HEALTH BOARD MEETS
And Takes Measures To Fight
The Spread Of Smallpox

Dr. Hurty’s Action Is Indorsed by the
Board-New Cases in Different
Parts of the State.

The State Board of Health was in session all day yesterday discussing the smallpox situation. Dr. Hurty, secretary of the board, gave the other members of the board an account of the action taken by himself in behalf of the board, dating from the time of the first outbreak in Clay City. The board indorsed everything done by Dr. Hurty and then called upon Governor Mount to ask his approval of the immediate purchase of vaccine virus, to be paid for out of the state contagious disease fund, which in case of need is to be distributed to the local health boards of the various counties in which the disease is raging.

The Governor gave his consent and urged the board to do everything within its power to prevent the further spread of smallpox. The board also passed a number of general orders which will endow Dr. Hurty, in case of need, with the right to command the assistance of the county health boards. Heretofore he could only implore the people to protect themselves, as it required a general order of the State Board before action could be compelled of the county boards.

Seven new cases of smallpox have been reported from Clay City since yesterday morning, but considering the many cases it is to be expected. A rigid quarantine is being maintained and every road leading into the town is guarded to keep people from either entering or leaving. The feeling of indignation against Dr. Hurty seems to have subsided, as the president of the Clay County Medical Society, Dr. Felix Thornton, made a special call on the State Board of Health yesterday for the purpose of expressing his approval of the work done by the State Board of Health in Clay county.

Dr. C. E. Ferguson, who was sent by Governor Mount to investigate a suspected case of smallpox at Morton, a small town in Putnam county, yesterday, returned last night and said he visited the home of Thos. Nelson in company with Dr. G. W. Bence, secretary of the County Board of Health, where they discovered that Frank Nelson, aged eighteen years, had smallpox. The local officers immediately established a quarantine, and every available physician has been kept busy with patients who want to be vaccinated.

Dr. A. W. Brayton, who was sent to Miami county to investigate some reported cases of smallpox, returned last night with the report that the disease there was nothing more than chicken-pox.

TOWNSHIP QUARANTINED
Rigid Measures to Control Smallpox
in Washington County.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
SALEM, Ind., Jan. 22-The whole of Gilson township in Washington county is quarantined. A wire is stretched across each road and guards patrol the highways. There are still a few new cases of the so-called smallpox, but they are very mild, and there are no serious cases. There is one case at the home of Willard Nichols, four miles northeast of Salem, thoroughly quarantined and guarded. The Friends’ school, which is the county high school, one mile nearer town that the Nichols place, has been closed. People are being vaccinated, though there seems to be no great excitement or fear.

Two Cases in Sullivan County.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
SULLIVAN, Ind., Jan. 22-Two cases of smallpox have appeared in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Otis Bledsoe, who live eight miles northeast of this city, are afflicted with well-developed cases of the disease, which was contracted in Clay county where Mr. and Mrs. Bledsoe visited some time ago. A strong quarantine has been established.

“Health Board Meets,” The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, Indiana), 23 January 1900, p. 8, col. 4; digital image, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 6 December 2014).