OCR Text |
Show I:5A$ glMLIPOXgfflC IN lONBON Tlicns::! Cases Yfare Rc-ported Rc-ported Each Day, but Universal Yaccbatica Sc:n Stamped . Out the : Dread Disease. - STATISTICS OF GREAT "v SIffAIXPOX EPIDEMIC - THAT-VISITED LONDON. ; - -' ' Four million persons were vaccl- Dated in London between December 1 1st and March 1st of 1901-2. . One thousand cases of smallpox t reported daily. ' ,, Only two cases proved fatal -where the p or son had been vaccl- nated. v More than JQO.OOO cases reported. Vaccination was mads a matter Of bread and butter. Begistered at the Kenyon is C. E. Hamilton, an English gentleroan who wtss in London during the terrible smallpox epidemic which post so many lives. His account of health methods j employed in that cKy Is of especial interest in-terest to Salt Lakers at the present time. , The Briton's Comment. -"I notice in your papers," said .Mr. Hamilton to a Telegram reporter, "that smallpox, exists in this city. Have there been many cases reported?" , In reply .to that question and a number num-ber of others, Mr. Hamilton was in- formed that a number of cases had been reported and that many of the residents of this city and other parts of" the State, either through negligence or a failure to appreciate their duty as dfUens, had neglected to be vaccinated. vacci-nated. "I was In London during the small-' small-' pox epidemic of a year ago," continued Mr. Hamilton, "and watched closely every feature of the oontest waged between be-tween the disease and medical science. 1000 Cases Per Day. "The scourge in epidemic form was first noticed early In December of 1901. It spread rapidly to all parts of the city and In a remarkably short period of time om many as a thousand cases were being reported dally. Vaccination was not a compulsory measure and, as might have been expected, only a comparatively com-paratively few of the -five millions of persons in the city . had been vaccinated. vacci-nated. "The Health department recognised the danger the city was in from the first nnri re-iHzMl that their onlv weaoon of defense was vaccine. In England the r- law does not permit an official to vaccinate vacci-nate a person if that person swears be-. be-. ffjrw a nuiglstrate that he conscientiously conscientious-ly disapproves of the operation. Never- j theless, thousands of doctors were commissioned com-missioned to go from house to house, and, unless- such objection was raised, to vaccinate all of the inmates. Press Takes Up Matter. " "Meanwhile the press of the city took the matter up and advised all employers employ-ers to make it their especial business to see that all of their men were immediately imme-diately vaccinertod. The advice was universally followed, business men finding find-ing that it was1 to their advantage to have it publicly known that all employees em-ployees of tbfelr places of business had been vaccinated! An employer would go to one of his men and say: 'I like you. old chap, and your services are valuable to me; but to carry on my business I must have it known that all of my employees have been vaccinated. If you object t being vaccinated we will have to part It Became Compulsory. "Thus you see while there was no Cpmpulsory vaccination law, vaccination vaccina-tion became a compulsory measure nevertheless. It became a matter of bread and butter. A person who had undergone the operation and as a cpn-seauence cpn-seauence had a. sore arm wore a band of red cloth around his arm, which served the purpose of warning persons on the street not to knock against the sore arm. Thousands upon thousands of these red bands could be seen on the streets. "Out of five million persons in the city of London there were lese than one hundred thousand who were not vaccinated. vacci-nated. The Remarkable Results. . "As ! a" result of these prompt and strenuous efforts of the press and the Health department of London the I spread of the disease was checked, and three months from the time smallpox was declared epidemic the disease had been practically ' stamped out. This was considered remarkable work, on account of th ' magnitude of the epidemic, epi-demic, and doubly so because it was London that was afflicted, the most densely "populated city in the world outside out-side of China, ... "The Lancet, a recognized medical authority, .stated after the epidemic was over that but two "cases of the thousands reported bad proved fatal 'where the afflicted person had been vaccinated." |