20th Century

1900 — Aug 12, Train hits horse-drawn coach at grade crossing near Slatington, PA –13-15

lornajarrettblanchard August 12, 1900

–16 Bedford Gazette, PA. “A Week’s History.” 8-17-1900, p. 1.[1]

–13-15 Blanchard estimate. (See 12 named deaths, and several sources noting 13 or 15 deaths.)

–15 New York Times. “Fifteen Killed at a Grade Crossing.” 8-13-1900, p. 1.

–15 The Agitator, Wellsboro, PA. “Train Killed Fifteen Near Slatington, PA.” 8-13-1900.

–15 Woodland Democrat, CA. “Close of…19^th Century. The Year 1900…” 12-31-1900, 6.

–13 Adams and Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania. 1992, 145.

–13 Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Victims of Grade Crossing Disaster.” 8-14-1900, p. 2.

Narrative Information

Adams and Seibold: “August 13,[2] 1900 Near Slatington, Lehigh County. It was during a heavy thunderstorm on a lonely road just south of Slatington. A funeral procession of several omnibus coaches was traveling along a road when it approached the Lehigh & New England railroad crossing at what the locals called Benninger’s Crossing. Bill Benninger was at his farm when the horse-drawn coaches passed by. He wasn’t paying particular attention, but testified later that he did notice that all proper signals were working as Train No. 6 on what was commonly called the ‘Poughkeepsie Route’ was about to roll by.

“Seconds before the signals heralded the oncoming westbound train, one of the omnibuses had safely crossed over the tracks. Another coach was close behind, with James Peters urging his steed through the S-curve along Lockport Creek. Later, the driver of the first coach said he warned Peters not to attempt crossing in front of the train, but Peters took the chance.

“Thirteen of the 28 passengers in the coach were killed.

“In the coroner’s inquest, Peters, and the crew of the train were blamed for the collision, and Benninger said he detected the odor of whiskey on Peter’s breath when he pulled him out of the wreckage.”

Newspapers

Aug 13: “Slatington, Pa., Aug. 13. Eleven persons were instantly killed and 11 others, several of whom will die, were seriously injured last night in a grade crossing accident three miles east of this city, by a passenger train on the Lehigh and New England railroad crashing into an omnibus containing 25 persons. All the dead and injured were in the omnibus and but three escaped uninjured. The dead are:

Eli Remaley, aged 70, of Slatington;

Mrs. Eli Remaley, his wife, aged 65;

Mrs. James Kern, their daughter, aged 32;

Samuel Hummy, aged 60, of Walnutport;

Mrs. Samuel Hummy, his wife, aged 58;

Mrs. Elias Sourwine, a widow, aged 53, of Slatington;

Mrs. William Kane, aged 51,

Mrs. James Minnich, aged 33,

Miss Carrie Smith, aged 23,

Mrs. Tilghman Kuntz, aged 35, of Walnutport.

One yet unaccounted for….

“The accident occurred about 5 o’clock. The omnibus driven by a man named peters was returning to Slatington from a funeral the occupants had been attending at Cherrysville. The dead and injured were nearly all relatives of Sophia Schoffer, at whose obsequies that had been present. The train was a special and consisted of an engine and one car. At the point at which the collision occurred there is a sharp curve in the road and the omnibus came along at a good rate of speed, the occupants unconscious of any impending danger. As the ‘bus swung around the curve, the engine and car came in sight. It was too late to stop either the omnibus or the train and as the driver of the former whipped up the four horses to cross the track ahead of the train, the latter crashed into its middle. The occupants were thrown in all directions, bruised and bleeding. The 11 dead were killed outright. Physicians and a special train were sent for and the injured were taken to South Bethlehem.” (Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Killed at a Crossing. Eleven Dead and as Many More Injured near Slatington, Pa.” 8-13-1990, p. 3.)

Aug 13: “Slatington [near Allentown], Pa., Aug. 13. – Fifteen persons were instantly killed and 10 others, several of whom will die, were seriously injured last night in a grade crossing accident three miles east of this city. A passenger train on the Lehigh and New England railroad crashed into an omnibus containing 25 persons, but three of whom escaped uninjured….

“No watchman is employed to warn teams or pedestrians of an approaching train, and those living in the vicinity state that it is impossible to hear an approaching train.

“A feature of the accident was that the horses drawing the bus escaped unhurt.” (The Agitator, Wellsboro, PA. “Train Killed Fifteen Near Slatington, PA.” 8-13-1900.)

Aug 14: “Allentown, Pa., Aug. 14 –Thirteen are dead and 16 injured as a result of the grade crossing accident at Benningers, on the Lehigh and New England railroad, in which a rapidly moving passenger train crashed into an omnibus containing 25 persons. Besides those previously reported, Miss Maggie Jones, aged 20, and Miss Susan Bachman, aged 83, are dead. The first named died in the hospital.” (Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Victims of Grade Crossing Disaster.” 8-14-1900, p. 2.)

Aug 17: “Sunday evening [Aug 12] a horrible railroad accident happened at a grade crossing on the Lehigh and New England railroad, near Berlinsville, Northampton county, when a train crashed into an omnibus containing a party of people coming home from a funeral. There were thirty-five persons in the ‘bus and sixteen were killed and nearly all of the others were injured.”
(Bedford Gazette, PA. “A Week’s History.” 8-17-1900, p. 1.)

Sources

Adams, Charles J. III and David J. Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania. Reading, PA: Exeter House Books, 1992.

Bedford Gazette, PA. “A Week’s History.” 8-17-1900, p. 1. Accessed 9-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bedford-gazette-aug-17-1900-p-1/?tag

Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Victims of Grade Crossing Disaster.” 8-14-1900, p. 2. Accessed 9-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/warren-evening-democrat-aug-14-1900-p-2/?tag

Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Killed at a Crossing. Eleven Dead and as Many More Injured near Slatington, Pa.” 8-13-1990, p. 3. Accessed 9-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lebanon-daily-news-aug-13-1900-p-3/?tag

New York Times. “Fifteen Killed at a Grade Crossing.” 8-13-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52174203

The Agitator, Wellsboro, PA. “Train Killed Fifteen Near Slatington, PA.” 8-13-1900. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com

Woodland Daily Democrat, CA. “Close of the 19^th Century. The Year 1900 in the Record of Time.” 12-31-1900, p. 6. http://newspaperarchive.com/woodland-daily-democrat/1900-12-31/page-6

[1] Consensus of other sources cited are either 13 or 15, and we see twelve named fatalities, thus we choose not to use the figure of sixteen fatalities, as we do not use early reports of ten or eleven deaths.

[2] Was August 12.

20th Century

1900 — July-Aug (esp.) Heat, esp. NY/361 NJ/119 Chicago/102 St. Louis/90 Balt./62 –1,266

lornajarrettblanchard July 1, 1900

–1,266 US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. lxxi.[1]

–1,156 Blanchard tally based on State break-outs below (mostly July-Aug).

— 731 US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120, item 197, “Sunstroke.”[2]

Summary of Breakout of Heat Fatalities by State

Alabama 9 North Dakota 0

Arizona 1 Ohio 32

Arkansas 12 Oklahoma 1

California 4 Oregon 1

Colorado 2 Pennsylvania 90

Connecticut 30 Rhode Island 8

Delaware 2 South Carolina 11

District of Columbia 9 South Dakota 4

Florida 2 Tennessee 9

Georgia 18 Texas 35

Idaho 1 Utah 2

Illinois 103 Vermont 1

Indian Territory 2 Virginia 30

Indiana 27 Washington 0

Iowa 22 West Virginia 8

Kansas 11 Wisconsin 24

Kentucky 13 Wyoming 0

Louisiana 39

Maine 5

Maryland 62

Massachusetts 89

Michigan 32

Minnesota 3

Mississippi 10

Missouri 91

Montana 1

Nebraska 5

Nevada 0

New Hampshire 4

New Jersey 119

New Mexico 0

New York 361

North Carolina 11

Breakout of Heat Fatalities by State, Localities, and Date (when available)

Alabama ( 9) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Arizona ( 1) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Arkansas (12) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

California ( 4) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 121, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Colorado ( 2) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 121, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Connecticut (30)

— 30 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 80.

— 1 Naugatuck, Aug 13. Naugatuck Daily News. “City Briefs.” 8-13-1900, p. 1.

Delaware ( 2) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 127, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

District of Columbia ( 9)

–9 US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–6 District. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 80.

Florida ( 2) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Georgia ( 18) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Idaho ( 1) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Illinois (103)

–61 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 133, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–62 Chicago. July 2-28. Blanchard tally based on newspaper reports below.

“ –52 July 2-7. The World. “Chicago…Heat…52 Deaths…Week” 7-9-1900, 2.

“ — 5 July 2. Naugatuck Daily News CT. “Severe Storms…Chicago.” 7-3-1900, 1.

“ — 1 July 3. Salt Lake Daily Tribune, UT. “Casualty Record.” July 4, 1900, p. 5.

“ — 8 July 4. Iowa Postal Card, Fayette. “Heat Causes Eight Deaths.” 7-12-1900, 3.

“ — 4 July 5. The World, NYC. “Hotter Still in Chicago.” July 6, 1900, p. 1.

“ –12 July 6. New York Times. “Twelve Deaths in Chicago.” July 8, 1900, p. 4.

“ –12 July 7. The World. “Chicago…Heat…[52] Deaths…Week.” 7-9-1900.

“ –17 July 7-8. Sumner Press, IL. “Many Die of Heat.” July 12, 1900, p. 2.[3]

“ — 5 July 8. Sumner Press, IL. “Many Die of Heat.” July 12, 1900, p. 2.[4]

“ — 5 July 22-28. Monroe Weekly Times, WI. “Later.” 7-28-1900, p. 2.[5]

–40 “ Aug 6-21. Blanchard tally based on newspaper reports below.[6]

“ — 9 Aug 6. Cedar Rapids Republican, IA. “Heat Stays With Us.” 8-7-1900, p. 1.

“ –11 Aug 7. Elgin Echo, IA. “Deaths From Heat.” 8-9-1900, p. 3.

“ — 4 Aug 7. Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Deadly Heat.” 8-8-1900, p. 3.

“ –17 Aug 7-9. Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1

“ –31 Aug 7-16. Iowa Postal Card, Fayette. “A Week’s Record.” 8-16-1900, 2.[7]

“ — 4 Aug 9. Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.

“ — 9 Aug 13. Galveston Daily News. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.

“ — 9 Aug 15-16. Iowa Postal Card, Fayette. “A Week’s Record.” 8-16-1900, p. 2.

— 1 Shinkley, Aug 21, Galveston Daily News, TX. “Heat in Illinois.” 8-23-1900, p. 3.

Indiana ( 27)

–27 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 80.

–16 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 138, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Lafayette, Aug 29. Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “Victim of Heat.” 8-29-1900, p. 4.

Iowa ( 22) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 139, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Kansas ( 11) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 144, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Kentucky ( 13) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 144, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Louisiana ( 39) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 145, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Maine ( 5)

–5 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

–4 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 144, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Maryland ( 62)

–62 Baltimore, Aug, MD Weather Ser. MD Weather Ser.. “The Summer of 1900.” 1907, 457.

–23 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 150, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Massachusetts ( 89)

–89 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

— 9 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 150, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 2 Boston, June. Lowell Sun, MA. “Fifty Deaths A Day.” 7-19-1900, p. 12.

— 3 “ July 18. Lowell Sun, MA. “Deaths in Boston. Three Die of…Heat…” 7-19-1900, 12.

— 6 “ July 1-18. Lowell Sun, MA. “Fifty Deaths A Day.” 7-19-1900, p. 12.

— 1 “ Aug 27. Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Hot Wave.” 8-27-1900, p. 1.

Michigan ( 32)

–32 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

— 8 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 163, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Minnesota ( 3) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 168, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Mississippi ( 10) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 169, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Missouri ( 91)

–29 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 169, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Kansas City Aug 8. Logansport Reporter, IN. “The Hot Wave.” 8-8-1900, p. 4.

–90 St. Louis Aug 1-18. Marshall News, MI. “Hot Day in St. Louis.” 8-24-1900, p. 3.

–14 “ Aug 15-18. Marshall News, MI. “Hot Day in St. Louis.” 8-24-1900, p. 3.

Montana ( 1) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 174, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Nevada ( 0) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 175, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

New Hampshire ( 4) US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

New Jersey (119)

–119 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

— 46 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 180, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Hoboken, July 18. The World, NYC. “Heat’s Victims All Over State.” 7-19-1900, p. 2.

— 2 Jersey City, July 18. The World, NYC. “Heat’s Victims All Over State.” 7-19-1900, p. 2.

— 1 Montclair, July 18. The World, NYC. “Heat’s Victims All Over State.” 7-19-1900, p. 2.

— 2 Newark, July 18. The World, NYC. “Heat’s Victims All Over State.” 7-19-1900, p. 2.

New Mexico ( 0) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 181, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

New York (361)

–361 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

–112 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 186, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 3 Brooklyn, July 8. New York Times. “People Seek Open Air.” 7-9-1900, p. 7, col. 1.

–205 New York City, June-Sep. An. Rpt. of Dept. of Health…City of[NY]…1911-1912., p. 240.

–0 May –10 June –106 July –79 August –10 September

— 1 July 8 New York Times. “People Seek Open Air.” 7-9-1900, p. 7, col. 1.

— 6 July 16 Mountain Democrat, Placerville, CA. “United States.” 7-28-1900, p. 4.[8]

–70 July 18 Trenton Times, NJ. “Seventy Killed by Heat.” 7-19-1900, p. 6.[9]

–22 July 18 The World, NYC. “22 Die…Heat; Scores Are Overcome.” 7-19-1900, 6.

— 9 July 19 Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Deaths from Heat.” 7-19-1900, p. 1.

— 2 July 20 The World, NYC. “Hot Wave Knocked Out.” 7-21-1900, p. 6.

— 3 Aug 7 Logansport Reporter, IN. “The Hot Wave.” 8-8-1900, p. 4.

— 1 Aug 8-9 Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.

— 1 Aug 9 Elgin Echo, IA. “Deaths from Heat.” 8-9-1900, p. 3.

–11 Aug 10 Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.

–11 Aug 12 Post-Standard, Syracuse NY. “Storm Breaks…” 8-13-1900, p. 1.

— 2 Aug 13 Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Sparks from The Wires.” 8-14-1900. p. 2.

–11 Aug 28 Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Deadly Heat.” 8-28-1900, p. 6.

— 2 Aug 28 Racine…Journal, WI. “Heat Reaches 105 in New York.” 8-28-1900, p. 7.

North Carolina (11) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 193, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

North Dakota ( 0) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 198, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Ohio ( 32)

–32 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 198, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Breakouts by locality where noted:

— 2 Cleveland, Aug 9. Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1

— 1 “ Aug 10. Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.

— 1 “ Aug 11. Also notes a non-fatal heat prostration; temperature reached 90°.[10]

— 1 Columbus. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 199, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Fernwood. July 24. James Wilhelm, 54, farmhand; apoplexy brought on by excessive heat.[11]

— 1 Lorain Aug 7. Laborer. (Several other non-fatal heat prostrations noted.)[12]

— 1 Marietta. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 199, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Norwalk Aug 13. Trenton Times, NJ. “Killed by the Heat.” 8-13-1900, p. 2.

— 1 Sandusky Aug 9. Michael Murphy, Sandusky Tool Co. (1^st Sandusky heat death).[13]

— 2 Toledo Aug 9. Michael Gunning, railroad conductor, and Jers Lerkisch, laborer.[14]

— 1 “ Aug 13. Wellsboro Agitator, PA. “Killed by the Heat.” 8-15-1900, p. 8.

Oklahoma ( 1) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Oregon ( 1) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Pennsylvania ( 90)

–90 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–45 State, July 17-Aug 26. Blanchard tally of locality and date breakouts below.

— 4 Allegheny. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 210, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Harrisburg. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 205, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Johnstown. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–54 Philadelphia. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 6 “ July 17. Iowa Postal Card, Fayette IA. “Sun’s Rays Prove Fatal.” 7-26-1900, p1.

— 3 “ Aug 9. Post-Standard, Syracuse NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.

— 5 “ Aug 10. Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.

–17 “ Aug 12. Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Seventeen Deaths.” 8-13-1900, p. 4.

–15 Pittsburgh. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–2 “ July 17. Iowa Postal Card, Fayette, IA. “Sun’s Rays Prove Fatal.” 7-26-1900, 1

–2 “ Aug 7. Logansport Reporter, IN. “The Hot Wave.” 8-8-1900, p. 4.

–2 “ Aug 9. Post-Standard, Syracuse NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.

–5 “ Aug 10. Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.

–2 “ Aug 26. Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Hot Wave.” 8-27-1900, p. 1.

— 1 Pottstown, Aug 9. Post-Standard, Syracuse NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1

— 1 Scranton. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Rhode Island ( 8)

–8 State. US Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. 81.

–2 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

South Carolina ( 11)

–11 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 4 Charleston. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 2 Charleston, Aug 17. The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Matters of News.” 8-24-1900, p. 2.

South Dakota (4) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 216, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Tennessee ( 9)

–9 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 216, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–2 Nashville. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 216, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Texas ( 35)

–35 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 217, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 1 Dallas, Aug 27. Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “A Day’s Report.” 8-27-1900, p. 1.

Utah ( 2)

–2 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 217, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

–1 “Utah desert,” Jul 22-28. Mountain Democrat, Placerville, CA. “United States.” 7-28-1900, 4

Vermont (1) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 217, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Virginia (30)

–30 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 3 Norfolk. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 2 Petersburg. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

— 8 Richmond. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Washington ( 0) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222, no. 197, “Sunstroke.”

West Virginia (8) Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 223, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Wisconsin ( 24)

–24 State. Blanchard breakout of heat-related deaths by locality noted below.

–15 State. US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 223, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Breakout of heat-related deaths by locality (not necessarily restricted to “sunstroke.”

