The Fort Dodge Messenger: March 21, 1903

City Water is Pronounced Pure

No More Impurities are Revealed by Careful Tests of City Physician Churchill

No More Need for Teakettles

Necessity for Boiling Water is Now Over. Lasts Typhoid Germ Has Fled

Fort Dodge city water has been pronounced pure. No longer need the anxious housewife bend over the steaming teakettle in which the family beverage is simmering in order that the last wandering microbe may be exterminated. No longer may the business man, busy at his office down town, and far from the disinfecting teakettle, rush hastily out to get a drink of Colfax water or something stronger, that he may incur no danger of catching the dread thyphoid (sic).

City Physician Churchill announced this morning that after repeated tests, he has failed to find signs of impurity in the city  water, and that it is once more fit to drink.

The happy outcome of the bad water scare indicates that truth of the supposition that the cause of the impurities which manifested themselves was the holding of surface drainage beneath the ice. Now that the ice has gone out, the trouble seems to have righted itself.

Just as soon as the water is low enough, the sand in the filters will be renewed, and all will be well again.

The news that the water is pure again will be gladly received all over the city, as the condition of Fort Dodge’s favorite beverage has aroused considerable anxxiety (sic) for the past few weeks.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Feb. 10, 1906

Death Angel Enters Hovel

Old Man Discovered Friday is Dead.

Was Sad Affair – G.A.R. Will Take Charge of Burial – Try to Find Relatives.

Last night shortly before the hour of eight, the death angel entered a miserable hovel on Central avenue where in a lowly room, Eugene Lockwood, a veteran of the civil war, had struggled for week, unattended and uncared for with the dread disease of pneumonia.

Lockwood’s case was reported in last night’s Messenger. The unfortunate man was alone in the world with the exception of distant relatives whose names or address are not known. For three weeks he has lain gasping for breath and almost with the death rattle in his throat, practically on the street where hurrying crowds rushed by, and nothing was known of his condition by those who were in a position to do anything to aid him. The members of the G.A.R. who would have done anything within their power to aid their comrade did not discover his plight until Friday and the county officers were not informed until the same day. It was then too late. Pneumonia had closed its grasp upon him, and it merely remained for him to gasp out his closing hours of life the same as he had his days of sickness before.

The local G.A.R. will have charge of the burial unless relatives come to claim the body. It is understood that distant relatives live in Mason City. An attempt will be made to learn who they are, but this seems unlikely. Lockwood has lived in this city for about five or six years. He had supported himself by doing odd jobs about town. He was last employed as a porter at the Freeman and Schureck saloon.

(Editor’s note: The G.A.R., or Grand Army of the Republic, was a fraternal organization of veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Feb. 9, 1906

Old Man Dying in Dirt and Squalor

Pitiable Case Called to Attention of the Police Last Night.

Man is Ill With Pneumonia

Lies Gasping for Breath in Miserable Room Right on Central Avenue – Not Room for Him at Hospital – County Takes Up Case.

One of the most pitiable cases on record of the winter was brought to the attention of the police last night, by parties employed in the Peschau cigar store, w ho reported that an old man homeless and friendless lay deathly sick with pneumonia in a narrow room over the cigar establishment. Chief Tullar visited him and found the report all too true. An attempt was made to do something for him last night, but it was learned that the hospital was full, and as it was late when the case was discovered, it proved impossible to remove him to any other place. An officer was detailed to go up to the room every few hours to keep a fire burning and render whatever aid proved possible.

The case was brought to the attention of the commissioner of the poor and the associated charities this morning and it is probable that the sick man will receive prompt attention.

A Messenger reporter visited the place this morning and learned that the name of the sick man was Jean Lockwood. He is a veteran of the civil war and is a man about sixty years of age. He was unable to talk, but lay gasping for breath, which the inexorable hand of pneumonia strove to hold from him, on a hard bed in one corner of the miserable room. Broken panes of glass, poorly patched with boards and stuffed with clothing failed to keep the bitter air from sifting into the room, and a rusty stove burned at the bedside. August Hassher, a laboring man who resides at the place, has been the only attendant of Lockwood during the three weeks that he has been sick until yesterday when a physician was called. He states that Lockwood has lived here for about two years during which he has supported himself by doing odd jobs about town. When he was taken sick, Hassher out of pity allowed him to stay at his place.

