Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1920-11-17
CITY
BECOMES HUGE
FOEOF TYPHOID
Uncle Sam And State
Aid In Drive To Rout
Fever

SALEM, o., Nov. 17.-Gripped by
the most viruient typhoid epidemic
experts say has ravaged an Ameri-
can city this generation, and with
one person in 13 of its 10000 in
habitants down with the fever, Salem
has organized itself into one great
and smoothly running machine to
stamp out the disease. Every 9TH
er activity has been showed into the
background.
Salem faced this situation:
Its entire water supply was infect
ed with typhoid.
In the homes of rich and poor ty-
phoid made greater .inroads each day.
Its doctors were unable to attend
to all of the sick.
Its hospital was overcrowded.
Its milk became contaminated.
The epidemic grew with appalling
speed. From the first two cases,
within few week there had sprung
more than 600 and thenumber was
increasing.
Salem Gets Busy"
Then this little old-fashioned Ohio
town realized its danger. Death
might easily decimate it's population.
A great mass meeting was called.
The central committee which made
Salem a lead in war drives was plac
ed in power.
Salem called for outside aid.
Twenty-Five doctors came first. r.
E. Tarbett, engineer of the U. S.
Public Health Service. and W. l..
Dittoe, Ohio state engineer, arrived,
located the source of the water pol
luton where water main and sewer
crossed and leaked. Immediately
the town tapped new artesian well.
DR.. F. G. Boudreau. state health
officer in charge of contagious dis
eases, came to cooperate with City
Health Officer R. NJ Swartz. They
established health rules, and taught
Salem how to guard against the dis
Il ase. They inoculated virtually ev-
ery person in the town with anti-ty-
phoid serum.
Milk Rules.
The house of every typhoid victim
was placarded with a warning to
milkmen not to leave bottle at the
house or take any of those previously
let. The milk must be poured into
the housewives own pan. The milk
man must not enter the house. Ali
milk was pasteurized at one dairy.
In addition, placards explaining in
simple language the health measures
required were issued to everyone.
Tons of chloride of lime were dis
tributed free.
Meantime the Red Cross and the
Public Health League divided the
acutal work of nursing the sick.
Under Mrs. c. L. Smith, the Red
Cross called 200 trained nurses from
all nearby cities. Some came from
Chicago and New York. Mrs. F. 2.
O'Neill became head nurse of one
45-bed emergency hospital in a va
cant apartment house. Miss Louise
Miletz, of the Cincinnati General
hospital, took charge of a 35-bed
hospital in a hotel. The Red Cross
took over one ward in the city hos
pital. The Red Cross enlisted wo
men and began the manufacture of
hundreds of sheets and sick-room
clothing. W. H. Mullins, a wealthy
man, gave 300 cots and mattresses.
The public Health League, under
Nurse Grace Donsing, aided by State
Supervising Nurse Hulda GRIP, tool
charge of all nursing outside the hos
pitals. It built overnight volun-
teer automobile transportation sys-
tenn to carry corps of Is nurses
from home to home.
The Chamber of Commerce built
kitchen and installed dining
room in it's headquarters to feed the
nurses and doctors. Citizens took
them into their homes at night.
Says DIR. Boudreau: "We aren't
'out of the woods yet-not with
some 700 patients to care for. But
we have eliminated the source of the
original epidemic under control. All
our efforts now are to keep the well
from contracting the disease from the
sick"
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