— 3 Milwaukee, Aug 7-8. Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Deadly Heat.” 8-8-1900, p. 3.

–18 “ Aug 8-9. Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-’00.

— 2 “ Aug 9. Galveston Daily News, TX. “Heat in Chicago.” 8-10-1900, p. 3.

— 2 “ Aug 10. Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.

— 4 Oshkosh, Aug 9. Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.

Wyoming (0) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222, item 197, “Sunstroke.”

Narrative Information:

Illinois

July 3, Chicago: “Chicago, July 3. – A severe storm that suddenly burst upon Chicago last night after a day of torrid weather…Five persons perished and numerous prostrations resulted from the intense heat preceding the storm.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Severe Storms in Chicago.” 7-3-1900, 1.)

July 4, Chicago: “Chicago, July 5. – The thermometer registered 90 degrees steadily throughout Wednesday [4^th], with scarcely any breeze. Up to midnight eight deaths and four prostrations were reported.” (Iowa Postal Card, Fayette. “Heat Causes Eight Deaths.” July 12, 1900, p. 3.)

July 7, Chicago: “Chicago, July 7. A heavy rainstorm last night was the first decided break in the hot wave. It was declared by the Weather Bureau officials, however, to be only a temporary relief, as hot weather is predicted again for to-day. The deaths yesterday due to the heat were twelve, while the prostrations numbered twenty. Several of the latter are in a serious condition, and their recovery is doubtful.” (New York Times. “Twelve Deaths in Chicago.” 7-8-1900, p. 4.)

July 8, Chicago: “Chicago, July 8 [Sunday]. – Relief has come at last from the intense heat and humidity to which Chicago has been subjected for an entire week. Friday night’s thunderstorm cooled the air a bit, but on Saturday the humidity was nearly as fatal as the scorching heat of the earlier days of the week, and though the thermometer registered a maximum temperature of only 89 degrees, twelve deaths attributable to the weather were reported [July 7] and six persons were prostrated. While the record of deaths and prostrations for the week is necessarily incomplete, fifty-two deaths and ninety-five prostrations are known to have been directly induced by the hot wave.” (The World, NYC. “Chicago…Heat…Humidity caused…[52] Deaths in a Week.” 7-9-1900, 2.)

July 9, Chicago: “Chicago, July 9. – The record for the last two days in Chicago shows seventeen deaths due to the heat and thirty-nine prostrations. In the slum districts the people slept on the sidewalks and in the alleys.” (Sumner Press, IL. “Many Die of Heat.” 7-12-1900, p. 2.)

Aug 6, Chicago: “Chicago, Ill., Aug. 6. – The hot wave which struck this section Saturday [Aug 4] continues today with no sign of relief. The heat is terrific and many cases of prostration are recorded. The high temperature in connection with an almost unbearable degree of humidity has caused much suffering both to men and horses and the people are praying for relief in the shape of a cool wave. Later – One death and several prostrations were reported today as the result of the intense heat. The government thermometer at three p.m. registered 92 degrees and was climbing rapidly. On the street level thermometers registered as high as 95 degrees at that hour.” (Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, WI. “Hot Wave Will Stay.” 8-6-1900, p. 1.)

Aug 9, Chicago: “Chicago, Ill, Aug. 9. – Hot records for this city were broken to-day and will be broken again on Friday and again on Saturday and probably for several more days after that….For twenty-five years, or since the weather bureau was established, there has been but one term of hot weather in which the mercury reached 90 for five consecutive days. The average maximum temperature for those five days was 92. There have now been six days in which the temperature has gone above 90, and the average maximum for the six days has been 93.5. To-day was the hottest of the present heated term, the mercury reaching 95 in the Auditorium tower at 3 o’clock. On the street level, where brick walls and sidewalks were given a chance to radiate it was two degrees warmer than in the tower. There were four deaths due to heat and twenty-nine prostrations, three of which are expected to prove fatal….The four deaths to-day make a total of seventeen due directly to the heat. It is estimated that over 100 deaths of people already ill have been hastened by the weather of this week.” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.)

Aug 16, Chicago: “The intense heat ensued nine deaths and many prostrations in Chicago…Thus far 31 persons have died in Chicago from the heat and in one day 93 horses fell dead in the streets.” (Iowa Postal Card, Fayette. “A Week’s Record.” 8-16-1900, p. 2.)

Aug 21, Pana: “Pana, Ill., Aug 21. – This ahs been the hottest any of the year here, the thermometer standing at 101 in the shade at 10 o’clock. Business and farming were practically suspended. John Yates, a farmer, residing near Shinkley, was overcome in his pasture and died in a few minutes…Many prostrations are reported from all other sections.” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “Heat in Illinois.” 8-23-1900, p. 3.)

Maryland:

MD Weather Service: “August, 1900. According to statistics of the Baltimore Health Officer there were 30 deaths during August due directly to sunstroke, and 32 in addition due to excessive heat as a secondary cause. When we come to examine the record of weather conditions during this period, and compare it with the hot spells of the past, we find nothing to equal it in intensity since the establishment of the Weather Bureau Station in Baltimore in 1871.

“Baltimore has on an average five days in August with a temperature of 90° or above, with a maximum in the past of 98°. In August, 1900, there were 17 such days, with a maximum of 100°, while this maximum was practically maintained for six consecutive days. Temperatures were even higher, and hot days more frequent at other points in Maryland and Delaware. Thus, in Washington County there were 20 days with a maximum temperature of 90° or above, with an absolute maximum of 103° at Hancock. The highest temperature recorded within the two states was 104° at Millsboro, Delaware, on the 14th.

“The hot wave began on the 6th, with a maximum temperature at Baltimore of 97°; from the 7th to the 12th inclusive the afternoon heat readied 99° or 100° each day; from the 13th to the 19th the daily maximum ranged between 90° and 94°. Fortunately the relative humidity was comparatively low, averaging but 65 per cent, the normal value being 70 per cent. A comparatively cool period of four days followed, with heavy showers. The temperature rose again on the 24th to 87°, and ranged between 88° and 96° to the close of the month. While the temperature averaged 6° less daily during the latter period than from the 6th to the 19th, the relative humidity rose from 65 per cent to 81 per cent. To add to the discomfort of heat and humidity, the air movement was extremely light. The total wind movement over Baltimore during the month averaged but 108 miles per day; this is equivalent to an average of 4.5 miles per hour. Such conditions following closely upon the long-continued hot weather of July and the first half of August brought intense suffering to man and beast….

“A particularly uncomfortable feature of the hot spell was the high night temperature. During four successive nights the minimum temperature ranged from 80° to 82°. At no other time in the preceding 30 years has the night temperature exceeded 78°. The normal temperature for the month of August at Baltimore is 75°. During August, 1900, the mean temperature was 80°; this value was equaled but once, namely, in 1872.” (Maryland Weather Service. Maryland Weather Service (Vol. Two). P. 457.)

Massachusetts:

July 19, Boston: “Boston, July 19. – There were three deaths caused by the heat and 20 cases of prostration registered in this city yesterday. The physicians at the hospitals were kept busy all during the day, as a case of sunstroke or of exhaustion from heat, requires care and special attention up to the moment when the patient is entirely out of danger. The greater number of patients were brought in before noon, and, up to the time when the unexpected shower ended the atmosphere, there was no rest for those who had the sick from heat under their care. Even when the danger from the heat prostration is passed all is not over, for there then comes a danger of pneumonia from the cold ice baths to which the sick are subjected to lower their temperature.” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Deaths in Boston. Three Die of the Heat…” 7-19-1900, p. 12.)

July 19, Boston: “Boston, July 19. – Tuesday and Wednesday 101 deaths were reported to the board of health, and they look for about 50, the same proportion, today. This is at the rate of 350 a week, which is an unusually high rate. The highest rate ever recorded in Boston in one week is 412, which was in the grip months. The rate at present prevailing is high, and will doubtless drop as soon as the weather resumes a livable temperature. Fully half of the deaths reported yesterday were those of children, who died of cholera infantum. In June of this year there were two deaths from heat, and so far this month there have been six deaths from too much heat. For the corresponding week last year there were 52 deaths from cholera infantum in Boston, but this number is for the entire week. It will doubtless much exceed that this year when the returns for the whole seven days are made up.” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Fifty Deaths A Day.” 7-19-1900, 12)

Aug 27, Boston and Marlboro: “Boston, Mass., Aug. 27. – With hardly a breath of air stirring, and the thermometer registering 97 during the hottest part of the day, Boston was a most uncomfortable place yesterday and to add to the oppressiveness the air was heavy with moisture. There were two prostrations during the day, and one ended fatally.

“Marlboro, Mass., Aug. 27. – The mercury climbed higher yesterday than at any time in the past 15 years, the thermometer showing an average heat of 100 degrees throughout the city.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Hot Wave.” 8-27-1900, p. 1.)

Missouri:

Aug 18, St. Louis: “St. Louis, Aug. 18. – Friday was the hottest day of the year in St. Louis. At four in the afternoon the temperature reached 99 degrees, a jump of three degrees from two o’clock, when it registered 96. All records for August have been broken since the year last, when, on August 12, the thermometer registered 106 degrees. Fourteen deaths were reported to the mortuary office from Wednesday noon to 12 o’clock Friday. This makes a total for the partly completed month of 90 deaths of infants alone.” (Marshall News, MI. “Hot Day in St. Louis.” 8-24-1900, p. 3.)

New York:

July 18-20, NYC: “New York, July 19. — The hot weather Wednesday [July 18] caused or contributed toward the death of more than 70 persons in this city and vicinity. As many more stricken ones are in the hospitals, and some of them will succumb before many hours. More than half the fatalities were among babies and little children, and there are now about 40 bodies of the little ones lying at the morgue at Bellevue. Wednesday was the third day of the spell of intense heat. Late at night the temperature moderated. Early in the morning the sun began its deadly work and before the day was fairly well started the hospitals were busy. On the streets the temperature ranged from 93 to 105, and the official record from the weather bureau, high above ground, was 94 degrees shortly before 5 o’ clock p. m….

New York. July 20. — The hot spell, which has hovered over New York and vicinity for the past four days, causing great suffering among rich and poor alike, is over for the present. During the night a brisk wind from the north-west, laden with cooling cheer, drove out to sea the stored-up heat and humidity of the past four days, and Thursday morning there was a big drop in the temperature.” (Iowa Postal Card, Fayette, IA. “Sun’s Rays Prove Fatal.” 7-26-1900, p. 1.)

July 19, NYC: “After the hottest night of the season, New York woke up yesterday to another broiling day. The mercury reached 84 degrees again—the summer’s record so far—and the humidity was almost at the saturation point. The result was that twenty-two persons were killed by the heat and fifty-six prostrated. There were several suicides, too, and many accidents that could be ascribed only to the heat….

“The wave of torridity held half the world in its grasp. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Providence and Boston alike sweltered with New York. Everywhere was death and prostration. It was the same story in the dispatches from Europe. All the great continental capitals suffered as they haven’t for a generation, and with no prospect of a let-up…

“For to-day there is a little relief in sight – a drop in the temperature is promised by the weather people. But it will only last a trifling- twenty-four hours or so. Then another wave of torridity, already assembling its sizzling waves out West, is due here.

“The city began its grilling early. There wasn’t a house in town the night before where the thermometer registered below 80. Officially, the coolest moment of the night was 79 degrees, but this was twenty stories above the street, on top of the American Surey Company’s lofty sky-scraper. Sunrise saw the mercury above 80 and mounting madly. It was 85 at 9 A.M. and 88 an hour later. Eleven A.M. saw it at the 90 mark and at noon it was 91. At 3 P.M. the tube read 92 in the shade and at 8 P.S. it was 94. This was nothing compared to the temperatures down on the street level. There were plenty of places along the sun-baked pavements where anybody who looked for it could see the thermometer climbing over the 100 mark. The limit was 105 degrees, which was reached at 2 P.M. at Thirty-third street and Broadway.

“Saddest of all is the slaughter of innocents. Such heat as the town has had for four days past is killing the babies at an awful rate. Every hospital and asylum in New York to-day is battling with an infant mortality that it has seldom known before. At the Morgue alone yesterday were bodies of thirty-three little ones— all under a year— received during the day. That, according to the records, is the largest number ever sent there in twenty-four hours. There were ten little bodies from the Foundling Asylum, two from Bellevue, two from the Sloane Maternity Hospital,

two from the New York Hospital, one from each of four hospitals and eleven from their homes. At the Bellevue Dispensary alone thirty-two other little sufferers were treated for ailments due to the heat. ‘More of this weather,’ said Dr. A Burney Cannon,’ and the infant mortality will be something terrible’.” (The World, NYC. “22 Die of the Heat; Scores Are Overcome.” 7-19-1900, 6.)

July 19, NYC: “New York, July 19. – Over 70 people were killed by the heat in this city and vicinity yesterday, and there are nearly as many more again in the hospitals, many of whom will succumb. Over half of the fatalities were among babies and little children, and there are now about 40 bodies of the little ones lying at the morgue at Bellevue.” (Trenton Times, NJ. “Seventy Killed by Heat.” 7-19-1900, p. 6.)

Aug 7, NYC: “New York, Aug. 8. – The hottest wave was still in business Tuesday [Aug 7]. The highest temperature recorded was 93 degrees. Three deaths and 12 prostrations from heat were reported during the day. The thermometer registered 94 degrees in the shade.” (Logansport Reporter, IN. “The Hot Wave.” 8-8-1900, p. 4.)

Aug 12, NYC: “New York. Aug. 12. – The backbone of the hot spell which for the past week has prevailed in this city was broken today by a violent thunderstorm which swept over the city from the northwest at 2 o’clock this afternoon. A large number of prostrations, however, occurred in the early part of the day and before the storm. There were eleven fatal cases reported up to to-night. “Samuel Peistner, 83 years old, committed suicide because of the heat.

“The highest temperature was 95 at the time the change came. This breaks the record for August 12. The highest previous temperature recorded for August 12 was 92 in 1896. The thermometer fell twenty-five degrees in seven minutes from 95 to 70.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Storm Breaks…Backbone…” 8-13-1900, 1.)

Aug 28, NYC: “New York, Aug. 28. – With a maximum street temperature of 105 degrees, with two deaths and many prostrations from the heat, the hot wave which has been oppressing the city for the last three days has attained its highest point. From an almost cloudless sky the blazing sun poured its rays upon the city.” (Racine Daily Journal, WI. “Heat Reaches 105 in New York.” 8-28-1900, 7)

Aug 28, NYC: New York, Aug. 28. – The extreme hot weather continues and the weather bureau is responsible for the statement that the heat is expected to last two days longer. Eleven deaths from the heat were reported.” (Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Deadly Heat.” 8-28-1900, p. 6.)

Ohio:

Aug 9, Cleveland: “Cleveland, Aug. 9. – Six persons were overcome by the heat to-day and two of them are dead.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.)

Aug 10, Cleveland: “Cleveland, O., Aug 10. – There were four prostrations from heat to-day, one of which proved fatal. This was the hottest day of the year.” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3.)

Pennsylvania:

July 18, Philadelphia: “The day broke the heat records for July 18, just as the day before did. The hottest July 18 hitherto was 93 degrees, which happened in 1878 and in 1885, but at 4 P.M. yesterday the slender silver column in Forecaster Emery’s eyrie [?] marked 94, and another record was smashed. ‘It is torrid weather.’ Said the Weather Man, ‘from the Ohio Valley all over the Eastern States and New England. Philadelphia continues to be the hottest town in the country. It is over 100 there today. It will be cooler here on Thursday….’.” (The World, NYC. “Philadelphia Hottest City.” 7-19-1900, 6.)

July 19, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh: “…July 19….40 cases [heat prostration] with six deaths at Philadelphia and two deaths at Pittsburgh.” (Iowa Postal Card, Fayette, IA. “Sun’s Rays Prove Fatal.” 7-26-1900, p. 1.)

Aug 8, Pittsburgh: “Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug. 8. – Two deaths and nine prostrations from heat are reported for the last 24 hours.” (Logansport Reporter, IN. “The Hot Wave.” 8-8-1900, p. 4.)

Aug 9, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pottstown and Greensburg: “Philadelphia, Aug. 9. – Three deaths and twenty prostrations occurred in this city to-day from heat….In the streets…the thermometers placed in the sun registered as high as 120 degrees. At noon the temperature was 90 degrees and at 8 o’clock to-night registered 89.”

Pittsburg. Aug. 9 – The torrid wave shows no sign of abating. Two dead and seven prostrations were reported….”

“Pottstown, PA., Aug. 9. – John R. Sullivan, aged 47 years, an iron worker, died today from the effects of the heat. Drinking a large quantity of water, he was seized with cramps and expired in a few hours.”

“Greensburg, Pa., Aug. 9. – John Fisher [unclear] of Latrobe, after being exposed to the rays of the sun for a time, entirely lost his reason and became a raving maniac. He was locked up in jail here.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.)

Aug 12-13, Philadelphia: “Philadelphia, Aug. 13. – The heat yesterday resulted in three deaths and 17 prostrations…After a week of almost unprecedented hot weather a wind and electric storms last night caused a fall of 244 degrees in the temperature….The first observation at 4 o’clock yesterday morning disclosed the mercury at the 81 mark, and by noon it had risen to 95. It reached its highest point, 99, at 4 o’clock. By 5 o’clock a drop of 9 degrees was noted and at 8 o’clock last night 75 degrees were registered.” (Wellsboro Agitator, PA. “Deaths From Heat in Philadelphia.” 8-15-1900, 8.)

Aug 13, Philadelphia: “Philadelphia, Aug. 13. – The heat Sunday resulted in 17 deaths and 15 prostrations. After a week of almost unprecedented hot weather a wind and electric storm caused a full of 24 degrees in the temperature.” (Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Seventeen Deaths.” 8-13-1900, p. 4.)

Aug 26, Pittsburgh: “Pittsburg, Pa., Aug. 27. – Two deaths and 15 prostrations from heat were recorded yesterday. The maximum temperature yesterday was 93.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Hot Wave.” 8-27-1900, p. 1.)

