MORE VIRULENT CASES.
Smallpox Epidemic at Clay City Is
Increasing in Intensity.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
CLAY CITY, Ind., Feb. 21. – There is little, if any, decrease in the number of new cases of smallpox reported to the local authorities, half a dozen having developed since Saturday. The new cases, too, are of a more virulent type than those which developed earlier. Moreover, Dr. Freed, who so long insisted that the disease was chickenpox, now admits the correctness of the smallpox diagnosis and the gravity of the situation.

This gravity is increased by the comparative laxity of the quarantine, but public sentiment is slowly changing in this regard and more rigid steps will be more kindly regarded than those taken heretofore. As an example of the need of more rigid precautions, it may be noted that one patient, released from quarantine but still broken out, was standing on one of the most frequented corners in town today, and discussing his case with whomsoever would stop to talk with him.

The case of Charles Klinger’s wife was reported to the authorities the 10^th; the house was not carded until the 11^th, and the card was removed the 18^th. At the home of Isaac Griffith, the card was taken down yesterday, but Griffith is still in bed, and will be for several days. Many other cases of this kind exist.

“More Virulent Cases,” The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, Indiana), 22 February 1900, p. 2, col. 4; digital image, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 6 December 2014).