The Washington herald., 1920-06-29

How q little band Oh twenty ue-
voted Americans. members OF the
American Red Cross Commission to
the Baltic states, saved probably
thousands of live in Europe from
the menace of a terrible typhus cpl
demic has just been learned In de-
tail from a Paris dispatch. The
information comes from a promi-
nent American bushes man. who
recently travelled through the Bal
tic territories and inspected minute
ly the conditions in Esthonia. where
Red Cross workers recently deliv-
cred the country from the grip Of
typhus.
When the forces of Gen. Yude-
mitch retreated into Esthonia they
brought with them the typhus in
lection. The plague spread with
alarming rapidity, raging most vio-
lently in the city of Narya. Within
a few weeks that were $4,000 cases
OF typhus in Esthonia. and the en-
tire country was In panic Of de-
spair."
Daily Mortality Per Cent.
The daily death rate was seven
persons out of every 100 in the
infected districts, and the epidemic
was gaining a foothold everywhere
when the American Red Cross Com
mission under lieut.. Col. Edward
w. Rryan. of Scranton, Pa, stepped
into the breach.
The Esthonians had fought the
disease with no knowledge of how
to proceed. Instead of eradicating
filth and establishing a quarantine
ring about the infected points they
confined their efforts to providing
disqualification for the sick. Moth
ing was done to check the spread of
and as the epidemic grew
in proportions Esthonia was seized
with black despair to such an eX-
tent that merchants closed their
shops and farmers refused to till
their fields, all believing they must
fall victims to the disease and that
there was no further object in main
tanning commerce and industry.
THREATENED ENTIRE EUROPE,
Meanwhile diplomatic representa-
tives at Reval were appealing to
their countries for help, represent-
ing the grave danger that the cpl
demic might work southwark to
Poland and East Prussia and thence
whelmed the continent.
At this juncture the American
Red Cross came to the rescue. Ade-
quate disinfecting and delousing
plants were rushed from Paris to
Real at the urgent request of Lieut..
Col. Ryan. The commissioner OBJ
tanned full authority from the Es-
thonian government to control all
traffic of every kind to and from
the infected areas and to take every
other measure deemed necessary to
meet the situation.
Every One Volunteered.
Volunteers were called upon to go
into the plague zone, at risk of their
lives. and take up the program of
preventive sanitation mapped out
by the commissioner. Every men,
Der of the commission volunteered!
Twenty officers were selected. They
were Immediately sent to Narva to
set up delousing plants and begin
the fight on typhus.
When they arrived they found the
city prostrated with fear. Nearly
every local doctor and nurse wa.
dead. The survivors, seized with
panic, had fed, leaving the stricken
patients to care for themselves. The
hospitals were found in an unspeak-
able state of filth, the sick and con-
valescent lying in heaps on the
floors, some wrapped in blankets,
others in bundles of rags. still 9TH
ers with no covering whatever, shiv-
ering in the intense cold.
1t was Col. Ryan's plan that each
of the twenty volunteers should or
ganize a squad of fifty helpers.
chosen from the population, to as
sist in the work. of cleaning up the
hospitals and public institutions and
running the disinfecting plants. As
soon as the delousers were set up
and a warehouse with stocks of
blankets, clothing. mattresses and
medical supplies established. volun-
teer helpers were called for. Not a
person responded. The townspeople
were afraid to enter the hospitals
The Red Cross men get to work.
unaided. to clean out one hospital
The sick were carried tc the cleans
ing plant and bathed, while their