South Carolina:

Aug 24, Charleston: “There were six prostrations from heat in Charleston, S.C., Monday, two of the cases reported proving fatal. Gage Williams and Wm. Harrison…who were overcome at the Atlantic Phosphate Works, died within an hour after their prostration.” (The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Matters of News.” 8-24-1900, p. 2.)

Wisconsin:

Aug 9, Milwaukee: “Milwaukee, Wis., Aug 9. – The health authorities report the deaths of eighteen infants within the past twenty-four hours and ascribe the cause to the intense heat.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Heat’s Victims in Grave…” 8-10-1900, 1.)

Sources

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Cedar Rapids Republican, IA. “Heat Stays with Us.” 8-7-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=69595306

Elgin Echo, IA. “Deaths from Heat.” 8-9-1900, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=146232150

Elyria Republican, Elyria, OH. “Intense Heat Causes Death.” 8-9-1900, p. 1. Accessed 1-16-2017 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/elyria/elyria-republican/1900/08-09

Galveston Daily News, TX. “Heat in Chicago.” 8-10-1900, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=42565779

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Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heat Record.” 8-12-1900, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=42565799

Iowa Postal Card, Fayette, IA. “A Week’s Record [Chicago Heat Wave].” 8-16-1900, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=143260412

Iowa Postal Card, Fayette, IA. “Heat Causes Eight Deaths.” 7-12-1900, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=144083998

Iowa Postal Card, Fayette, IA. “Sun’s Rays Prove Fatal.” 7-26-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=143260401

Lebanon Semi-Weekly News, PA. [Chicago Heat Deaths.] 7-5-1900. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=126784894

Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “Victim of Heat.” 8-29-1900, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83780651

Logansport Reporter, IN. “The Hot Wave.” 8-8-1900, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com

Lowell Sun, MA. “Deaths in Boston. Three Die of the Heat, 20 Prostrated.” 7-19-1900, p. 12. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56790462

Lowell Sun, MA. “Fifty Deaths A Day.” 7-19-1900, p. 12. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56790462

Marshall News, MI. “Hot Day in St. Louis.” 8-24-1900, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=120390138

Maryland Weather Service. “The Summer of 1900.” Maryland Weather Service (Vol. Two). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1907. Digitized by Google and accessed 1-15-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=-yjPAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Monroe Weekly Times, WI. “A Week’s Record,” 7-5-1900, p. 2., col. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53444422

Mountain Democrat, Placerville, CA. “United States.” 7-28-1900, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=5077708

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “City Briefs.” 8-13-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2855190

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Deadly Heat.” 8-8-1900, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2854590

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Severe Storms in Chicago.” 7-3-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2850357

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New York Times. “People Seek Open Air.” 7-9-1900, p. 7, col. 1. Accessed 1-15-2017 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/new-york/new-york-times/1900/07-09/page-7?tag

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Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “A Day’s Report [Dallas Heat Death].” 8-27-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=564416

Newark Daily Advocate, OH. “Deadly Heat [NYC].” 8-28-1900, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=564697

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Norwalk Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Deaths from Heat.” 8-11-1900, p. 2. Accessed 1-16-2017 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/norwalk/norwalk-daily-reflector/1900/08-11/page-2?tag

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The Star, Sandusky, OH. “Heat at Toledo.” 8-9-1900, p. 3. Accessed 1-16-2017 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/sandusky/sandusky-star/1900/08-09/page-3?tag

The Star, Sandusky, OH. “The First Fatality Attributable to Heat Was the Death of Michael Murphy.” 8-10-1900, 4. Accessed 1-16-2017 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/sandusky/sandusky-star/1900/08-10/page-4?tag

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Wellsboro Agitator, PA. “Deaths from Heat in Philadelphia.” 8-15-1900, p. 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=11098663

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[1] Number applies to “registration area” comprising 11 registration States (CT, DC, IN, ME, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, RI and VE, plus approximately 360 registration cities. Category is “Heat and sunstroke.”

[2] Not all heat-related deaths would have been ascribed to “sunstroke” on a death certificate, which goes a long way towards explaining difference between this Census document and the 1900-1904 Census summary document. There would have been “heat stroke” and “heat exhaustion” deaths as well, not to mention heat as a contributing cause.

[3] Somewhat of a conjecture on the dating in that the article has a July 9 dateline and speaks of 17 deaths during the last two days. It is possible that the dates could be July 8-9, but we could not find support for July 9 heat deaths. In addition, we know from other reports that there were 12 heat-related fatalities on July 7.

[4] Five is derived by subtracting twelve fatalities on the 7^th from the 17 reported here for the 7^th and 8^th.

[5] The paper is a weekly and dated July 28, thus we make the assumption that the five Chicago deaths could have been roughly anytime during the seven days up to publication.

[6] Includes the one death reported for “Shinkley.”

[7] Possibly the reference is to the days Aug 6-15.

[8] This note states that “There were six deaths from heat and thirty five from prostrations in New York on July 16.” We think that it is more likely that there were 6 deaths and 35 prostrations, not 41 deaths.

[9] Includes infant fatalities not included in the 22 fatality figure cited in the World report of July 19. The World article contains but three infant/child fatalities. Most of the others were adult men, three being women.

[10] Norwalk Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Deaths from Heat.” 8-11-1900, p. 2.

[11] Steubenville Herald-Star, OH. “Died of Apoplexy.” 7-25-1900, p. 5.

[12] Elyria Republican, Elyria, OH. “Intense Heat Causes Death.” 8-9-1900, p. 1.

[13] The Star, Sandusky, OH. “The First Fatality Attributable to Heat…the Death of Michael Murphy.” 8-10-1900, 4.

[14] The Star, Sandusky, OH. “Heat at Toledo.” 8-9-1900, p. 3.

20th Century

1900 — June 30, North German Lloyd Line Fire, Piers & Ships, Hoboken, NJ –325-400 –326-40

lornajarrettblanchard June 30, 1900

–326-400 Hoboken Historical Museum. CD-ROM: The 1900 Hoboken Pier Fire.
–325-400 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 30, 1900. Fire Breaks Out…
–300-400 Country Beautiful. Great Fires of America. 1973, p. 97.
— 392 Woodland Democrat, CA. “Close of…19th Century. The Year 1900…” 12-31-1900, 6
— < 360 NYT. “Calamity of Fire Grows in Horror, Over 360…Missing.” July 2, 1900. -- 350 NFPA. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). -- 326 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 401. -- 326 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 244. -- 326 NFPA. “100 Conflagrations Since 1900.” NFPA Quarterly, V29, N1, July 1935, 139. -- 326 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. -- 326 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 140. -- 326 NFPA. U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. December 2008, p. 23. -- 325 Blanchard tally from ship and pier death breakouts noted below. -- 300 Hoboken Fire Department. Hoboken Fires: Important Fires in Hoboken History. -- 300 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 692. -- 245 Pier 3. “A History of the Great Hoboken Pier Fire of 1900.” 2001. -- ~200 Insurance Register. “The Great Hoboken Fire.” Vol. VII, No. 26, 7-3-1900, p. 404. --150-200 Machinery. “The New York Harbor Fire.” Vol. 6, No. 12, August 1900, p. 354. -- <200 New York Times, “Over 200 Perish in Burning Liners…” July 1, 1900. -- 171 New York Times. “Hoboken Fire Anniversary.” 7-1-1901. -- 145 (Main, Bremen, Saale). Berman. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 60. -- 9 Bremen (crew). Hoboken Historical Museum. CD-ROM: The 1900 Hoboken Pier Fire. -- 0 Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. Hoboken Historical Museum. Hoboken.pastperfectonline.com. -- 44 Main. Hoboken Historical Museum. CD-ROM: The 1900 Hoboken Pier Fire. -- 99 Saale. Eastlake, Russell, Sharpe. World Disasters. “Saale, New York.” 2001, p. 30. --173 “…on the piers.” Hoboken Historical Museum. CD-ROM: The 1900 Hoboken Pier Fire. --325 Narrative Information History.com: “The fire was so large that it could be seen by nearly every person in the New York City area. “William Northmaid was working as the afternoon watchman on Pier 3 in Hoboken when he spotted a fire just before 4 p.m. The old wooden pier was at serious risk for fire and the combination of strong winds and the presence of wooden fuel-filled cargo sheds made it spread very rapidly. Before the Hoboken fire department could respond, the ship Saale, which had been docked at the pier, caught fire and drifted out into the Hudson River. Many of the ship’s workers did not know how to swim and drowned. “There was so much flaming debris in the Hudson that 27 boats in all caught fire during the evening. The pier fire also spread to the shore. The Hoboken Warehouse and Campbell’s Store burned to the ground. Three other piers also burned. By the time all the fires had been put out, somewhere between 325 and 400 people had died and property owners had suffered $4.5 million in insurable damages, which is equivalent to nearly $100 million in today’s money. Many people were missing, so crews set off dynamite in hopes that the explosions might help bodies stuck in the river floor to surface…. “The piers were rebuilt using steel.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 30, 1900. Fire Breaks Out at NJ Pier.”) Leyland in U.S. Congress: “Capt. Leyland ….The next case I want to speak of is the Bremen Line fire, which took place in New York in 1900. That was one of the greatest marine conflagrations that ever occurred in any port in the world. There were four or five ships that were lying right alongside the dock, in close proximity to the fire engines. Fire engines were playing water on them, tugboats all around the harbor were playing water on them. At our Pier 26, which we had then leased, a little south on the other side of the river I saw the fire when it broke out. I had three or four tugboats there and steam lighters and I ordered them all over there. I got into one myself, the tug Sterling. “By the time we got over you could not see the wharves and you could not see the ships, but we finally made the end of a dock, which was on fire, and got a line out on that dock. I got the steam lighter Nellie, which happened to come just alongside us. I told the captain to get his hose out and play on the eye of that line so it could not burn away. We could not move our propeller. It was dangerous to do so because there was so much floating wreckage there. We were afraid it would get into the wheel and break it. Finally, we commenced to slack down on this line, and the first thing I knew I felt flame in my mouth, although I could not see it. I dropped immediately to the deck and told all hands to do the same and to get behind the bulwarks. We crawled that way on our stomachs, and the thought struck me that this flame was coming down the dock, and you could not see it except that where there was a ray of smoke. We slacked away and we got to the stern, and I looked over the taff-rail of the boat and I saw a raft. There were 16 or 17 men on that raft. The ebb tide was running very hard, and these men could hardly move that raft in order to get it away from the ship's counter, so we slacked the line a little more until I could throw a heaving line. We threw a heaving line to this raft; they made it fast; then we kept pulling on it by hand. We pulled that life raft around so that it drifted around the end of the corner and pulled these men out, and the tug Belvedere followed the life raft and the captain cried, "All right, Leyland. I will get these fellows; you go in and get some more." “I thought it was very kind of him. Nevertheless, we had to go out and get a little fresh air, but we went in again and repeated the operation, and this time the raft was an improvised raft that had been made on the lower deck of a ship and thrown overboard. “About three days after I asked one of the sailors about it, and I said. " How is it you did not lower some lifeboats and get into them?" He said. "'We could not." I said, "Why; what was the matter with them ? " He said, " The falls were all burned off." “Mr. Manahan [Representative]. What? “Capt. Leyland. The falls; the boat falls. “Mr. Manahan. What does that mean? “Capt. Leyland. The rope which goes through the block and sustains the weight of the boat. They are made of rope, and it seems as though the flames will take hold of that kind of fiber quicker than anything else I know of. “The second lot of men we pulled out that way. “The captain of that ship was burned to death right on the bridge. He was on the starboard side of the bridge. His name was Capt. Keyser. We found all that was left of him the next morning was his gold watch and chain, melted into one solid mass. “The steamship Saul [Saale] we helped to pull out and backed away down to below Bedloes Island. There were 80 persons burned to death or drowned whom we could not get at. “Here was a condition, gentlemen, where their fire boats, firemen, and everybody else in that immediate vicinity—they could not assist those people, and something like four or five hundred persons were burned to death and drowned in New York Harbor and on the docks. I want to say that you would not think that such a condition as that could exist. You would not think that fire could make such headway and kill those people, but if it had not been for those life rafts, the improvised life rafts and the regular ones, there were 32 lives that would have been lost, and these life rafts were the means of saving them.” (Leyland, in: US Congress, House Merchant Marine Committee. Seamen’s Bill Hearings, 1914, pp. 396-397.) Newspapers July 1, NYT: “A fire that started among the cotton stored on Pier 3 of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company, in Hoboken, at 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon, in less than fifteen minutes covered an area a quarter of a mile long…and caught four great ocean liners and two dozen or more smaller harbor craft in its grasp, putting in peril at least 1,500 lives and property worth $10,000,000…. “….The most conservative figures indicate that possibly 220 people have perished…. “The strong wind almost in an instant carried the flames across a narrow strip of water into the cabins of the Saale, crossed Pier 2, seized hold of the Bremen, leaped thence to the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, and catching Pier 1 in their folds laid hold on the Main....Only one ship escapes….there were 150 on the Main. The vessel never got away from its pier. It lay there in a cauldron of flames, with its many victims, some of whom were seen trying to get out of the port holes, when the smoke drew a curtain over the ghastly scene…when it lifted for a moment, their bodies were seem hanging limp and apparently lifeless in the same portholes, and later, when the fire had subsided somewhat, it had removed all traces of its victims….Within three-quarters of an hour the three piers of the North German Lloyd Line were a mass of blazing debris, leveled almost to the floors, the only objects rising out of the flames being the steel masts of the Main and the great pile of burning cotton bales on Pier 3, in which the fire started…” (NYT. “Over 200 Perish in Burning Liners…Steamships Caught in Berths of Fire…” 7-1-1900.) July 2, NYT: “Dawn yesterday revealed on the Hoboken water front a long stretch of half-burned piles, a tangle of iron work, and heaps of half-consumed merchandise – all that had been left of the American terminal of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company….Smoke still rose from the debris and the streams of water played upon the fire were turned into sprays of steam, giving warning that the heat was still too intense to permit a search to be made for the victims who were trapped upon the piers….Stranded and partly sunk off Ellis Island lay the liner Saale, still smoking and holding in its fire-eaten, water-filled interior and on its charred and cinder-covered decks the bodies of possibly 128 victims, 127 of the 255 persons in the vessel having been accounted for….Up the river, beached and still burning, lay the other ill-fated liners, the Bremen and the Main, each stripped of all its upper woodwork and the fire still eating in the interior of the vessels, while the tugs kept on pouring water into them…According to careful and conservative estimates made late last night the loss of life may reach a total of 361, the estimates being as follows: Missing from the steamship Saale… 128 Missing from the steamship Bremen… 74 Missing from the steamship Main… 61 Reported missing to the police… 48 Longshoremen, boatmen, and visitors…50 ….The bodies of many of those who were drowned in the river, or who, already lifeless fell from the burning vessels or piers, will never be recovered, and it will never be known how many perished on the burning decks, leaving only their ashes, which cannot be discriminated as human remains.” (NYT. “Calamity of Fire Grows in Horror, Over 360 Now Estimated to Be Missing.” 7-2-1900.) July 5, NYT: “….The German societies of Hoboken always have elaborate celebrations on the Fourth, but this year no such events were held. Instead the societies marched with draped flags as the escorts at the funerals of two of the victims of the fire. “While the funerals were being held the search for more bodies continued. An unpleasant discovery was made by Morgue Keeper O'Donnell, and that was that some persons were deliberately, robbing the dead. Additional police details were sent to the water front in order, to prevent further work of this kind. “The thunder storm of yesterday was held to be accountable for the bringing of many bodies to the surface. There were many more bodies found yesterday at Hoboken, Staten Island and along the Brooklyn water front. “Thirty-five bodies were found yesterday of supposed victims of the fire. Of this number twenty-seven were found near the scene of the calamity. Three were found in the Narrows, along the Staten Island shore. Four had drifted over to the Brooklyn shore. One was picked up at the foot of Christopher Street, this city, and a part of a leg and foot was picked up by one of the police patrol boats. Of the bodies recovered yesterday three found at Hoboken were identified. “One of the funerals held yesterday in Hoboken was that of John Walrabe, first engineer of the Saale…. To-Day’s Great Funeral. “These two funerals were the forerunners of the large funeral which will be held at 10 o’clock this morning…At least eighty bodies will be buried….” (NYT. “Mourning for the Dock Fire Victims.” July 5, 1900, p. 5.) Sources Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972. Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982. Country Beautiful Editors. Great Fires of America. Waukesha, WI: Country Beautiful, 1973. Eastlake, Keith, Henry Russell, and Mike Sharpe. World Disasters. “Saale, New York.” p. 30. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2001. Accessed 7-15-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/World_Disasters/zviAAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lloyd+line+fire+hoboken+nj+1900&pg=PA30&printsec=frontcover History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 30, 1900. “Fire Breaks Out at New Jersey Pier.” Accessed at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=767 Hoboken Fire Department. Hoboken Fires: Important Fires in Hoboken History. Accessed 3-5-2013 at: http://www.hobokenfire.org/fires.cfm Hoboken Historical Museum. CD-ROM: The 1900 Hoboken Pier Fire. Accessed 7-15-2020 at: https://hoboken.pastperfectonline.com/archive/752096E1-571E-4854-B302-516644201882 Insurance Register. “The Great Hoboken Fire.” Vol. VII, No. 26, 7-3-1900, p. 404. Accessed 7-15-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=aWNJAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Machinery. “The New York Harbor Fire.” Vol. 6, No. 12, Aug 1900, p. 354. Accessed 7-15-2020: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Machinery/1AhGAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lloyd+line+fire+hoboken+nj+1900&pg=PA354&printsec=frontcover Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages. National Fire Protection Association. “100 Conflagrations Since 1900.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 29, No. 1, July 1935, pp. 129-156. National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1 National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.) National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983. National Fire Protection Association (John Hall, Jr.). U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 31 pages, December 2008. New York Times. “Calamity of Fire Grows in Horror, Over 360 Now Estimated to Be Missing.” 7-2-1900. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0DEEDD163FE433A25751C0A9619C946197D6CF New York Times. “Hoboken Fire Anniversary.” 7-1-1901. Accessed 7-15-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/07/01/117967776.pdf New York Times. “Mourning for the Dock Fire Victims.” July 5, 1900, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52173598 New York Times. “Over 200 Perish in Burning Liners – Ocean Steamships Caught in Berths of Fire – 1500 Lives Imperiled.” July 1, 1900. Accessed October 5, 2008 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A07E0DF1039E733A25752C0A9619C946197D6CF Pier 3 (Website). A History of the Great Hoboken Pier Fire of 1900.” 2001. Accessed at: http://www.pier3.org/pier3/index.html United States Congress. House of Representatives, Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries. The Seamen’s Bill (Hearings, on S. 136, an act to promote the welfare of American Seamen in the Merchant Marine of the U.S…., Part 1). Wash.: GPO, 1914. Digitized by Google: http://books.google.com/books?id=fDkuAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false Woodland Daily Democrat, CA. “Close of the 19th Century. The Year 1900 in the Record of Time.” 12-31-1900, p. 6. http://newspaperarchive.com/woodland-daily-democrat/1900-12-31/page-6

20th Century

1900 — June-Dec, Measles/Flu Epidemics, Western Native Alaskans, AK ~2,000-2,500

lornajarrettblanchard June 1, 1900

Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, Sep 2012; modified Jan 2020, for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— Thousands. Wolfe, Robert J. “Alaska’s Great Sickness, 1900: An Epidemic…, 1982, p. 91.