The case is an example which it is to be hoped will not soon be found again in Fort Dodge. It illustrates plainly the need of an institution in the city for the care of such unfortunates.  The hospital, the only place where such can be taken, is at present almost daily overcrowded. An institution of the proper kind would undoubtedly find itself plentifully supplied with work.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 7, 1907

Small Pox Appears in the City

Two Cases are Under Quarantine – Mayor Issues Warning to People.

Two cases of small pox have appeared in the city. One is at the residence of Grover Harris at 316 South 5th street where Mr. Harris is ill with the malady. The other is on North 7th street where Frank Devore a black smith employed at the Dan Noonan shop is confined.

Both cases were promptly placed under quarantine by city physician Mulroney, who pronounces them both of light form and not likely to become dangerous.

Neither of the afflicted parties have an idea as to where they contracted the disease. Sioux City has one hundred and twenty-five cases and it is thought probably that it came here from that city in some manner.

Mayor Bennett, desiring to warn the people says: “All should take very precaution to prevent the spread of contagious disease. Physicians inform me that soft weather like this makes it much more likely to spread. On the first appearance of sickness that gives indication of turning into scarlet fever, small pox or any other infectious sickness do not hesitate to call the city physician. If quarantine is promptly enforced the danger is small, whereas if the disease is let run three or four days it is likely to be transmitted to others.”

(Editor’s note: There was a related brief on another page of the same edition of the paper, in the “What They Say” section, which follows. It appears he is referring to the home of Frank Devore.)

“The other day I noticed a milk wagon drive up in front of a home on north 7th street where a family is quarantined for small pox. The milkman poured out a quantity of milk into the pitcher brought out to him, looked at it, then evidently thinking he had given too much, poured part of it back from the pitcher into the big can from which he supplies all his customers. He drove on then to peddle milk from that same big can all over town. It looks as if that were a pretty good way to spread disease in case there were any germs on the pitcher, for milk is said to be the worst medium for carrying germs known.”

-Robert M. Wilson

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 24, 1903

Nore (sic) Tham (sic) Their Share of Misfortune

Home of W.H. Newsum, on Twelfth Avenue South, is the Scene of Many Troubles.

Misfortune seems to shadow the home of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Newsum, at 622 Twelfth avenue south. Some time ago their little daughter was taken ill with scarlet fever. But a few days after the quarantine was raised, the same child was again quarantined, this time for diphtheria. A few days ago their little son met with a serious accident by falling from a horse, the most severe of his injuries being a fractured skull. Meanwhile the quarantine was lifted from the home. Wednesday quarantine was again established, another child being ill with diphtheria.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 2, 1903

Doctor Kime Says Close the Schools

Spread of Diphtheria Cannot be Stopped Otherwise, He Says.

Record of All the Cases

Weakness in the Quarantine Methods Shown by Increase in Cases.

The continuance of the diphtheria epidemic in Fort Dodge has given an uneasy feeling to all parents that something is wrong in the handling of the cases somewhere, the rigidity of the quarantines established being suspected chiefly. It is a difficult matter to get people to appreciate the responsibility that all owe to the public in preventing the spread of contagion. The rules of the health officers, if followed strictly, would soon stop the spread of diphtheria but while the general public is careless and indifferent it is very likely that with the start given in the last three months there will be more cases and perhaps a good many more. Doctor Kime has investigated the record of cases of diphtheria which have already occurred and believes that there is more danger of contagion from keeping the schools open than in any other way. In fact he says that the schools must be closes or the situation will become very serious. His communication given below, will be read with general interest.

Editor Messenger: – The true situation as to diphtheria in the city at the present time is this:

During September, beginning September 7, there were three cases.

During the month of October there were sixteen cases.

During the month of November, there were twenty-six cases.

On the first day of December, three new cases were quarantined.

This makes a total of forty-eight cases since September 7. Of these, seven have died, or at the rate of about fifteen per hundred cases. There are now under quarantine twenty-three cases, of these perhaps three or four will die. The total mortality of the present epidemic, including those that will probably die among those now sick will be in the neighborhood of twenty per cent.

During the past ten days, fourteen new cases have been quarantined. If this rate holds good for December, as it probably will, the total for December will be forty-five. If the pace set by the first day of December is carried out for the entire month, as it will not (missing word) likely to be, the month of December will show ninety new cases.

