The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-10-18
525 Cases Reported During
Month of September.
Butler, Dickinson and Leaven-
worth Counties Worst.
HERINGTON UNSANITARf PLACE
Ice Is Made From Springs Fed
by Cess Pools?
5000 Free Vaccinations Made
by Board of Health.

Kansas is infested with a typhoid
fever epidemic that extends to many
sections of the state. Reports for
September, as compiled today in the
offices of the state board of health,
show 525 cases. More than 5000 free
vaccinations have been given by the
son and Leavenworth counties.
In Herington the state board today
announced that it had directed the
criminal prosecution of an ice manu-
facturer who is alleged to have sold
ice from polluted and impure water.
News of a typhoid epidemic in the
southeastern Kansas mining camps
came today from Crawford county.
Scores of men, women and children
are suffering from the disease in the
Butler county oil fields. Eldorado's
September report showed "a cases,
while lis cases exist in the county.
Wichita has "a cases, while Topeka
reported 23 cases in September, in
Guiding four on rural routes outside
the city and several patients in hos
pitals from Herington and other
towns.
Improper sanitation and impure wa
ter is given by the state board as the
cause for conditions in practically all
of the towns. In the Butler county
oil fields, DR.. ]. J. Sippy stated, enor-
nous growth in the population of the
towns and lack of proper sanitary reg
ulatfons have caused an enormous
spread of the disease
Herington Worst Place.
Perhaps the most glaring case of al
legged criminal carelessness was in
Herington. Many residents of the
! town use spring water. Doctor Sippy
today declared these springs are fed
by cesspools and stagnant ponds. But
the criminal part of the condition in
the town is alleged to have been due
to the sale of ice manufactured from
unfiltered and impure water. During
the summer months water for the
manufacture of ice was secured from
a large reservoir owned by the Rock
Island railroad. 1t is declared that in
some instances seepage from sewers
and cesspools reached the reservoir.
Ice is alleged to have been manufac-
! tured and sold to Herington families
without the precaution by the distilling
or purifying the water.
I'VE have directed the Dickinson
county attorney to prosecute the ice
manufacturer and expect to press the
case said Doctor Sippy Everything
possible has been done by our depart
ment. We placed large posters in
every home in the town and urged
everyone -to boil their water. We ad-
ministered $50 free vaccinations and
something like $50 vaccinations have
been administered by physicians of the
| town.
The board of health record shows
| Il typhoid cases in Herington in Sep
! tember. DR.. Sippy said there are
/ three Herington patients in Topeka
! hospitals One Herington woman, he
said, died in a Topeka hospital few
| days ago.
| In Cowley and Leavenworth count
! les vaccination campaigns have been
| conducted. DR.. Sippy said the state
! board had directed 1000 free yaccf-
ma Of
About 500 vaccinations have been
| made in Butler county.
People Should Boil Water.
I'VE can't go into every home and
make people boil the water, nor can
we make them apply methods of sani-
tation in toilets and outbuildings,' -
said DR.. Sippy. I'VE have done every
| thing to help these people. Some of
/ them seemingly won't be helped. In
most of the towns the local health
the janitors in the public school build
ings. Yet, in the main, these local
| health officers have worked with US.
Personall@, 1 have been giving about
| 1S hours a day to the work. 1 aban-
| doned my vacation period in order to
stay on the job and help relieve con-
| ditions'
Typhoid death records for August
were compiled today. They showed
3 deaths, as against so deaths a year
ago september QedIn records Will
not be available for several days,
maybe not before November l.
kilograms received by the health
department today from Crawford
county indicated a serious condition
in the southeastern Kansas mining
camps. A number of cases have been
reported from camps in the Pittsburg
district and a special health officer
has been sent into the county
The September typhoid record OF
525 cases is against 374 for the same
month last year. or an increase of 81
cases over last year. The principal
typhoid reports for Kansas towns in
september showed: Augusta, 20
cases; Eldorado. S4; Herfngton, II;
Cimarron, II; Leavenworth, Is; Cna-
mute, 8; Topeka. %; Wichita, "a;