–2,000-2,500 Wolfe extrapolation of Lt. Jarvis estimate for Yukon-Kuskokwim census district.

— 2,000 University of Alaska Fairbanks. Alaska Native History and Cultures Timeline, 12.

Some Localities:

— 6 Andreaofsky trading post area, on Swetlaretchka River. Influenza “in quite a severe form.”[1]

— 57 Bethel, on Kuskokwim River, Western AK. John Kilbuck, pp. 438-442 in Litecky, p118.

–57 Bethel. Influenza/the grip “…within one month…” Brother Weinlick ltr. 9-17-1900.[2]

— 212 Bethel to Ugavig. Brother Weinlick ltr., 9-17-1900, Proceedings…Brethren 1900, p. 56.

— ~200? Bethel down Kuskokwim River, just as bad as Bethel up river to Ugavig.[3]

— ? Big Bend village of 65 people “fully 50 of whom were sick.” White. “Report of…” 269.

— ? Cape Prince of Wales, apparent northern-most report of sickness.[4]

— 35 Carmel, Bristol Bay. Wolfe 1982, 98.

— 3 Christ Church Mission, influenza, by Aug 23. White. “Report of Med. Officer…” p.266.

— 7 Dall River; influenza by Sep 13 (out of population of 60). White. “Report…of…” p.270.

— 20 Dog Fish Village, Yukon River. Wolfe 1982, 98 [from population of 27].

— ? Fort Hamlin. “…many suffered from severe attacks of influenza.” White. “Report…” 270.

— 74 Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, in Wolfe 1982, 98.^[5]

— 6 Grayling meeting place, 22 miles above Anvik.[6]

— 49 Holy Cross Mission area, Yukon River; 49 deaths out of 200 pop. Ragaru in White, 269.

— 27 Ikogmute. White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak…” p265.

— 12 Koserefsky, measles and influenza.[7]

— 45 Koserefsky area neighboring villages, measles and influenza.

— 6 Kwikpak Crossing, out of 21 natives, 4 of whom were “quite sick.”[8]

— 21 Neposkiagamiut, influenza.[9]

— ? Norton Sound area, influenza, sum. “became epidemic…death rate was very high…”[10]

— 27 Nulato Roman Catholic mission. White. “Report of Med. Officer, U.S. Nunivak,” p. 268.

— 12 Pitkas Point, Yukon River (pop. ~65 people). Measles by Aug 17.[11]

— ? Quinhagamiut (Quinhagak). “…distress was great…” (Kilbuck in Litecky 2011, p. 123.)

— 36 St. Lawrence Isl. Davenport Republican, IA. “Destitution at Nome.” 8-29-1900, 1.

— 30 St. Michael, by Aug 12. “became epidemic…death rate was very high…”[12]

— 27 St. Paul, Pribilof Islands. Judge 1896-1907,^[13] in Wolfe 1982, 98.

— ? Shageluk Slough, where natives from Grayling (measles and influenza there) went.[14]

— 3 Sixmile, pneumonia by Sep 26 (out of population of ~40). White. “Report of…” p. 270.

— 5 Tanana, St. James mission of Episcopal Church by Dec 1 (2 measles, 3 pneumonia).[15]

— 13 Teller City. New York Times. Great Storm at Nome.” 8-30-1900, p. 6.

— ? Tikchik. So many died that the village was abandoned. (Litecky 2011, p. 120.)

— 60 Ugavig, Kuskokwim River. Wolfe 1982, 98.^[16] [from population of 132]

— 30 Unalaska, late Aug. Martin, Fredericka I. Before the Storm. 2010, p. 357, fn. 3.

— 15 Village about 15 miles above Koserefsky; unburied bodies found.[17]

— 16 Village 13 miles above the Holy Cross Mission on Yukon River. Ragaru in White, 269.

— ? Yukon River villages. Measles.[18]

Narrative Information:

Brother Weinlick: “The supplies arrived on July 11….Shortly before we were finished storing our goods properly the grip [influenza] came among the natives, and has raged until now [Sep 17]. Within one month fifty-seven were called to their eternal rest here at Bethel, of whom a number had been on a visit or brought something to trade.

“It was indeed pitiful to see so much suffering. In a number of cases parents died, leaving little children….

“This sickness has been raging all along this river [Kuskokwim] and also over the tundra. The number of deaths we can not state exactly. They will count hundreds. Between here and Ugavig, as near as we can tell, there have been 212, including the children. Down the river it was jus as bad. At Neposkiagamiut, the nearest village below us, 21 deaths have been reported…”(Letter of Brother Weinlick, 9-17-1900, p. 56 in: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending November 14,1900.)

Litecky: “Faith in [missionaries’] curing abilities and the missionaries’ religion would be severely tested during the double epidemic of influenza and measles that ravaged wester Alaska in 1900. As in the smallpox epidemic that occurred a few decades before, massive numbers of Eskimos in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region perished. Unlike the smallpox epidemic, there were numerous witnesses, including several medical personnel, who provide harrowing accounts of their experiences during the summer of 1900. The missionaries could do little to help the suffering Eskimos, and some white people became ill themselves. The Yup’ik people, so skilled in recovering from crisis situations, would rebound after the epidemic. However, the inability of Dr. Romig to assist the Yup’ik people who relied on him would have serious and long-term consequences for Moravian efforts in the region…. [p. 112]

“While… [previous] outbreaks of disease caused some deaths and plenty of discomfort, the situation in 1900 was far different. Up to half the Yup’ik Eskimos living in western Alaska may have perished in the months-long epidemics, which the Eskimos called the ‘Great Sickness.’[19]…” [p. 113] (Litecky notes the “Great Sickness” has also been referred to as “a cataclysm of mass death.”[20])

“In 1900, most Eskimos succumbed to the sickness [measles], which indicates that they had not been exposed to the virus….Often, complications from measles, including a lack of care, lack of treatment for complications, and poor nutrition, rather than the illness itself, leads to death.[21]

“The sources of the two illnesses that defined western Alaska’s double epidemic are uncertain. Ships spiriting gold-seekers to Nome are one potential origin of the measles epidemic. However, some contemporary observers believed that Eskimos visiting Siberia to trade brought the diseases home with them There is some validity to that claim, since the earliest cases of measles appeared around the Bering Strait region, where people would likely cross from Siberia. Chukchi Eskimos in Siberia were stricken by measles in spring 1900. By late summer, measles had spread down the western Alaska coast to the Aleutian Islands. Incredibly, influenza hit around the same time, likely carried north by trading vessels. When the diseases struck western Alaska in the early summer months, most Yup’ik families had already scattered across the region to their small summer fishing camps, but relative isolation did not prevent the sicknesses from spreading rapidly and causing widespread calamity.[22]

“James T. White, surgeon on the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, witnessed the early summer arrival of influenza at St. Michael. Measles appeared in early July. By the middle of July, White wrote that ‘reports were brought in of great destitution, sickness, and death among the natives of the surrounding country.’ He commented that stories from visitors to St. Lawrence Island indicated that ‘the natives were dying so fast, and so many of the remaining were sick, that the dead were left where they lay or simply removed out of doors, out of the way, and there left to the mercies of the dogs.’….” [pp. 114-115]

“As in past epidemics, estimating a precise mortality rate is difficult because no accurate population counts existed for the entire region. Church records give some indication of the number dead. In 1899, the combined Bethel, Ugavig and Carmel missions reported 20 deaths out of their 987-member congregation.[23] The next year a startling 283 deaths were reported.[24] The epidemics impacted communities differently. The presence of whites, who were less affected by the epidemic diseases and could therefore provide crucial medical care, helped lower death rates in some villages.[25] Very few whites became ill or died during the epidemics. A few crewmembers of the Nunivak became mildly ill.[26] Moravian missionary families at Carmel and Bethel contracted influenza and measles but there were few deaths. In contrast, Carmel missionaries Mary Huber and Emma Rock reported that in surrounding villages at least one-third to one-half of the native people died.[27] Several contemporaries estimated that at least half of the Eskimos on the Kuskokwim perished in the epidemic.[28]

(Litecky, Ahnie. “The Great Sickness,” pp. 112-126 in: The Dwellers Between: Yup’ik Shamans and Cultural Change in Western Alaska (Master’s Thesis). Missoula MT: University of Montana, May 2011.)

NLM: “Measles, called ‘the Great Sickness,’ reached parts of Alaska as much as 50 years earlier, but some Yup’ik, Inupiat, and Inupiaq communities had not been exposed. Now they suffer losses of one-quarter to one-half of their populations.” (National Library of Medicine. Native Voices. “1900: Measles, the ‘Great Sickness,’ strikes Alaska Natives.”

Univ. AK, Fairbanks: “1900. Epidemic causes the death of one-third of the population of Unalaska.” (Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks. Alaska Native History and Cultures Timeline, p. 12.)

White: “….Early in the summer influenza appeared among the natives at Dt. Michael and those living around Norton Sound. This soon became epidemic in character and the death rate was very high, for in some cases the influenza was followed by a fatal attack of pneumonia. The epidemic rapidly spread, and finally included the white population as well as the native. Following closely on this, abut the 1^st of July, measles in a mild for appeared among the natives and rapidly spread through their quarter of the settlement, a few cases among the infants proving fatal. At first the measles was confined to the native population, but on August 11 it appeared among the white people…. [p. 259]

About the middle of July reports were brought in of great destitution, sickness, and death among the natives of the surrounding country. From Surgeon Hawley, of the U.S.S. Bear, it was learned that this same condition existed along the coast as far north as Cape Prince of Wales and on the Siberian side [Russia] from Indian Point to within the neighborhood of Cape Serdze Kamen; that on St. Lawrence Island the natives were dying so fast, and so many of the remaining were sick, that the dead were left where they lay or simply removed out of doors, out of the way, and there left to the mercies of the dogs. Reports of about the same nature also came to us from the Yukon River and from the coast south of the delta….

“The number of deaths among the coast tribes could not be ascertained. At St. Michael 30 were reported to August 12. Many bodies were found out on the tundra and along the beaches unburied. In one instance 8 bodies were found together on the tundra with half a mile of the settlement. Across the harbor were two or three camps containing some 15 people. These I attended at different times, but most of the cases were looked after by the army post surgeons and the physician in the employ of the Alaska Commercial Company…. [p. 260]

“At Kwikpak Crossing we found a fishing camp of 11 people, mostly children. Their story was the same as that told by the natives at St. Michael. They had all been too sick to fish and they were now without food. We found 4 of the men quite sick with pulmonary congestion following influenza, and learned that 6 had recently died….

“Andreaofsky, of the Swetlaretchka River, about 2 miles from its mouth and some 125 miles from the mouth of the Yukon, is one of the oldest trading posts on the river….At one time Andreaofsky was quite a settlement, but now there are only two traders, their families, and a few native assistants, some 25 in all. Nearly all of these were suffering from either influenza or measles. Measles had only recently appeared and was of rather a mild type, but influenza appeared early, before the fishing was half over, and in quite a severe form. [p. 261]

“….Six deaths were reported up to this time (August 16), one occurring the day after our arrival….While here a native came in a kayak from the village at Pitkas Point, some 3 or 4 miles down the Yukon, requesting us to come to their assistance, for, as he put it, ‘Everybody sick; plenty people die; one man die pretty soon, I think.’

“At Petkas [Pitkas] Point is a village of some 65 people, and named after Petka, a Russian creole, as the Russian half-castes are known in this country, who is the headman, church deacon, and trader. This village is one of the worst we saw on the river. The people appear to be in abject poverty, their houses and tents are filthy, and no effort seems to be made to have either order, cleanliness, or comfort. On the point is a large encampment of people who have come from the delta and from the coast to the south, and whom we were told were here to get away from sickness then prevailing in their homes; but they had not bettered themselves, for they were all sick. They had had measles and were then suffering mostly from pulmonary complications. At this village 12 had died to date (August 17), including the visitors.

“In one very small tent we found a man very sick with pneumonia, and covered up beside him was the body of another native who had been dead several days. No arrangement for the burial of the body had been made, and it was only after considerable coaxing and threats that two boys were induced to assist in the work of giving the body burial…. [p. 262]

“About 20 miles above Pitkas Point we stopped at a village of 5 houses occupied by 20 people, most of whom were sick with either influenza or measles. In one small house were found 5 or 6 people, some of whom were very sick. The place was dark, damp, and dismal, the fireplace was cold, and an odor of rotting fish permeated everything. The inmates were lying about on their beds, some covered, some uncovered. In one corner was a girl of about fourteen years, entirely nude, whose body was covered with the red rash of measles. Food and medicines were left for the use of these poor people, and we hurried on.

“A quarter of a mile above here was another village of 3 houses and some 10 people. All of these were sick with measles and influenza, and many had died/ The surviving members of this community were half starved and helpless, and after burying the dead and leaving food and medicines for the living we were compelled to proceed on our way up the river…. [p. 263]

“At Ikogmute is a mission under the charge of the Russian Church…There were only some 35 or 40 people here when we stopped, but in the winter the place has about 250 inhabitants….The fishing usually last until the latter part of September, and though salmon have been very plentiful this season, the great amount of sickness prevented the people from taking advantage of the run…. [p. 264] During the month previous to our arrival there were 24 deaths, only 4 of which were children, for, as at other points on the river, the worst cases and the majority of deaths were among the olde4r adults. During our short stay there were 3 deaths, making 27 in all to date.

“Fifteen miles above Ikogmute is Dog Fish, the most miserable little village imaginable. There were only 8 people here, all that were left of 30 or 40, the original population. The rest had either died or moved away. These 8 all claimed to be too sick to move about and attend to their own wants, but this inability to work was not alone due to sickness, but also to discouragement, a giving up, a generally demoralized condition. In one house were some half dozen people lying on their beds, or benches which serve as such, apparently awaiting their end. They seemed utterly indifferent to our presence, and did not appear to care whether they were helped or not. Some food left for them was placed on the floor, when one of the men called us back and asked us to move the stuff ono a shelf, for, as he said, it might get wet where it was. In another house was a family of four, all lying on their beds, wet and dirty, too sick or discouraged to move or even build a fire. What they had eaten recently we did not know, for nothing cooked could be seen and the only food in the house was some moldy dried fish. In a little tent, wet and cold, was a man alone and very sick, the last of his family. After all of the others had died he moved out of his house to end his days in this miserable little tent, without fire or wood or even food. When we have him some flour and bacon he smiled and asked us how he was going to eat it, for he had no way to cook, and of course none of his neighbors would assist him, even if they were able to do so, as they never do. In many of the houses and caches were salmon, recently caught, but from want of care they were rotting. We did not learn how many had died during the summer; but 5 had died recently, and had remained unburied until the steamer Margret came, when the crew performed that office. Most of the graves made by the natives were very shallow, and the dogs played sad havoc with the bodies. On the beach was a human foot, where the dogs had left it; and on the hillside were found various pieces that had been dis-interred by these animals. [pp. 265-266]

“At Koserefsky, 75 miles above Russian Mission, are some 150 natives; and about 300 more in the immediate vicinity, most of these latter living on Shagaluk Slough…Measles and influenza were particularly severe here, and the mortality was great, with all the care given to the natives by the mission people; and then following this were a number of severe cases of dysentery. There had been, to the time of our arrival (August 22), 12 deaths, and 45 more in the neighboring villages, some of these latter being almost depopulated. About 15 miles above here is a small village where some of the Fathers went to attend the sick, and there found 15 unburied bodies. Many similar cases were reported to us from other villages….

“Forty-seven miles beyond Koserefsky the Anvik River flows into the Yukon, and just within its mouth is Christ Church Mission, under the auspices of Grace Church of New York City….There are some 150 natives here, including both those at the mission and in the village opposite. They had all been sick, and many were so when we were there. In the mission hospital were 10 girls with measles in all stages, and 3 boys, 2 convalescent from measles and 1 with pneumonia In the village were 3 cases of pneumonia. Measles appeared about the middle of July, followed by influenza and in many cases by pneumonia. There had been but 5 deaths reported to the time of our arrival (August 23) – 2 from old age and 3 from influenza…” [p. 266]

“At Grayling, 22 miles above Anvik, were only 32 people, though the census gives 65 as the population. This place is more of a rendezvous where the natives from the surrounding country come in summer to fish and in winter to trade. Measles and influenza appeared among them early in the season, and after several deaths had occurred the natives became alarmed. The shamans advised them to leave, telling them that if they did not they would all die; so many moved over to Shagluk Slough; but they did not appear to fare any better there, for reports were received saying there were a great many sick and without food and in a bad way generally. At Grayling we found 10 sick – 2 with dysentery, 3 acute conjunctivitis, and the remaining suffering from pulmonary complications following influenza. There had been 6 deaths to date (August 23)….

