The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-11-06
Providence News.


Experiments with serum in fighting
the plague Of influenza raging
throughout the army camps and the
cities of New England have so far
come to naught, but the army medical
officers and scores of physicians in
civil life who are battling with the
pestilence have found one highly sue
cessful means of resisting the
scourge which is crowding the hos
pitfalls and overworking the undertake
ers.
The doctors find that an effective
weapon in the drive against Spanish
influenza is whisky.
While Prohibition fanatics bent
on discriminating whisky altogether
for all time are bending their efforts
toward the closing of barrooms, the
United States army medical officers
find whisky is the best agent they
can rely on as a stimulant and are
scoring large success in the treatment
of cases into which the factor of al
cohol enters.
General Use of Whisky.
Providence physicians, some of
whose statements The Providence
News publishes today, are also relying
on whisky to save many lives when
influenza patients reach a stage where
a quick stimuIant is needed to It'd
victims over the danger period. 9th
ers, according to the inquiry made by
this newspaper, consider that whisky
is an excellent preventative. One
physician has broken the habit of d
lifetime, of avoiding strong liquors
and is taking three drinks a day OF
whisky to ward off the disease he is
helping to fight off among his pa
tents.
In the course of the Providence
News investigation of the influenza
epidemic it was found that large
shipments of whisky had been made
to Camp Deyens. It was also dis
covered that hospitals in New Eng
land had been using more whisky
than usual, and that altogether this
orders from wholesale liquor dealers
had tripIed and in some cases qua
drupled.
Eager to Testify
1t was soon found that both thl
army doctors and the private prac.
TONERS were not only willing, bu1
eager to testify that whisky was .
valuable aid to them in their struggle:
to overcome the worst scourge tina
has afflicted this section in decades.
When the Providence Board of AL
dermen voted not to respond to the
Prohibitionist demand for a closing OF
all the city barrooms they did no!
know to what extent they were up
holding the view of medical men, but
Superintendent of Health Chaplin wa:
not ready to assent to the prohibition
demand.
| The use of whisky as a stimulan
| to many of the seriously i'll soldiers a
Camp Devens, Aver, Mass, wher'
more than 500 men died from the eff
| fects of the epidemic of Spanish in
| f1uenza, was told to a Representative
of The Providence News yesterday a
the cantonment by Lieutenant Colone
| Mccormack, Division Surgeon.
! Decreasing at Devens.
| Lieutenant Colonel Mccormack, af
| ter informing the reporter that tn
number of men suffering with the dis
ease at Camp Devens is decreasing
said that in the more severe cases o
influenza and pneumonia whisky wa
used with good results. He said tina
while the uses of intoxicating liquor
| are prohibited in the army and navy
| whisky has always been looked upol
IN a different light for medical pur
| poses.
whisky has always been locke,
upon as a stimulant for first hant
! medicinal purposes" said Colone
Mccormack, although there are othe
| drugs which may be prescribed 70
| stimulating purposes. The presen
! epidemic of influenza and pneumoni.
! became so acute in this cantonment
| that we were forced to call on anoth
| err army surgeon to assume part o
| the burden in caring for the soldiers