hospitals, doctors.
nurses, modern appliances, and cloth
ing, to replace the garmens full Of
typhus-bearing Vermil."
Describing the hospital at Ghevg-
he'll, where occurred the death Of DR..
James F. Donnelly of the American
Red Cross, whom Sir Thomas calls
one Of the greatest heroes Of the war,
ne said:
"The place is a village in a barren,
uncultiyated country, the hospital an
old tobacco factory, formerly belong.
ing to Abdul Hamid. In it were
| crowded 14O0 persons, without blan-
kets or mattresses, or even straw
men lying in the clothes in which
they had lived in the trenches for
months, clothes swarming with YER
| min, victims of different diseases
typhus, typhoid, dysentery, and small
pox-were herded together. In such
state Dr.. Donnerly found the hos
! pital, where he had a force Of six
American doctors, twelve American
nurses, and three Serbian doctors
When I visited the hospital three OF
the American doctors, the three Ser
bian doctors, and nine Of the nurses
| were themselves i'll.
1.-The patients were waited on BY
| Austrian prisoners. The fumes OF
illness were unbearable. The patients
objected to the windows being open
ed, and Dr.. Donnelly was forced to
break the panes.
"The first thing DR.. Donnelly did
on his arrival was to test the water
which he found infected. He then
improvised boilers of oil drums, in
which to boil water for use. The
boilers saved 500 lives, said DR.. Don
nelly. He also built ovens in which
to bake the clothes of the patients
but he was not provided with proper
sterilizing apparatus.
''No braver people exist than the
Serbians. They have never a word
Of complaint In one ward I saw a
fever patient, his magnificent voice
booming songs to cheer his comrades
Some were in a delirium, calling fol-
mother
Zone source of infection is the
army black bread, which is the only
ration of the troops. The patients In
the hospital receive only a loaf, each,
which they put in their bed OF under
their pillow. Later the unused loaVes
are bought by peddlers and are re-
sold, spreading disease among the
people, who are medieval insofar as
sanitation Is concerned. A Serbian
soldier receives a rife( some hand
grenades, and perhaps part of a uni
form, but otherwise looks after him.
self. His rations are coarse bread.
"The street cleaning and hospital
| waiting are done by Austrians, who
are rapidly thinning from typhus and
other diseases.
"The best hospital in the Balkans
IS at Belgrade, under DR.. Edward W.
| Ryan of the American contingent,
where there are 1000 patients. Dr..
Ryan kept the hospital neutral dur
ing the Austrian occupation, and ac-
complished wonders automatically at
that time. He is worshipped by the
people.
"Dr. Ryan says that the greatest
task is to keep the hospital free from
vermin. The typhus affects men the
most severely. Women come next.
and children for the most recover.
The symptoms in the present cpl
demic begin like those of grip. The
disease lasts fifteen days, with fever
and delirium."