“Some 60 miles above Grayling we stopped at a small village of 14 people, living in tents and makeshift houses of split logs. Measles had just appeared among them, and there were 7 sick – 4 measles, 2 bronchitis, and a baby with ophthalmia neonatorum. The number of deaths could not be ascertained…. [p. 167]

“About 10 miles farther on we stopped at another village of 18 people. Here we found 11 sick – 5 with measles, 2 with bronchitis, 1 with pneumonia, 1 with corneal ulcer, and 2 blind. The number of deaths could not be ascertained.

“At Nulato, a Roman Catholic mission…where there is a church and a school for boys and another for girls. There were about 50 people here at the time of our visit (August 28), 20 of whom were sick…Nearly all had had measles, which appeared early in July…There had been 27 deaths to date (August 28).

“On leaving Holy Cross Mission we took with us Rev. Ragaru, who has been connected with the missions of the Roman Catholic Church on this river for the past thirteen years. During the trip it was our pleasure to consul him regarding the distribution of food and medicines, and before leaving us at Nulato he made certain suggestions, as may be noted in the following letter:

Nulato, August 21, 1900.

Over 800 Indians are attended by St. Peter Claver’s Mission, Nulato. About 600 of these are dependent upon Nulato for their supplies. This summer the grip, shortly afterwards followed by the measles, spread among the natives from St. Michael and up the Yukon, diseases imported, as it were, by the steamers coming up the river.

On account of sickness the natives have been unable to work, and will be destitute this winter. Up to date there have been 27 deaths at Nulato, and over 220 are now sick. Some of them are expected to die. This proportion will probably hold for all neighboring villages. The general sickness has been so prevalent and so prostrating that at Nulato the white men have had to dig the graves and bury the dead for the Indians.

In some neighboring villages it is reported that the dead are left unburied, as none of the tribe are physically able to perform such office. As an illustration, the villages around Holy Cross Mission (some 200 Indians) had 49 deaths to date. And in a village 15 miles above Holy Cross mission a father and two brothers had to made a trip from Holy Cross to the village in order to bury 13 corpses that the surviving Indians were unable to care for….

Twenty-five per cent has been the average of deaths at Holy Cross. Ten per cent has been the average of deaths at Nulato….” [pp. 268-269.]

Aloys A. Ragaru, S. J.

(White, James T., Surgeon. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska.” dated 9-30-1901. Part VI in Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901, 1902, pp. 259-260.)

Wolfe: “In the summer of A.D. 1900 a catastrophic epidemic struck western Alaska. The region’s Eskimos called it the ‘Great Sickness,’ a widespread outbreak of disease prostrating whole communities of Aleuts, Eskimos, and Indians. The Great Sickness affected the native population along the Aleutian Island chain, the western seacoast south of Bering Strait, and three major rivers of the interior, the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Nushagak… Thousands of Native Alaskans died. It was alleged that communities frequently lost 25 percent to 50 percent of their members, and that a quarter of western Alaska’s Eskimo population perished (Jarvis 1901).^[29] In striking contrast, the non-native population of western Alaska was hardly affected by the epidemic. The diseases ravaging the Native Americans produced mild symptoms and a handful of deaths among Euro-Americans.

“At least two acute infectious diseases precipitated the Great Sickness of 1900 – measles and influenza. Both originated outside this relatively isolated region, and at least measles represented a heretofore unfamiliar disorder….” (Wolfe 1982, 91.)

“Near the turn of the…century, parts of western Alaska experienced a short period of intensive Euro-American activity. Gold had been discovered on the Klondike in 1897 and at Nome in 1898, luring thousands of Euro-American gold seekers into the Yukon River valley and Seward Peninsula. Nome had burgeoned into a tent-city of 20,000 packed on a six-mile beach, fully 18,000 arrivals in June of 1900 alone (Randall 1900:243-255).^[30]….”^[31]

“It was in the spring of 1900 that the microorganisms beginning the Great Sickness were introduced into the Native Alaskan population.

“Within many Alaskan communities, the Great Sickness gave the appearance of a single, devastating disease outbreak, lasting several weeks in its acute stages, and presenting a wide spectrum of symptoms. In certain reports, the illness was characterized as a strain of influenza….

“Most Euro-American medical personnel observing the 1900 epidemic concurred that at least two discrete diseases were passing through the Native American population – measles and influenza….”(Wolfe 1982, 95.)

“From the accounts of Euro-American observers, the number of Native Americans who died during the epidemic was staggering. Precisely how many cannot be determined, as there were no mechanisms for tabulating mortality statistics in western Alaska at that time. D. H. Jarvis, a lieutenant in the Revenue Cutter Service who traveled widely that summer along Seward Peninsula and the Yukon delta, estimated that 25 percent of the population of the Yukon-Kuskokwim census district died of measles, influenza, pneumonia, and starvation (that is, from 2,000 to 2,500 of the 9,000 enumerated in the 1890 census) (Jarvis 1901; Porter 1893; 6-7).^[32] Sheldon Jackson, who also traveled extensively collecting reports from schools and reindeer stations, estimated that 40 percent died at Nulato and Koserefsky, and 50 percent at Indian Point, Siberia, which he visited inn late July (Jackson 1900: 10, 37).^[33] R. N. Hawley, the surgeon aboard the Revenue Cutter Bear, reported that a quarter to one-third of the people perished at King Island (Hawley 1900).^[34] A third of the population died at Unalaska (Commissioner of Education 1901: 1465).^[35] Similarly, the statement that ‘half the natives died’ was offered at several locations, including Akulurak (Chronological Sketch of the Mission, undated, Teller (Jackson 1900b), settlements surrounding Holy Cross mission (Sipray 1900),^[36] Bethel, and other lower Kuskokwim communities (Proceedings 1901: 54-55;^[37] Schwalbe 1951: 84-86).^[38]….” (Wolfe 1982, 98.)

(Wolfe, Robert J. “Alaska’s Great Sickness, 1900: An Epidemic of Measles and Influenza in a Virgin Soil Population.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 126, No. 2, 1982, pp. 90-121.)

Newspapers

Aug 3: “Washington, Sept. 1. – Governor Brady of Alaska, in a letter to Secretary Hitchcock, dated St. Michael, Alaska, August 3, describes the distress in Alaska which the government is now taking steps to alleviate. Governor Brady says:

“I left Sitka July 21 and arrived here last evening at 8 o’clock. While coming down the Yukon we stepped at various places to wood^[39] and when I had the opportunity I went among the natives to make observations. At a place called Greyling, some 500 miles from here. I say that the natives were sick in nearly every tent upon the shore line and were in a very deplorable condition. Some were lying groaning on the ground. I saw one man sitting with his whole body naked and coughing and groaning. The pity of it was that nothing was being done for their relief. Even the sub-treasurer at the place was sick in bed.

This morning the Bear arrived from Siberia and different points along the Alaskan coast and St. Lawrence island, and report a terrible state of affairs among all the natives. In some places the natives report that more than one-half of them have died, and where the revenue officers have been able to investigate about one-fourth have died in each place. The epidemic seems to come in the form of grip attended by pneumonia or measles, or both. The natives seem to become stupefied and utterly helpless and lie down to die….”

(Anaconda Standard, MT. “Alaskan Natives Dying Like Flies.” 9-2-1900, p. 10.)

Aug 28: “Seattle, Aug. 28. – The United States transport Lawton arrived this evening from Nome with 220 passengers, two-thirds of whom were destitute miners returning at the expense of the government.

“Rev. Sheldon Jackson, the interior department representative in Northern waters, came in on the Lawton…. Jackson reports that grippe,^[40] pneumonia and measles have been epidemic all summer among the Eskimos, materially lessening their numbers. The ravages of the disease extended from the Aleutian islands to Point Barrow. On the island of St. Lawrence, out of a population of 400, 36 Eskimos died. Many Indian children were found hovering around the dead bodies.

“The revenue cutter Bear was loaded with supplies and sent to the relief of the natives. General Randall and other army and government officials in the North have formally brought the matter to the attention of the government.” (Davenport Daily Republican, IA. “Destitution at Nome.” 8-29-1900, p. 1.)

Aug 28: “A tale of disease, death and suffering among the Eskimos that almost beggars description is told by Guy N. Stockslager, who has been directing a relief expedition sent out by the Government. Stockslager has returned from Cape York and reports the natives dying by wholesale, dozens of dead bodies lying around unburied. At Teller City the sick natives killed the medicine man of the tribe in the vain hope that the act would appease the evil spirit. Thirteen deaths were reported in one day in Teller City.” (NYT. Great Storm at Nome.” 8-30-1900, p. 6.)

Sources

Anaconda Standard, MT. “Alaskan Natives Dying Like Flies.” 9-2-1900, p. 10. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=10169666

Anderson, Eva Greenslit. Dog-Team Doctor. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, 1940.

Davenport Daily Republican, IA. “Destitution at Nome.” 8-29-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=18906325

Kilbuck, John and Edith Kilbuck. The Yup’ik Eskimos as Described in the Travel Journals and Ethnographic Accounts of John and Edith Kilbuck who served with the Alaskan mission of the Moravian Church, 1886-1900. Edited by Ann Fienup-Riordan. Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press. 1988.

Kilbuck, John and Edith Kilbuck. “Annual Report of the Mission in Alaska from June, 1885, to June, 1886,” in Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen, August 26-27, 1886, 16-21, Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Printing Office, 1886.

Litecky, Ahnie. “The Great Sickness,” pp. 112-126 in: The Dwellers Between: Yup’ik Shamans and Cultural Change in Western Alaska (Master’s Thesis). Missoula MT: University of Montana, May 2011. Accessed 1-5-2020 at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2001&context=etd

National Library of Medicine. Native Voices. “1900: Measles, the ‘Great Sickness,’ strikes Alaska Natives.” Accessed 1-5-2020 at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/392.html

New York Times. “Great Storm at Nome.” 8-30-1900, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52174380

Society of the United Brethren. Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending November 14 ,1900. Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Publication Office, 1900. Accessed 1-5-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_Society_of_the_United/jWTfAAAAMAAJ?kptab=editions&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPtrzLqe3mAhXRmVkKHQ2NBdQQmBYwAHoECAYQBw

Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending August 25,1901. Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Publication Office, 1900.

University of Alaska Fairbanks. Alaska Native History and Cultures Timeline, pp. 1-2. Accessed 9-18-2012 at: http://jukebox.uaf.edu/site/jukebox-includes/vilda/timeline.pdf

White, James T., Surgeon. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska.” dated 9-30-1901. Part VI in Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901, by First Lt. John C. Cantwell. 257-274. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1902. Accessed 1-5-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=J54dAAAAYAAJ&ppis=_e&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Wolfe, Robert J. “Alaska’s Great Sickness, 1900: An Epidemic of Measles and Influenza in a Virgin Soil Population.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (Vol. 126, No. 2, Apr 8, 1982, pp. 91-121).

[1] White, James T., Surgeon. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska.” dated 9-30-1901. Part VI in Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901, 1902, pp. 260-261.

[2] Proceedings…Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel…Year Ending November 14 ,1900. P.55.

[3] Brother Weinlick letter of 9-17-1900, in Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren…1900, p. 56.

[4] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 260.

[5] Cites: Lerrigo, P. H. J. Report from St. Lawrence Island. In Sheldon Jackson, Tenth Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska. Washington: GPO, 1900, pp. 98-130; and Lerrigo, Annual Report of the Presbyterian Reindeer Station, Gambell, St. Lawrence Island. In Sheldon Jackson, Eleventh Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska. Washington: GPO, 1901, pp. 88-123.

[6] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 267.

[7] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 266.

[8] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 261.

[9] Letter of Brother Weinlick, 9-17-1900, p. 56 in: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending November 14,1900.

[10] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 260.

[11] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 262.

[12] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” pp. 259-260.

[13] Judge, James. Pribilof Island Log Books June 1896 through 2 June 1907. Univ. of Alaska Archives, Fairbanks.

[14] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 267.

[15] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 270.

[16] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen: 36: 1901: 24; from church membership roles.

[17] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 266. Nots “Many similar cases were reported to us from other villages.”

[18] White. “Report of the Medical Officer of the U.S. Steamer Nunivak, Yukon River, Alaska,” p. 260.

[19] Cites: Wolfe, p. 91.

[20] Cites: Harold Napoleon. Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being. Erik Madsen, ed. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 1996, p. 10.

[21] Cites: Robert J. Kim-Farley. “Measles,” Cambridge World History of Human Disease, ed. Kenneth F. Kiple, pp. 871-875. Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge Press, 1993.

[22] Cites: Wolfe, pp. 96 and 109.

[23] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1900, p. 36.

[24] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1901, p. 24.

[25] Cites Wolfe, p. 116.

[26] Cites White, pp. 259-260.

[27] Cites: Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1901, pp. 26, 38, 40, 54.

[28] Cites: Anderson, 198; G.T. Emmons, “A Report on the Condition and Needs of the Natives of Alaska,” 58th Congress,2nd Session, Senate Document No. 106 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905), 7; Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren, 1901, 29. However, Wolfe supports the estimate that one quarter of the Yup’ik Eskimos died. See Wolfe, 115.

[29] Jarvis, D. H. Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated 14 February 1901. Senate Document No. 178, 56^th Congress, 2d Session.

[30] Randall, George M. Report of the Department of Alaska. In Annual Reports of the War Department, June 1900, b. 1, pt. 3, pp. 243-258.

[31] On pages 95-96 Wolfe discusses theories that the measles epidemic originated in Siberia and was imported by Eskimo and Russian traders.

[32] Jarvis, op cit. Porter, Robert P. Report on the Population and Resources of Alaska at the Eleventh Census: 1890. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893.

[33] Wolfe notes two 1900 Sheldon Jackson documents in his bibliography: Tenth Annual Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska. Washington: GPO; and Letter to Captain Francis Tuttle, Commanding Revenue Cutter Bear, 1 August 1900, Port Clarence. Alaska File of the Revenue Cutter Service, 1867-1918, Roll 8 (M/F 10), Federal Archives and Records Center, Seattle.

[34] Hawley, R. N. Report to Captain Francis Tuttle, Commanding U.S. Steamer Bear, dated December 1900: Medical and Surgical Cases of the Bering Sea and Arctic Cruise. Alaska File of the Revenue Cutter Service, Roll 8 (M/F 10), Federal Archives and Records Center, Seattle.

[35] Annual Report. In Annual Reports of the Department of the Interior, June 1900. Washington, GPO, 1901.

[36] Sipray, Aleck A. Account of the Plague in Alaska. Jesuits, Alaska Mission Records, III Holy Cross Mission, Reel 4, Box V, Folder 10. University of Alaska Archives, Fairbanks.

[37] Proceedings of the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen for the Year Ending August 25, 1901. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

[38] Schwalbe, Anna B. Dayspring on the Kuskokwim. The Story of Moravian Missions in Alaska. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Moravian Press, 1951.

[39] For fuel

[40] Influenza.

20th Century

1900 — May 23, Cumnock coal mine gas explosion, Cumnock, Chatham County, NC — 23

lornajarrettblanchard May 23, 1900

–23 Brisson. “The Coal Glen Mining Disaster…,” The State Magazine, Feb 1981.

–23 Fay. Coal Mine Fatalities in the United States 1870-1914 (Bulletin 115). 1916, p. 251.[1]

–23 Greenberg. Disaster!: A Compendium of Terrorist, Natural and Man-Made… 2006, p. 216.

–23 Harrill in Charlotte Observer in Hairr (Coal Mine Disasters of North Carolina), p. 42.

–23 NIOSH. Coal Mining Disasters: 1839 to Present. Centers for Disease Control and Prevent.[2]

–23 The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Mine Disaster in Chatham.” 5-25-1900, p. 6.

–22 Mount Airy News, NC. “Another Cumnock Mine Horror.” 5-24-1900, p. 2.

Narrative Information

Brisson: “On May 23, 1900, the mine exploded and twenty-three died. Bankruptcy followed within two years and again the waters of Deep River found the mine.” (Brisson 1981)

Hairr: “J. F. Harrill, superintendent of the Cumnock Railroad, was one of the first company officials on the scene and helped direct the rescue efforts. Harrill even climbed into the mine hunting for survivors, but they rescued only five people, two of whom died from their wounds.

“Harrill took the train from Cumnock to Raleigh to purchase coffins for the dead miners. He stopped long enough in Raleigh to describe to a correspondent of the Charlotte Observer the tragic events that transpired back in Chatham County.

The dead and injured, as rapidly as found by rescuers, who groped about with safety lamps in hand, were placed in the little cars and taken to the shaft and then lifted to the surface. The hair was burned off their heads and faces, necks and hands were so scorched that the skin fell off at a touch. Their ears were in most cases bured to a crisp, thet the clothing was not burned.

One body has not been recovered, that of Sam McIntyre, colored, and it is said there is no hope of finding it. Some think McIntyre was entirely burned or blown to pieces or that he is covered with debris. The mine was not wrecked, and the costly machinery is uninjured. By midnight all the bodies were out save McIntyre’s. Harrill says he worked all night. It was found that 19 men were killed by the explosion and four by the terrible after-damp [gas]. Harrill says this after-damp has a peculiar and most loathsome odor and that he felt as if his very system were saturated wit it. There was a great deal of fire-damp in the mine; it appears that this has always been the case.

