New Britain herald., 1922-01-30
COMMUNICATED
MORE ABOUT VACCINATIONS

MORE ABOUT VACCINATIONS
 Editor-New Britain Herald
 Dear Sir:
 Owing to the attitude of a certain
 class of ill-advised people, a few of
 whom are honest, though mistaken
 put most or whom are simply prej-
 udiced and ignorant, upon the ques-
 ton Of vaccination as preventive of
 smallpox, and as the matter is of
 peculiar and vital importance to all
 the people of the state at this par
 ticular time, I am asking you to give
 this communication place in your
 columns.
 That your readers may understand
 that I am thoroughly familiar with
 what l am writing about, I will say
 that few men in this state and prob
 ably few in New England have seen
 more smallpox than the writer. At a
 tune when the disease was very prev
 a'ent l spent year in smallpox
 hospital. I lived many years where
 the disease was epidemic nearly every
 winter. l have been through several
 extensive epidemics, and have made a
 careful and thorough study of the
 disease and means for its care and
 prevention, and I know so we'll what
 am talking about that it is some
 times difficult to express myself in | terms which would be printable, to-
 ward the foolish fantics who oppose vaccination.
 few years ago at legislative nearing upon an anti-vaccination bill. one of its foremost supporters, an al- legged doctor" made the statement that rather than have any of my faF'ly vaccinated I should prefer them to have the smallpox"
 When asked what he knew about smallpox, and how mafy cases he
 had ever seen, it developed that he
 had never seen a case in his life, and
 would not know a case if he saw one.
 Another equally ignorant and pre- sumptuous person, claiming to be a minister, made the statement that Hundreds of people in Connecticut had died from vaccination" but when he was asked to give the source Of his information, his only reply was lit is common knowledge" Now the fact is that his statement was a plain common lie. Such people sim ply repeat every unconfirmed state ment they hear, which holsters their personal prejudice, without the slight ea regard for the actual facts.
 The plain facts in reference toI smallpox and vaccination (and these are matter of state, governmental and army record, and cannot he contro- verted are, that previous to vaccina- tion smallpox was one of the most prevalent and loathsome diseases that afflicted civilization. It disseminated whole communities, it caused more blindness than all other causes com blned. 1t was as present in the palace as in the hovel. among tho rich as well as the poor It was more uni versally prevalent and caused more deaths than the plague, and of those who recovered many better have died.
 Today, where vaccination is en- forced by law, smallpox is wiped out Among all the millions of men in the armies of the great war the deaths from smallpox were 80 few as to be hardly worth recording. Before vac clnatlon was compulsory in Ireland the deaths averaged annually from $500 to 5000. Since vaccination ie enforced, years pass in which not a slng.e death occurs in the country. The same applies to the Scandinavian countries, Germany and Italy In the bad epidemic of five years ago, which extended all over this state. and which cost the different communities hundreds of thousands Of dollars, the trouble was due to the almost crim- inal negligence of the school boards in not enforcing vaccination among the school children. In that epidemic there were 34 known cases in the town Of Berlin. With one exception, none of them were among people of foreign birth, because all such people had been vaccinated.
 All who had the disease were na- tive born and unvaccinated Aricri- cans.
 Because a person is not willing to ', be vaccinated is no reason why he should be allowed to become d men, , zee to the whole community For hose who are willing to so endan- { ger the public their place should be { lpon desert island in colony of Z irresponsibles.
 If every opponent of vaccination, md every member of a school board Vho shirk the duty of enforcing vac ination among the school children, I ould be compelled to pass twenty cur hours in the presence Of a good mart case of smallpox, there would e no further trouble about enforce V 1ent, and l would sugges. that if i here are people in this locality who ' eally and honestly feel they had l. ather allow their children to take a be chances of having smallpox than c ave them vaccinated, that the next me we have an epidemic these pco- l le travel about for a day or two { 'ith some physician who has some of q le cases under his care. At the end T that time they may have changed tl leir ideas. c l have spent days and nights with hese cases, and l know what l am liking. about, and people who do not 2 now what they are talking about, in c latters which so Vitally concern the s