(Editor’s note: There was more to the article, a list of cases from Sept. 7, 1903, to the time of the article.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 1, 1903

Diphtheria Causes Anxiety

Spread of Disease Rapid During Past Few Days

Five New Cases Reported at the City Hall Today – Schools May Be Fumigated Saturday.

Five new cases of diphtheria were reported on the bulletin board at the city hall today. Quarantine was established at the following homes:

Nels Greber, 235 South Thirteenth street, West Fort Dodge.

Gotleib Proeschold, 427 Third avenue south.

Mrs. J.W. Flaherty, 1726 Fifth avenue south.

H.M. Limm, 1216 Eleventh avenue south.

The Kirkpatrick home, 1227 Fifth avenue south.

The rapid spread of the disease has again attracted the attention of physicians, the health authorities and the public in general. The character of the quartine (sic) maintained on homes where the disease exists has not been allowed to relax and so far the health authorities can give no reason for the recent unexpected spread when the disease was thought to be well in  hand. Some physicians say that while diphtheria is not what is usually termed a contagious disease it is nevertheless more contagious than has been supposed.

It is not unlikely that Saturday all the schools of the city will be fumigated and allowed to be aired the following day.

(Editor’s note: Diphtheria was the cause of death of my great-grandmother’s father and sister, and quite likely her two brothers as well, in 1879. All four died in about a three-week period. It is part of the recommended immunization schedule for children in the U.S. and currently there are only about five cases a year. However, this is one of those shots you have to renew about every 10 years, so if you haven’t had one in that time, you might want to see your doctor.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Aug. 5, 1905

The Mumps Make Trouble For Girls

Shoe Factory Girls Are Having an Epidemic of the Disease

Started About a Week Ago

One Girl Gets Sick and Oothers (sic) Follow – Were Unable to Think for a Time What Was Causing Trouble – Laid it to Toothache.

Few people believe that the disease called the mumps could interfere with the shoe industry, but such has come to be the case.

About a week ago a girl at the local shoe factory was interested in the peculiar appearance of a fellow worker. “Why Lizzie,” she said, “what is the matter with you today? You look so cross your cheeks hang down a foot.”

“They are swollen, you goose,” answered her friend with the abnormal features. I think I must have the toothache, though not a tooth seems to feel bad. I guess it is down in the roots of the tooth and that is what makes the swelling.”

“But what makes both sides of your face swell that way, you look like a pocket gopher?”

“It’s sympathy,” answered another girl, who had stepped up at this moment. “One side hurts and the other side swells for sympathy.”

The talk ceased for a time and nothing was thought about the affair until the girl with the swollen features did not come down to work the next morning and a couple of the others, the ones who had talked with her the day before found themselves with jaws of unusual proportions.

“Now that can’t be sympathy for Lizzie that makes us get that kind of a swelling,” said they. “We must have caught it from her and we had better see a doctor.” A doctor told them that they were suffering from mumps and then everything was clear.

Since that time several more girls have been taken sick and there bids fair to be a temporary shortage of employes (sic) unless the ravages of the disease are stopped.

(Editor’s note: The first conversation quoted was all in one paragraph with quote marks scattered liberally throughout, but not all in the right places. I attempted to make sense of the conversation by splitting it up into separate paragraphs and placing quote marks where they seemed to make sense. Spelling is as it was in the original article.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: July 24, 1903

Humboldt Pastor Dies of Lockjaw

As Result of Stepping Upon Nail, Rev. Carlson Succumbs to Dread Malady.

Dies in Intense Agony

Stepped Upon Nail a Week Ago Today but Failed to Call Physician Until Thursday, When His Condition Was Past All Assistance.

Humboldt, July 23 – Rev. Mr. Carlson, pastor of the Danish Baptist church, died this morning as a result of stepping upon a nail at his home a week ago today. The wound in the foot developed into lockjaw, death following intense agony.

Rev. Carlson accidentally stepped on the nail while walking near his home. The nail penetrated his shoe and entered his foot, but he failed to call a physician until Thursday. Dr. Churchill of Fort Dodge was called into consultation with the local physicians, but lockjaw, which had set in, had rendered the condition of the patient beyond medical aid.

Deceased had been a resident of Humboldt for fifteen years.