“Initially, it was though that a charge of dynamite had set off a firedamp explosion, but later investigation revealed that this was not the case. The most plausible explanation that mine officials and inspectors from the labor commissioner’s office came up with was that the explosion was caused when firedamp was ignited by the flame of a safety lantern carried by Simeon McIntyre, whose body was the last to be removed from the mine. Those who were in the mine at the time of the blast knew that McIntyre was near the point where the explosion began and figured that his body was blown into oblivion. But his body was found three days after the blast, along with his safety lamp.

“Investigators noticed something strange about McIntyre’s lamp: ‘A hole was in the thick glass of his lamp, and the theory is that an excess of gas gathered suddenly from some unknown reservoir and caused the lamp to burn a hole through the glass. It is asserted that the hole is plainly broken from the interior outward.’

“A coroner’s jury…was convened to investigate the accident. Their report, dated May 24, 1900, noted, ‘We, the jurors summoned by the Coroner, have investigated the Cumnock Coal Mine disaster, and find that these twenty-one men came to their deaths by the explosion of gas and the after-damp, but how the fire originated, we can not say.’” (Hairr, John. Coal Mine Disasters of North Carolina. 2017, pp. 42-43.)

Newspaper

May 23: “A report reached Mount Airy last night, confirming the news of the Cumnock disaster, and stating that 22 miners were killed by the explosion. Readers of The News will remember that a similar disaster occurred at the Cumnock mines only a few years ago, at which time 43 miners lost their lives and many women and children were in one fatal moment made widows and orphans.

Later

“Cumnock, N.C., May 22 [?]. — As a result of an explosion in the coal mines here at 4:30 o’clock this afternoon 22 men, ten white and twelve colored, lost their lives. The accident occurred in what is known as the east heading, and between forty and fifty men were in the mine at the time of the explosion….In all, four disasters have occurred at this mine, and 85 lives lost, while many others have been injured.

“The Cumnock mines are situated in Chatham county, about six miles from Sanford.” (Mount Airy News, NC. “Another Cumnock Mine Horror.” 5-24-1900, p. 2.)

May 23: “Sanford Special, 23d, to Charlotte Observer. As the result of an explosion of fire-damp in the coal mine at Cumnock (Chatham county) at 4:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon, 22 men… lost their lives. The accident is supposed to have been caused by the explosion of a dynamite cartridge fired in driving a heading. The accident was in the east slope.

“Between 40 and 50 men were in the mine at the time the explosion occurred. Five were brought out alive from the east slope, while none of the men in the west slope were injured. The names of the killed are as follows:

White

Jno. Connolly, mine superintendent;

Joe Glass.

William Tyser,

Jas. McCarthy,

Jno. Harkey,

Wesley Clegg,

John Willett,

Joe Gatewood,

Robert Gatewood.

Colored

Sim McIntyre,

Dan Goldston,

Joe Frazier,

Will Reeves,

Robert Reeves,

Ollie Bynum,

Joe Taylor,

Jim Marks,

John Lee Palmer,

Jim Palmer,

Peter Palmer,

Joe Hubbard.

“Shortly after the explosion occurred the work of rescue began and by night all the bodies except two or three had been removed.

“Later, 10.45 p.m.–The name of another negro was added to the list of the dead as a result of the explosion, making in all 23, 10 white men and 13 negroes. Four of the five men brought out alive are still living and it is thought three of them will recover. They are now able to talk but are unable to related their experience while in the mine after the explosion occurred.

“Some think the explosion was caused by a broken gauze in a safety lamp, while others think it was caused by the explosion of a dynamite cartridge. The miners had noticed that a great deal of gas had accumulated in the east heading during the past few days. Two or three men are yet unaccounted for.

“The explosion was not like the one of four years ago, as it made very little noise. It was some time after the explosion occurred before the miners in the other parts of the mine learned of it. Mr. Hare, one of the bosses in the mine, says he thinks he could have saved several of the men had he known it earlier….

“John Connolly, superintendent of the mine, was an Englishman. His remains, with those of Jas. McCarthy, will be taken to Pittston, Pa., for burial….

“Before the civil war a squad of workmen were killed by an explosion in this mine. In December 1895, an explosion caused the death of 40 men who were at work at the mine.”[3] (The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Mine Disaster in Chatham. Another Explosion at the Cumnock Coal Mine Results in the Death of Twenty-Three Men…” 5-25-1900, p. 6.)

Sources

Brisson, Lynn. “The Coal Glen Mining Disaster, Farmville, Chatham County, N.C., May 27, 1925.” The State Magazine, February 1981. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pfwilson/state-1981.html

Fay, Albert H. (Compiler). Coal Mine Fatalities in the United States 1870-1914 (Bulletin 115). Washington, DC: Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, 1916. Digitized by Google. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=161GAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Greenberg, Michael I. Disaster!: A Compendium of Terrorist, Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc., 2006.

Hairr, John. Coal Mine Disasters of North Carolina. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017. Google preview accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=rf9tDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Mount Airy News, NC. “Another Cumnock Mine Horror.” 5-24-1900, p. 2. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-airy-news-may-24-1900-p-2/

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Safety and Health Research.. Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm

and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html

The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Mine Disaster in Chatham. Another Explosion at the Cumnock Coal Mine Results in the Death of Twenty-Three Men…” 5-25-1900, p. 6. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/statesville-landmark-may-25-1900-p-6/

[1] Has date as May 23, 1899.

[2] Has this event listed twice — May 23, 1899 and May 23, 1900. All other details identical.

[3] NIOSH. Mine Disasters, shows 39.

20th Century

1900 — May 1, Powder then dust explosions, Winter Quarters 1 & 4 coal mine, Scofield, UT ~231

lornajarrettblanchard May 1, 1900

— 250 Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Number of Dead May Now Reach Three Hundred.” 5-3-1900, p.1.
— 250 Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Most Appalling Mine Horror!” 5-2-1900, p. 1.
–200-246 Powell. “Scofield Mine Disaster.” Utah History Encyclopedia.
–231-232 Hamaker/Caras. Miners Killed in the Winter Quarters Mine Explosion, May 1, 1900.*
— ~225 Salt Lake Herald, UT. “State Mine Inspector Blames Company.” 5-4-1900, p. 1.
–197-202 Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Company Now Says Dead Number 202.” 5-6-1900, p. 2.
— 200 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 312.
— 200 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 200 NFPA. U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. December 2008, p. 25.
— 200 NIOSH, CDC. Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). 2-26-2013 update.
— 200 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 93.
— 199 Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Coal Company Give Exact Number of Dead.” 5-8-1900, p. 1.

*Blanchard: Hamaker and Caras developed a webpage alphabetically listing all the fatalities, including, for most entries, where the miner was from, his birthdate and place, spouse (if married), parents names, burial location, and family representative, if there is one. We counted the names, which comes to 232. There are two entries (John Leslie Price and Ed. H. Samuels) wherein a note is made that the compilers did not believe they died in the explosion. If they are correct the death toll would be 230. At the end of the alphabetical listing there is another entry (Mack Johnson) listed as a “Possible Addition to the list.” If this is correct, then the death toll would be 231. We should note that in our experience compiling death tolls for 19th and early 20th century mining disasters it is not all that unusual to find evidence of a higher death toll than that provided by otherwise reputable organizations. The CDC’s NIOSH, for example, would have gotten their data, no doubt, from the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Federal data collecting organizations would have received their information from a State organization; States from the mining companies and the mining companies from the clerks, who often kept records only pertaining to those officially on the payroll. At times and places miners would bring others into the mines with them to help out who were not officially on the payroll (such as sons or other relatives), or even “sub-contractors” when pay was based on the amount of coal each person brought out, not on how many hours were worked. Sometimes a salesman or someone looking for work would be unlucky enough to be in a mine when there was a mishap. If so their names might or might not be added to the “official” death toll. And, sometimes an injured person would die later, after an “official” listing of fatalities was provided to the state by the mine operator.

Narrative Information

May 1: “Scofield, Utah, May 1. At present the mining camp at Scofield is the scene of the greatest excitement on account of a terrific explosion at the Winter Quarters mine, which occurred about 10 o’clock this morning. The cause is attributed to the blowing up of a number of kegs of blasting powder, and the point at which the explosion took place is not as yet known.

“The scene before the mouths of the tunnels of the mines is a vivid one in the extreme. Women and children waiting, moaning and crying out the names of their beloved ones and as every man is brought out from the mine on a stretcher, every one rushes forward, raises the covering from the face and shrieks awful to hear penetrates the dark and gloomy atmosphere as some one rushes forward only to faint at the foot of their husband’s or father’s corpse.

“Up to now it is positively known that the loss of life is a great one and up to now the corpses of twenty minters have been brought out and placed upon the ground awaiting arrival of strong-hearted men to carry them to their various homes. One hundred and fifty miners are known to have gone to work this morning and but very few have been brought out as yet.

“There is hardly a doubt but that every miner taken out of No. 1 mine is bound to have succumbed to the grasp of death, for that particular mine was filled with smoke, dust and debris. The scene of rescuing is still going on. Miners from Clear Creek have been brought down and all possible assistance is being given. At this moment the special bearing W. H. Sharp, Superintendent of the coal company and A. E. Welby arrived from Salt Lake. The loss to the P. B. Coal Co. is a great one and the extent will not be known for some time.

“The officials of the coal company are doing their best to decrease the loss of life….” (Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT. “An Army of Men Killed in an Explosion.” 5-1-1900, 1.)

May 1: “Scofield, Utah, May 1. – The English language cannot describe the appalling disaster which occurred here at 10:25 this forenoon by an explosion in mine No. 4 of the Pleasant Valley Coal company, and by which certainly two hundred men and upward have lost their lives. At this hour one hundred and thirty-seven bodies have been recovered, and the work of rescue is still proceeding and will continue until all bodies are brought to the surface….

“The injured, eight in number, were taken on a special train to Salt Lake, leaving here at 8 o’clock this evening. There are one to three of the injured that will not survive the trip to the hospital….

“Theories as to the direct cause of the explosion differ materially, and it will take some time after the horrible shock and grief are partially allayed to arrive at a correct conclusion or positively substantiate the facts in connection therein.

“Bishop Thomas Parmley, superintendent of the operations here, gives it as his opinion that the explosion was brought about by giant powder which was taken into the mine by some of the miners, that exploded in some unaccountable way, igniting the dust, and thereby causing an explosion.

“This mine has been worked for over twenty years, and has the reputation, according to State Mine Inspector Thomas, of being one of the best-ventilated and protected in the West. He states that he inspected it less than five weeks ago, and believed it entirely safe at that time. It has never had bad air and has always been free from gas, and as the coal is all loaded with shovels, there has not been a large accumulation of dust.

“Nine-tenths of the men killed are Americans and Welsh. The former come mostly from Utah, with a small number from Tennessee and Colorado.

“No sooner was it understood to be an explosion than Bishop Parmley headed a rescuing party of twenty men and tried to gain an entrance into No. 4 through the opening of No. 1, but the men were soon forced back by the fire damp [methane]. Bernard Newren, one of the rescuing party, was overcome by gas and was with difficulty resuscitated.

“Finding the rescue impracticable from this route, the parties then headed for No. 4. Here they found the air beginning to circulate, and after clearing away the fallen and dead horses at the mouth of the mine they entered about two hundred yards when they came upon the dead bodies of six of the men.
Begged To Be Killed

“John Kirton was the first one brought out, at about 12 o’clock, his whole scalp being burned to a cinder and his face unrecognizable. He was still alive and apparently conscious, crying out in agony for his fellow-comrades to end his misery by killing him on the spot.

“In the meantime, John Wilson, who had been blown with his horse two hundred yards across the canyon from the mouth of the mine, had been discovered and was taken to his home. The back of his skull was crushed and some solid substance had been driven through his abdomen. He left here alive with the injured.
Injured Outside The Mine

“Thomas Sellers, who was working about fifty yards from the mouth of the mine on the outside, had his right foot crushed, back hurt and shoulder knocked out of place. Sandy Wilson, also on the outside, was hit by flying timers, and his life is despaired of. Harry Taylor had his jaw broken and John Beddoes was severely bruised. These men were all on the outside.

“The rescuing party inside the mine discovered William Boweter lying in the midst of several dead, and with assistance he walked to the mouth of the mine and was saved.

“The after-damp delayed the work of the rescuing party, but the magnitude of the disaster soon became apparent. All men on the raise known as Pike’s Peak were lying in Clusters. John James, a County Commissioner, was found with his son, George, entwined in loving embrace in each other’s arms.
Prepared For Death.

“All these men had apparently realized that death was coming, for all were found as though in attitudes of defense. Some had their cloaks about them, others had tried to protect themselves by burying their faces in the ground floor of the mine, hoping thus to escape the deadly gas that was fast enveloping them. They must have lived for some time in prayerful expectation of rescue reaching them.
Bernard Dougall Dead

“Bernard Dougall, the promising and enterprising young engineer from Springville, Utah, who had only just entered the mine a few minutes before with his assistants, was found with his instrument set, while he and his men lay dead around it. By this time a hundred stretchers had arrived, while the company store had also been stripped of all its quilts, blankets and pillows, with a view to caring for the wounded, but it soon became apparent that there were no wounded in the mine – all were dead.

“As fast as the bodies were removed they were carried to the company barn across the canyon and turned over to Mr. MacIntosh, who superintended the work of washing and identification. Thirty-five had ben thus gathered when your reported left to send this at midnight.

Scene A Ghastly One.

“The scene was ghastly yet most pathetic. Between the blackened and stalwart men lay about a dozen little lads who had been engaged as couplers and trappers. Some lay alongside of their fathers and elder brothers. It was a scene that made many a strong man turn away in tears.

Many Men Suffocated.

“At about 1 o’clock, the foul air having cleared away from No. 1, the work of rescue began here, and it was soon found that a great many of the miners of No. 1 had been suffocated. The men of the lower levels had been warned of the explosion and made their escape before the gaseous air had reached them.

“Cars were taken in and the dead were loaded into them and brought to the mouth….The dead were all carried into the boarding-house, directly opposite the mine, and at midnight 137 stalwart men, nearly all heads of families, were laid out in the cold embrace of death.

Died To Save Others.

“One force of men was busy washing and dressing them and another was busy carrying them from the mouth of the mine. Andrew Hood, foreman of No. 1 mine, was overcome with gas and had to be carried home, while two daring heroes whose names could not be obtained tonight gave up their lives in the attempted rescue of their comrades. It is thus they are laboring on and it will take many hours yet before the extent of the disaster will fully be known….

Male Members Families Gone.

“In several families every male representative is numbered with the silent dead….

What Thomas Says.

“It appears at this moment simply to be one of those accidents that are common to the very best regulated mines, and against the best endeavors of the most competent superintendents, among whom is numbered, even in this terrible calamity, Superintendent Sharp. The State Mine Inspector at this hour is still without data to lay blame on anyone. Of course an inquest will have to determine just where the blame rests, and perhaps it never can be fully determined.

Story Of A Survivor.

“W. C. Wilson was one of those fortunate ones on the lower level of No. 1 who escaped. He is an aged miner of twenty-six years’ experience, and tells his story about as follows: ‘There was a low, rumbling noise heard in the distance, followed by a sort of wave that can hardly be described, but that is known to all who have been in explosions, and I have been in several. I said to my partner that if gas was known to exist in the mine I should say that an explosion had occurred. I advised that we flee to the mouth of the tunnel, and with me came six men working in that section. In the main tunnel we met the driver and asked him if he had noticed a strange occurrence. He replied that he had almost been knocked off the bar by the rush of air. I was then convinced that it was indeed an explosion, and advised my comrades to hasten with me to the mouth of the tunnel. We met two others further on, and they proceeded hurriedly with us. We were none too soon, for the after-damp reached us some three or four minutes before we reached the open air, almost suffocating us.’….” (Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Most Appalling Mine Horror! Explosion at Scofield Kills 250.” 5-2-1900, p. 1.)

May 2: “Scofield, Utah, May 2. – This catastrophe at the Pleasant Valley coal mines has developed to enormous proportions, It seems that at least 250 men have been killed in this accident. The accurate figures cannot be given and they will not be known for some days. The mine managers declare that it will be impossible to secure a list of names until the dead bodies have been brought out and identified….Assistant Superintendent Williams cannot give figures. But there must be 250 dead. Dozens of men seem, from accounts given by rescuing parties, to be covered up with dirt, dust, timbers and debris.

“Mr. Sharp [mine Superintendent] said today that there were 306 men at the mine in tunnels Nos. 1 and 2 at the time of the explosion. Of these it is impossible to acco9unt for more than sixty. There is such a hurry and turmoil that those who escaped cannot all be seen. However, there is great variance between the figures given by Mr. Sharp and those given by Bishop Parmley, mine superintendent, the third in authority, to the Prove delegation, led by William M. Roylance and Apostle Reed Smoot, who arrived today to look after Provo victims.

Three Hundred Dead.

“Mr. Smoot said that there were 390 men in the mine. If that is so, then more than 360 are among the dead.

“At 6 o’clock tonight 165 men had been recovered and the names of all except several Finns are known. If the mine superintendent’s figures are correct, then half of the strangled and mangled bodies are yet in the cross entries and ‘rooms,’ piled over with debris and sunk away in noisome and killing fire-damps.

“There is no record of the miners working from day to day, the company officials declare. They say that there is no record except the continuous one which is kept on the books. This is not made up every morning, for the number of cars the men send out is accounted by a system of checks. It seems that the only way to get these names authentically is to wait until the bodies have come out and are identified by friends, relatives and acquaintances. It is even impossible to get the list of these from the officers of the company. The names secured were got at the dead houses as the men were brought out and washed.

“Some were picked up at the mouths of the tunnels as the blackened and scarred miners were brought out. This is the only reliable way to get names.

Awful Scenes.

