East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-09-08

cases a day and In the three and a
half months we have had the cars
in operation we figure that a totaf
Of not less than 100000 persons have
been reached in this manner.
Unfortunately, railway commune
cation in Serbia Is very limited and
the reaching Of the population In the
Interior presented a different prob
lem. Individual sanitary missions
were therefore sent to each import
ant town in military automobiles or
carriages, and frequently having their
supplies carried in OK carts. Disin-
fecting and bathing plants were then
established in each big center Of pop
ulation and the same process Of ex-
termination carried on.
Where the Serbian government
had funds at its disposal these plants
were erected at it's expense, but where
it did not, we paid for them our
selves A total of SO plants were thus
Installed by us and they constitute
permanent part of Serbia's equip
ment for fighting a similar situation
should it ever come again.
"The next most important phase OF
the work was our sanitary assault OF
the military hospitals These from
the start had been the most prolific
centers for the spreading of the dis
ease. They we're at all times con-
gested to the limit with wounded or
sick soldiers, whose infested clothing
quickly spread the disease, to almost
every inmate.
I'm attacking the hospitals we
took with us portable bath tubs and
had at our disposition the Austrian
prisoners to give the sick and wound
ed their disinfecting baths. While
they were doing this we put their
clothing and bedding through the
! steam process and then wound up
by disinfecting the entire building
with sulphur and often even white
! washing the walls. OF the 113 mill
+ tary hospitals in Serbia, fully 100
passed through this sanitary regener-
alton at our hands.
Still another most important
/ phase Of the work was the visiting Of
every house almost in the entire king
dom and separating the diseased from
the well. The quarantining of the in
fected persons was something which
the local authorities had not been
able to undertake, but under our di-
rection it was quickly and thoroughly
carried out.
While we were hard at work on
this determination of typhus we also
had our eyes constantly on the look
out for cholera and typhoid. None
OF the former was found but the lat
ter was abundant, Against this, and
: against the former, too, We therefore
: prepared in our own Laboratories
. which we had established in the old
Turkish town of Us ub, combined
serum against cholera. typhoid ant
paratyphoid. This was prepared il
[ such a manner that two injections
were sufficient and thus it was pos
sible to administer it to both the ar
E my and the civil population with {
, minimum of labor. For this task
of vaccination we had our own vacci.
: mating car which covered all the ter
ritory that could be reached by rail
. and we also furnished the serum tC
: the French surgeons here who un'
dertook its administration in the arms
. in connection with this laboratory
= work. we started from the very first
= fa- hrrt
up to the present moment completed
) success has not crowned our efforts
The organism discovered by DR.
Plotz at Mt. Sinai hospital New York
has not yet been found here by US
but with the aid of cultures which
he has placed at our disposition
complete success may yet crown thi:
end of the work. 1t is being actively
pushed by DR.. Zinsser of Columbia
: and DR.. Sellards of Harvard.
"One of the most happy features OF
the whole work was the manner in
which we ourselves. after the terri
BILE experiences of the Serbian and
American Red Cross units. kept free
from the disease. Not one Of the "a
men comprising our mission fell a
victim. But naturally we had at our
disposition all of the latest possible
preventves Every doctor assigned to
hard work amongst the victims wore
a vermin proof suit, rubber gloves and
adhesive bands above the wrists and
ankles. We have not been able to
demonstrate that the disease is con.
tageous and in fact there seems no
reason to believe that it is transmit
ted otherwise than by the bite of in
fected vermin.
TN Montenegro we were most for.
tunate in being able to check the epi-
demic before it could become general.
Dr. Grinnen of Harvard, who was
assigned to that territory, arrived
when the disease had only got into
the towns. These were quickly quar-.
antined and the plague stamped out
at once.
Thus by the middle of August
think I will be able to guarantee that
typhus will be a thing Of the past in
Serbia Not only that, but we would
be greatly disappointed if it ever
came again. But still even in this
latter case, Serbia now has at its dis
position all Of the facilities necessary
for speedily combating any outbreak
Naturally our success was only
possible through the most hearty co.
operation OF every man composing
the mission. and this has been one
Of the two bright spots of the entire
task. There was not a man who ever
shirked or even objected to any task
assigned him. no matter how disa-