“The scene of death and carnage about this little mining camp, which strings its way out up and down Winter Quarters canyon, has been as pathetic and as awful as ever seen. Nearly all the public buildings are filled with dead. The Mormon church meeting house, just below the company offices, has every nook and corner filled with bodies washed and clothed in underclothing, with white sheeting spread over each to hide the picture of death. These came from tunnel No. 1 and were taken out on Tuesday night [May 1]. There were sixty-seven this afternoon at 4 o’clock. The public school house in the camp is, too, filled with them, the bodies mostly of men who were carried out of tunnel No. 4. Some are scarred and blistered where the cruel flames of the burning dust licked them to death. There are great holes in their skulls and bodies, where the flying timber and debris struck them. Some no doubt were killed instantly and saved the tortures of the searing flames. Thirty-two were counted at 3 o’clock….” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Number of Dead May Now Reach Three Hundred.” 5-3-1900, p. 1.)

May 2: “Scofield, May 2….There is as yet no definite information as to the cause of this explosion. Neither Superintendent Sharp nor his assistant, H. G. Williams, offers anything but theories…..According to their statements, there were two explosions, the first being a box of giant powder or a blown-out blast and the second the explosion of coal dust. It was this latter which did the great damage. The giant powder may have killed those in its vicinity, but as these men work in pairs, not in crowds, that is not likely to have killed more than two or three. The dust explosion would, of course, run in all directions, blasting by its concussion and burning with its flames everything and everyone in reach. Then, arose the fearful after-damp, which is a deadly poison.

“Those men killed in tunnel No. 4, or the far greater number of them, came to their death by the concussion and the burning. Those found in the cross entries and ‘rooms’ of tunnel No. 1 died through the effects of the after-damp, that came as the result of the awful explosion. Then it rapidly permeated every nook and corner of the cross entries and the ‘rooms.’: it reached across to tunnel No. 1, through the joining cross entries, raises, levels or dips, as they are variously termed. It came upon the men quickly and stealthily, and they were overcome before they could realize what was the matter….
Company Is Criticized.

“….there re men who make quiet complaint, almost under their breath, against what they call neglect of the company. These declare that the managers have neglected the safety of the men in failing to dampen and keep wet the coal dust which gathers in the main tunnels, in the cross-entries, the rooms and everywhere.

“Some of them have declared in very positive terms that had the company kept this dust damp there would have been no explosion, for the reason that there could have been no dust in the air to explode. ‘In all these tunnels and entries the floor is perfectly dry,’ said an old miner, who has worked in the mine off and on for eight years. ‘It this explosion was caused by dust there would have been no explosion if there had been water on the floor or if it had been sprinkled. In this it seems to me there is negligence. It is known that dust will cause trouble of this kind if there is a great flame. Now, there have been in this mine men handling giant powder who did not know anything about it or practically nothing. I have seen instances of gross carelessness on the part of the men. The managers of the company must have known of this and they should have made provision against an explosion of this kind….I knew that a party of Finns took in a box of giant powder and they were men working where this explosion must have occurred. Of course it will never be known wheth4r or not they caused the explosion, for no one has lived to tell the tale. The company should have kept this dust down by sprinkling it.’ Charles E. Downing.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Giant [powder] and Coal Dust Caused Explosion” 5-3-1900, pp. 1-2.)

May 4: “Scofield, Utah, May 3. – ‘This accident was caused by the neglect of the Pleasant Valley Coal company. I do not want to call it criminal negligence, because it does not amount to that. But there has been considerable carelessness. The dust in tunnel No. 4 and in the various cross-entries and ‘rooms’ should have been sprinkled with water. Had that been done, none could have arisen to be ignited. The coal in No. 4 has a larger percentage of fixed carbon than in No. 1 and was, I think, more liable to be ignited. Consequently there should have been greater precaution taken than in the old property.’ This statement was made by State Mine Inspector Gomer Thomas this afternoon. Charles E. Downing.”

“Scofield, Utah, May 3. – If the statement made by Mine Inspector Thomas is correct, there has been blame in this awful catastrophe which has swept over 200 men to death, left 100 widows and more than 200 orphans.

“…it seems now that the dead will number about 225. Tonight at 9 o’clock there had been brought out 204 bodies in all.

“Thomas Sneddon, too, blames the company, and he is a coal miner of authority. He declared yesterday that there should have been much care and strict regulations as to the quantity of giant powder that should be taken into the mines. Now, as a matter of fact, there have been no strict regulations, which was admitted to The Herald correspondent yesterday by Assistant Superintendent Williams. He said that there were orders that only twenty-five pounds of giant powder should be taken in at one time by contractors who used it in blasting rock, but he said, too, that this order was lived up to. According to Inspector Thomas, the records of the company show that on March 25 a contractor took in fifty pounds.

Cause of the Explosion.

“Summarizing statements and opinions of Mr. Thomas and Mr. Sneddon, the condition, according to them, was as follows:

“The explosion was first caused by the explosion of giant powder handles by contractors, or by black powder, which the miners used, being ignited.

“The great explosion was caused by the ignition of the dust from the original explosion.

“The company has shown carelessness, first, in permitting such large quantities of giant powder to be taken in.

“It has shown, second, greater negligence in not sprinkling with water the dust all through the mine.

“Notwithstanding such conditions, there was no disposition on the part of the county attorney of Carbon county, L. O. Hoffman, to bring out these facts and statements when he questioned witnesses at the inquest held today.

“The jury finding on the facts presented to it returned a verdict in which no blame or intimation of blame attaches to anyone….” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “State Mine Inspector Blames Company.” 5-4-1900, p. 1.)

May 5: “Scofield, May 5. – The company claims tonight that 197 men have been brought out of the works, and that no more than five are missing. All the rescued, they say, are boxed up and between fifty and sixty caskets will have to be returned to alt Lake. They do not say their estimate of the number dead was at any time too great, but ascribe the cause of the over-supply to rush orders from undertakers when it was feared not enough could be got together in time.

“Three bodies were recovered up to 1 o’clock this morning and no more have been found all day. Nevertheless, there will be no pause in the search….The bodies brought out this morning are those of Richard T. Reese, John Lundgreen and Clyde Law….” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Company Now Says Dead Number 202.” 5-6-1900, p. 2.)

May 8: “Scofield, May 8….All day long and far into the night has search been continued for the four victims who are yet known to be in No. 1. Every exertion was made to reach them and finally the efforts of the searchers were rewarded by the discovery of another Finlander by the name of Nicholas Walkama, who was brought out of No. 1 late this afternoon…Nicholas Walkama already appears upon the rolls of the company as dead, but the body was fully identified as his by a relative late this evening. It is now believed that the body over which the board bearing the name of Nicholas Walkama stands is that of John Helkkila. At Edwards’ boarding-house tonight it was said that several other bodies would be recovered before morning….” (Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “One More Body Found.” 5-9-1900, p. 1.)

May 10: “Scofield, May 10. As the recent terrible calamity at Scofield recedes into the past, more and more interest centers around the all important question as to what caused the explosion. The survivors, who are familiar with every condition in the mine, have almost finished their heroic task of rescuing the bodies, and had time to thin, and their opinions are focused to one thing – dust.

“The views of one man interviewed by the ‘News’ staff correspondent sets out the views of dozens of others who have been interrogated. ‘These mines, Nos. 1 and 4,’ said he, ‘have been worked on a big scale for many years, with the inevitable result that during all that time the dust has accumulated. Men and animals have walked through it until it has been – or a portion of it – reduced to a powder, and has been worn and ground and worn until it is grey. Coal miners will understand what that means. There was so much of this dust in the mine that any considerable disturbance – the rapid running of a car, for instance – would make the air cloudy with dust.

The Navy Contract.

“‘Not long ago the company made a contract to supply the Southern Pacific with 2,000 tons of coal a day for use of the navy. I understand this was in addition to the ordinary output of the mine, and the force was largely increased shortly before the explosion to accomplish the big task. These extra exertions added new dust to the old, and thee are places in the mine, where a man will walk in dust up to his ankles.
On The Day Of The Explosion.

“‘The shipments on the new contract were to have commenced on May 1, the day of the explosion, and the dust was everywhere. Heavy work was being done in various parts of the mine, and blasting was in progress at the part known as Pike’s Peak. An unusually heavy blast lifted the dust into the air to such an extent that the electric lights seemed dim and faint. Just then, most likely, there was a blast or shot which ignited the dust suspended in the air, and a sheet of flame swept through the mine until air in which there was little dust was reached….

The Afterdamp.

“‘When the explosion occurred, and the afterdamp filled the whole area of the explosion, the poison at once moved along with the current, into portions of the mine far removed, and overcame the men. That, in brief, is how the calamity originated – a disturbance that lifted the dust into the air, and a shot that ignited it….” (Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City. “What Caused Awful Explosion?” 5-12-1900, p. 1.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City, UT. “An Army of Men Killed in an Explosion.” 5-1-1900, 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-deseret-evening-news-may-01-1900-p-2/

Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City. “What Caused Awful Explosion?” 5-12-1900, p. 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-deseret-evening-news-may-12-1900-p-1/

Hamaker, Kathy, and Jacky Caras. Miners Killed in the Winter Quarters Mine Explosion, May 1, 1900 (webpage). Accessed 5-22-2020 at: http://www.carbon-utgenweb.com/miners.html

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

National Fire Protection Association (John Hall, Jr.). U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 31 pages, December 2008.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Safety and Health Research. Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm
and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html

Powell, Allan Kent. “Scofield Mine Disaster.” Utah History Encyclopedia. Accessed October 5, 2008 at: http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/s/SCOFIELDMINEDIS.html

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Company Now Says Dead Number 202.” 5-6-1900, p. 2. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-may-06-1900-p-2/

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Giant [powder] and Coal Dust Caused Explosion” 5-3-1900, p. 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-may-03-1900-p-1/

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Number of Dead May Now Reach Three Hundred.” 5-3-1900, p. 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-may-03-1900-p-1/

Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “One More Body Found.” 5-9-1900, p. 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-tribune-may-09-1900-p-1/

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “State Mine Inspector Blames Company.” 5-4-1900, p. 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-may-04-1900-p-1/

Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Most Appalling Mine Horror! Explosion at Scofield Kills 250.” 5-2-1900, p. 1. Accessed 5-22-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-tribune-may-02-1900-p-1/
Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

20th Century

1900-1904 — May-Feb, Bubonic Plague, San Francisco, CA –~112-113

lornajarrettblanchard May 1, 1900

— 113 (1901-04) Markel. When Germs Travel. 2004, p. 74.
–~112 (1901-04) Bollet. Plagues & Poxes. 2004m p. 26.
— 105 (1900-03) Foster. “In Retrospect,” Weekly Report, CA Board of Health, 11-25-1922.
— >90 (1901) Shah. Contagious Divides. Epidemics and Race in [S.F.]… 2001, p. 146.

Narrative Information

Foster: “I have been asked to give an account, for record purposes, of the formation of the California Public Health Association. Such an account to be of any historical value, must deal authentically with the conditions, events an incidents that led up to and made desirable and necessary the formation of such an association. If I were limited to one word in stating the necessity, I should, without hesitation, say ‘Plague,’ for in many ways the breaking out of that disease focused attention on our lax health organization and made imperative a radical improvement, or have California cut off by quarantine from communication with other states.

“Plague was first recognized in San Francisco in March, 1900, and of course caused a great deal of comment. Many strongly believed that it did not and could not exist. The State Board of Health, however, admitted its existence. Many leading newspapers and public men thought otherwise and believed that even if it did exist any publicity would hurt the state. They strenuously denied its existence and the State Board of Health was induced to, or did, reverse itself and also declared the disease was not plague. This aroused the ire of the eastern health officers, and exaggerated stories were published there of its ravages — people were dropping dead on the streets, it was said. They were so wrought up that the health authorities of twenty-one states requested Surgeon-General Walter Wyman to call a conference of the State Boards of Health with the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, for the purpose of dealing with the situation. The conference was called and met in January, 1903. California was represented by Dr. Mathew Gardner, a member of our State Board of Health. He was given a very unhappy half-hour by the thoroughly angered and possibly frightened health officers — and a quarantine resolution against California was introduces. Through the influence of General Wyman, it was left an unfinished business for a conference to be called later.

“Meanwhile, ‘things were doing’ in California. During the years 1900-1-2-3 there had been 110 cases of plague, authenticated with 105 deaths, and some people were beginning to be alarmed.

“At the general election, Dr. Geo. C. Pardee was elected Governor, and at once interested himself in the situation. The California State Board of Health was organized by the Governor nominating the members, and the Senate ratifying the nominations. Governor Gage had nominated the Board that denied the existence of plague, but the Senate had neglected to ratify — so they were acting only at the pleasure of the Governor. Governor Pardee, feeling deeply the gravity of the situation — with a quarantine hanging over us — withdrew the nominations and appointed a new Board, with the exception of Dr. Mathew Gardner. He, however, died in two weeks, and we were deprived of his splendid ability. This was in February or March, 1903. On April 1st, the new Board met with the old, and after the old had closed up their business, the new one organized and I had the honor to be elected secretary and executive officer.

“After adjournment, I called on my predecessor, who had his desk in the office of the State Lunacy Commission, and asked for the property of the Board. With a quizzical look, he said: ‘Property of the Board? It has no property. That desk is mine and every scrap of paper in it.’ He did, however, give me a bunch of letterheads, and pointing to the bay window, said” ‘Those old reports of other State Boards are at your disposal.’ He sat between his desk and the steel safe…and said: ‘Sit down, and I’ll give you some advice.’ I was receptive, thinking to get some pointers on the work. Instead: ‘You have a good practice — stay with it, have someone open your mail and attend to it — come once a month and draw your pay and show yourself, and let me show you how to make out your expense account for the trip.’ He proceeded to put down items, some of which I had, some not — ‘Dinner, $5.00,’ and everything in proportion. I said, ‘but, Doctor, it didn’t cost that much.’ ‘Oh! That doesn’t matter, you have $1500 a year to spend on the expenses of the Board, and you have to get rid of it. You might as well have it as anybody.’ Not a bright outlook, and I went to my room in none too happy a mood. No desk, no chair, and no place to put them if I had them.

“Next morning I interviewed Mr. Mellich, Secretary of the State Board of Examiners. He had large offices, but personally, he was using, during the interim of the legislative session, the Lieutenant Governor’s room. He kindly let me have desk room there, also. The janitor rustled me a desk and chair, and I turned to that pile of old State reports. With them I found many unopened letters, and this gave me a start to work. Some were months old, and some had in them stamps to insure a reply. I didn’t blame one doctor, who was acting as best he could as Health Officer in his village, for using some pretty powerful language. He said ‘this is the third time I have written, and have no reply, and by G__ it is the last.’ I replied that a new deal was ordered, and then in future, he would get some sort of reply by return mail.

“Do you blame me for feeling ‘lonely and blue’? I had given up my practice and broken up my home, believing I was to fill, or try to fill, an office of honor — and I found nothing but disgrace abroad, and contempt at home, and right there the seed of this Association was planted.

“The need of work, and organized work, was forced on me in those hours of discouragement. I saw the futility of my working without the aid and co-operation of others throughout the state. An account of the June 3d Plague Conference in Washington, where we fought it out — and instead of a quarantine, got a resolution of confidence — has no place here….

“In July, I began writing to different health officers and doctors to ask their views of an association. The response was favorable, and we called the first meeting for September 8, 1903, at San Francisco…. [Goes on to note that the name California Public Health Association was landed on at the third or fourth meeting.]

PBS: “Bubonic plague, or “the black death,” had raged throughout Europe and Asia over the past centuries. In the twentieth century, it came to America.

“In the summer of 1899, a ship sailing from Hong Kong to San Francisco had had two cases of plague on board. Because of this, although no passengers were ill when the ship reached San Francisco, it was to be quarantined on Angel Island. When the boat was searched, 11 stowaways were found — the next day two were missing. Their bodies were later found in the Bay, and autopsy showed they contained plague bacilli. Despite this scare, there was no immediate outbreak of disease. But rats from the ship probably had something to do with the epidemic that hit San Francisco nine months later.

“On March 6, 1900, a city health officer autopsied a deceased Chinese man and found organisms in the body that looked like plague….” (PBS, People and Discoveries…1998.)

“…in San Francisco…political issues vied with scientific efforts. Anti-Chinese feeling ran strong in the city then, and the first step taken was to quarantine Chinatown. The Chinese objected, and so did the business community. Not because they wanted to protect the rights of the Chinese, but it was bad for business to have people thinking there was plague in their city or state. The quarantine was lifted but health officials ran house-to-house inspections of Chinatown. People resisted, hiding their dead and locking their doors.” (PBS, People and Discoveries…1998.)

Markel: One of those who took the quickly took the threat seriously was Dr. Walter Wyman, “the surgeon general of the U.S. Marine Hospital Service (the forerunner of today’s U.S. Public Health Service), [who] dispatched assistant surgeon Joseph Kinyoun to help the San Francisco Health Department in their efforts to scientifically decipher Chick Gin’s cause of death.” (Markel 2004, 61)

PBS: “…two more plague victims turned up. The city Board of Health officially announced that plague was present in the city. The governor refused to believe it or to do anything to help in the antiplague effort. The Surgeon General got permission from President McKinley to pass antiplague regulations. Others still denied the existence of plague, although more and more states in the country were stopping trade with California. Commissions and boards formed, fought with the governor, and were disbanded, underfunded, and reformed. Meanwhile, more plague cases were found.” (PBS, People and Discoveries. “Bubonic plague hits San Francisco…” 1998.)

Markel: “…between May 11 and 13…four new deaths occurred in Chinatown, all of them thought to be due to bubonic plague. Across the continent, Surgeon General Wyman was monitoring these events from his office in Washington. Kept informed both by press reports and by daily telegraphic communication from his assistants, Drs. Joseph Kinyoun and James Gassaway, Wyman decided that he could no longer trust the local authorities to successfully manage the epidemic. It was time, he declared, for the U.S. Marine Hospital Service to seize control of the situation. As of May 15, the Chinatown ‘plague problem’ became a federal case.” (Markel 2004, 67)

PBS: “In April 1901, a clean-up campaign of Chinatown was undertaken, scouring almost 1,200 houses and 14,000 rooms. In 1903, a new governor took office and vowed to help the boards of health in every way. On February 29, 1904, a woman in the town of Concord, California, died of plague, its last victim — for a while. There had been 121 cases in San Francisco and 5 outside, with 122 deaths…. (PBS, People and Discoveries. “Bubonic plague…” 1998.)

Markel: “Between March 1, 1099 and February 29, 1904, 121 cases of plague were diagnosed in San Francisco with 113 resulting in death. Of these deaths, 107 were Chinese, 4 were Japanese, and 2 were white.” (Markel 2004, 67)

PBS: “In 1906, an earthquake of record proportions devastated San Francisco. The ruin of the city’s buildings made not just people, but rats, homeless. The subsequent year or two of living in refugee camps while rebuilding was highly conducive to rat and flea infestations. In 1907, cases of plague were reported. But with hindsight on the last epidemic and new knowledge from research, officials launched a new kind of campaign. They offered a bounty on rats. A similar rat-catching campaign had been used successfully to fight plague in New Orleans. It worked as well in San Francisco, and though this second epidemic was stronger than the first, it was brought to halt in 1909.” (PBS, People and Discoveries. “Bubonic plague hits…” 1998.)

Sources

Bollet, Alfred Jay, M.D. Plagues & Poxes. The Impact of Human History on Epidemic Disease (second edition). NY, NY: Demos Medical Publishing, Inc., 2004.

Foster, N. K. (M.D.). “In Retrospect,” Weekly Report, California State Board of Health, Vol. 1, No. 41, 11-25-1922, pp. 1-3. Google digitized. Accessed 9-18-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Markel, Howard. When Germs Travel – Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed. New York: Pantheon, 2004.

PBS. People and Discoveries. “Bubonic plague hits San Francisco 1900-1909.” 1998. Accessed 3-9-2021 at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm00bu.html

Shah, Nayan. Contagious Divides. Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown. University of California Press, October 2001.

20th Century

1900 — April 7, Heavy rain, Austin (McDonald) Dam Failure and Flooding, Austin, TX–>24

lornajarrettblanchard April 7, 1900

— 50 El Paso Daily Herald, TX. “Fifty Dead at Austin.” 4-7-1900, p. 1. (Headline figure.)

—>40 El Paso Daily Herald, TX. “Fifty Dead at Austin.” 4-7-1900, p. 1. (Figure within article.)

–~36 Wikipedia. “Austin Dam failure.” 10-8-2017 edit. [Notes “killed several dozen people.”][1]

—>24 Blanchard.[2]

—>24 (Our number for “dozens.”) City of Austin, History of Flooding in Austin.

–~22 Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1.[3]

— 18 Spencer, Jim. “First Austin Dam Collapse 110 Years Ago Today.” KXAN, 4-7-2010.

— 16 San Antonio Sunday Light, TX. “Austin’s Tale of Horror.” 4-8-1900, p. 1.[4]

— 8 Saxena and Sharma. Dams: Incidents and Accidents. 2005, p. 19.

Breakout of Dam Failure-related fatalities by locality:

–7-11 Austin dam powerhouse. San Antonio Sunday Light, TX. “Austin’s Tale of Horror.” 4-8-1900, 1.[5]

–John Base, 25.

–Walter Blossom (or Blossman), 17.

–Walter Bullian [possibly misnaming of Blossom/Blossman]

–Frank Fitzgerald

–Alfred Johnson, 10 (notes that Alfred and Waldo were sons of the Chief Engineer).

–Walter (or Waldo), Johnson, 12.

–Frank McKinley (or Kenney), 18. (Notes he went to powerhouse with Johnson boys.)[6]

–Dick Morris, 50.

–Joe Newman, 12.

–Frank Paggi [perhaps a misnaming of Frank Pingent/Pinget]

–Frank Pingent (or Pinget), 54.

— 8 Austin dam powerhouse. Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1.

— 1 Austin, river bridge. Man in buggy washed away (Oswin La France, 26, a farmer).[7]

— 5 Austin area. House swept away with Italian family inside (husband, wife, 3 children).[8]

— 3 Austin area, just below the dam. Woman; 2 children; names “have not been ascertained.”[9]

— 7 Austin area (9 miles south), Paul Fisher’s place. Two black families (Howard & Dinson).[10]

— 2 Hornsby’s Bend, Travis County. Drowned; farmhand (Thomas Helsey), Joe Burns.[11]

— 1 Pell Ranch, just east of Austin. Drowning; Ben Harvey.[12]

Narrative Information

City of Austin: “The flood waters started from a two-day storm in the High Plains halfway between Lubbock and Amarillo. The stormwater filled the Colorado, the Brazos and the Guadalupe rivers, sending the torrent through unsuspecting cities like Austin and Bastrop. This flood will always be remembered as “The Day the Dam Broke.” McDonald Dam on the Colorado River broke up, sending a wall of water down the river which killed dozens of people, even whole families. The river peaked at 60′ high and a mile wide. The pride of Austin at the time, “Ben Hur,” the 181-foot long, triple-decker leisure steamboat, was also destroyed by the flood.” (City of Austin, History of Flooding.)

Spencer: “…The structure was build on a fault line that allowed water to seep. Silt had filled nearly half the lake by February 1900. And the dam’s design failed to accommodate the force that could be created by a large volume of water.

“All of this set up the dam for its fatal blow when a five-inch rain fell in the Austin area on April 6, 1900, along with heavy rains in the Hill Country. With no upstream dams to capture runoff, the Austin Dam was defenseless against the resulting flood wave, which one eyewitness estimated at 25 feet high and mile wide.

“At 11:20 a.m. on April 7, the floodwaters crested at 11 feet atop the dam before it disintegrated, with two 250-foot sections — almost half the dam – breaking away. The flood also damaged the power house, drowning five workers, and destroyed the Ben Hur [sidewheeler].

“In all, the flood drowned 18 people and destroyed 100 houses in Austin, at a total estimated loss of $1.4 million, in 1900 dollars.”

USGS (Taylor): “….The history of this dam is unique in one respect, and that is in the number of engineers connected with it. Early in 1892 Mr. Joseph P. Frizell resigned, it is asserted, by reason of the fact that he was hampered in his work by the city authorities. Other engineers resigned for similar causes, and at one time a contractor in charge was ordered to follow the instructions of a city official who was not an engineer. This peculiar method of conducting a great public work called forth severe criticisms from engineering journals.” [p. 11.]

“The failure or the dam to meet expectations and its failure structurally were due to–

(1) The lack of hydrographic knowledge, causing (a) an overestimate of the minimum flow, and (b) an underestimate of the effect of evaporation.

(2) The hampering of the engineers of construction.

(3) The ignoring of geologic formations.” [p. 12] ….

“Failure of the Dam.

“At Austin the Colorado emerges from a mountainous. Country which extends for a distance of over 200 miles in a northwesterly direction. The channel above Austin is for the most part a sinuous gorge held in by limestone mountains and hills. Austin is at the foot of a long range of mountains, 37,000 square miles of which afford a drainage area for Colorado River. The river is fed by the Perdinales, the Llano, the San Saba, the Concho, and the Pecan Bayou. The configuration of the country is such that the water runs off rapidly into streams.

“From 1 p. m. on April 6 to 4 a. m. on April 7 there was a rainfall of 5 inches at and in the vicinity of Austin, in a mountainous country and on ground already wet. In addition to this, tremendous rains fell all along the Colorado and its tributaries from Austin as far up as Llano, a distance of over 100 miles. The river rose rapidly, and by 10 a. m. on Saturday, April 7, it was apparent that the dam would be called upon to withstand the biggest flood since water first wetted its crest on May 16, 1893. At that hour the water level of the lake was more than 10 feet above the crest of the dam and it was rising nearly 2 feet an hour. The greatest previous flood height occurred at 9 p. m. on June 7, 1899, when the lake level was 9.8 feet above the crest of the dam….

“At 11.20 a. m. on April 7, when the lake level had reached a height of 11.07 feet above the crest of the dam, the dam gave way…about 300 feet from the east end of the dam….” [pp. 41-42]

“It is almost certain that the dam failed by sliding. It seems that at a point 300 to 400 feet from the east end the limestone upon which the dam rested was of a friable nature. Mr. Frizell realized this, and it was stated to be a part of his plan, had he continued in charge of the work, to reinforce the bottom of the river just below the dam by a cement foundation about 100 feet wide by 600 feet long; it was also contrary to his purpose to have the water of the tailrace run along the toe of the dam….” [p. 45]

Newspapers

April 7: “Austin, Tex., April 7, noon. — One of the most appalling calamities that has ever occurred in Texas was the breaking of the great dam near this city to-day and the drowning of forty or more people.

“The dam was a piece of mechanical engineering that it was believed would withstand any flood, and even when the waters of the Colorado began to swell during the great rain of yesterday no fears were felt that the solid mass of masonry would go down.

“But, to the alarm and consternation of our citizens a cry rang through the streets this morning, ‘The dam is in danger,’ and everyone trembled over the prospect.

“Lake McDonald, an artificial lake covering scores of square miles, was created by the dam and the idea of the waters confined in the lake sweeping over the city recalled the horrors of Johnstown.

“Homes and Stock Washed Away By the Flood.

“Special Dispatch too the Herald. Austin, Texas, April 7. — There is immense excitement over the breaking of the big dam. We are in the center of a tremendous flood. The iron bridges are in danger. Houses and stock have been washed away.

“The great dam was built in 1893. It was situated about three miles above the city on the Colorado river and was one of the greatest engineering works in the country. It was sixty-nine feet high and twenty-eight feet thick at the base of the slope on the lowest side narrowing towards the top to about eight feet broad on both sides. The top was covered with four feet of Texas granite. It was 1100 feet long.

“The lake formed by it was twenty-five miles long. A large steamer known as the Ben Hur plied on it.

“The dam was built to furnish water and electric power and the electric plant located at Austin was one of the first in the south. It was a common thing to see six feet of water flowing over its crest and sometimes even more.

“Terror Stricken People Flying Before the Unchained Waters.

“….Power houses are washed away and six engineers are drowned. The bodies of the victims have been recovered.

“Many people were on the opposite side of the dam taking kodak pictures when the break occurred. They are all drowned. Hundreds of houses have been washed away, and the loss will go into the millions. There are fifty dead at least. So far, ten dead bodies have been recovered….The rise in the river amounts to eleven feet and was caused by another cloud burst this morning. It was the most violent storm of the kind on record.” (El Paso Daily Herald, TX. “Fifty Dead at Austin.” 4-7-1900, p. 1.)

Sources

City of Austin. History of Flooding in Austin. Accessed 11-19-2008 at: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/floodhistory.htm

El Paso Daily Herald, TX. “Fifty Dead at Austin By the Bursting of the Great Granite Dam This Morning.” 4-7-1900, p. 1. Accessed 11-22-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-daily-herald-apr-07-1900-p-1/

Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1. Accessed 12-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-daily-news-apr-09-1900-p-1/

Galveston Daily News, TX. “News From The Flood,” 4-10-1900, p. 1. Accessed 12-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-daily-news-apr-10-1900-p-1/

San Antonio Sunday Light, TX. “Austin’s Tale of Horror.” 4-8-1900, p. 1. Accessed 12-23-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-light-apr-08-1900-p-1/

Saxena, K. R. and V. M. Sharma. Dams: Incidents and Accidents. London and New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005.

Spencer, Jim. “First Austin Dam Collapse 110 Years Ago Today.” KXAN, 4-7-2010. Accessed 12-22-2017 at: http://kxan.com/blog/2010/04/07/tom-miller-dam-turns-70/

United States Geological Survey (Thomas U. Taylor), Department of the Interior. Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers of the United States Geological Survey No. 40. The Austin Dam. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900, 72 pages. Accessed 12-23-2017 at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/0040/report.pdf

[1] The only reference is link to the University of Texas at Austin “Virtual Landscapes of Texas” which allows one to open the USGS (Taylor) document we cite below. We have read this document and fail to find a reference to the number of fatalities.

[2] No source citied conclusively answers question of how many people died. We choose to go with the City of Austin estimate of “dozens” which we translate into at least 24 for purposes of a tally — assuming that “dozens” must be at least two dozen. The largest number of fatalities we have been able to put together from papers at the time which noted specific deaths (more or less), totals to twenty-two. Numerous newspapers, however, speculated that the loss of life downstream, particularly of Mexicans and Blacks along the river, must have been large, given that there was no warning and a very large volume of water released at once.

[3] Article notes nineteen people known or thought to be drowned, in addition to victims at the power house, all of whose bodies had been recovered except for the boy John Kenney — further in article notes that “eight persons drowned at the power house…” San Antonio Sunday Light of April 8. (Thus twenty-seven.) However, the next day the Galveston Daily News reports that the two Hornsby’s Bend farm-hands and two boys out fishing, all thought dead, returned alive and well “after the waters subsided.” The paper also reported that Oswin La France was not drowned after all — ha disappeared from view “and was given up for drowned, but he clung to the house and climbed upon it, and after a thrilling ride of ten miles lodged in a tree, and has returned home much fatigued from nervousness and exposure.” (Galveston Daily News. “News From The Flood,” 4-10-1900, p. 1.)

[4] The sixteen are reported as “known to have been lost.” Another thirty were thought to have been killed.

[5] Lists eleven names toward top of article. In the same column below, notes seven names with ages.

[6] Last of the powerhouse bodies recovered (10^th). Galveston Daily News. “News From The Flood,” 4-10-1900, p. 1.

[7] Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1. Notes: “The man who was drowned in the presence of hundreds of spectators at the river bridge yesterday by having his buggy washed away and then climbing a telephone pole only to reach a safe place and have a moment’s rest when a house struck the pole and broke it, dashing its occupant into the water…is known to have been Oswin La France, a farmer 26 years of age.”

[8] Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1. Notes: “Among the houses swept away was one occupied by an Italian family, a man, his wife and three children. All are missing, and several people report having seen the bodies of a woman and three children floating down the river.”

[9] Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1 Notes “they were strangers.”

[10] Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1

[11] Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1. Notes Henry Haaverd, 11, and James Farnes, 16, missing. Had been fishing “and have been included among the victims.”

[12] Galveston Daily News, TX. “Havoc in the Colorado Valley.” 4-9-1900, p. 1

20th Century

1900 — Influenza, esp. MA/1130, TN/1019, PA/978, NC/799, AL/778 VA/754 GA/667-16,645

lornajarrettblanchard January 1, 1900

–16,645 US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 118.[1]

Alabama ( 778) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 118.

Arizona ( 8) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 118.

Arkansas ( 319) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 118.

California ( 217) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 119.

Colorado ( 40) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 119.

Connecticut ( 644) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 124.

Delaware ( 29) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 125.

District of Columbia ( 115) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 130.

Florida ( 265) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 130.

Georgia ( 667) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 130.

Idaho ( 11) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 131.

Illinois ( 454) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 131.

Indian Territory ( 36) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 137.

Indiana ( 456) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 136.

Iowa ( 206) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 137.

Kansas ( 175) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 142.

Kentucky ( 477) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 142.

Louisiana ( 191) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 143.

Maine ( 245) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 143.

Maryland ( 221) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 148.

Massachusetts (1,130) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 148.

Michigan ( 419) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 161.

Minnesota ( 152) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 166.

Mississippi ( 587) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 167.

Missouri ( 355) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 167.

Montana ( 17) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 172.

Nebraska ( 96) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 172.

Nevada ( 10) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 173.

New Hampshire ( 185) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 173.

New Jersey ( 443) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 178.

New Mexico ( 26) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 179.

New York ( 535) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 184.

North Carolina ( 799) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 191.

North Dakota ( 25) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 196.

Ohio ( 605) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 196.

Oklahoma ( 23) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 202.

Oregon ( 66) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 202.

Pennsylvania ( 978) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 202.

Rhode Island ( 321) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 209.

South Carolina ( 492) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 209.

South Dakota ( 26) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 214.

Tennessee (1,019) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 214.

Texas ( 397) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 215.

Utah ( 35) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 215.

Vermont ( 129) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 215.

Virginia ( 754) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 220.

Washington ( 53) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 220.

West Virginia ( 186) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 221.

Wisconsin ( 241) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 221.

Wyoming ( 20) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 225.

Narrative Information

Influenza (CDC): “The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza (Flu). “Key Facts About Influenza (Flu).” 10-3-2017 update. Accessed 6-17-2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm )

Sources

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza (Flu). “Key Facts About Influenza (Flu).” 10-3-2017 update. Accessed 6-17-2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

[1] Table 7 — Deaths from each Reported Cause by State. Cause of Death number 121.

20th Century

1900 — Whooping Cough, esp. NY/988, PA/702, TX/576, IL/497, AL/494, TN/425 –9,958

lornajarrettblanchard January 1, 1900

–9,958 US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, cause of death #216, p. 120.[1]

Alabama ( 494) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120.

Arizona ( 22) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120.

Arkansas ( 316) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 120.

California ( 151) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 121.

Colorado ( 94) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 121.

Connecticut ( 119) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 126.

Delaware ( 15) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 127.

District of Columbia ( 38) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132.

Florida ( 90) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132.

Georgia ( 222) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 132.

Idaho ( 38) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 133.

Illinois ( 497) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 133.

Indiana ( 201) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 138.

Indian Territory ( 113) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 139.

Iowa ( 103) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 139.

Kansas ( 243) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 144.

Kentucky ( 279) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 144.

Louisiana ( 180) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 145.

Maine ( 97) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 145.

Maryland ( 102) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 150.

Massachusetts ( 375) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 150.

Michigan ( 273) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 163.

Minnesota ( 164) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 168.

Mississippi ( 175) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 169.

Missouri ( 380) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 169.

Montana ( 19) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 174.

Nebraska ( 105) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 174.

Nevada ( 7) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 175.

New Hampshire ( 78) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 175.

New Jersey ( 329)[2] US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 180.

New Mexico ( 29) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 181.

New York (1020) New York Dept. of Health. 38^th Annual Report, p. 541.

New York ( 988) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 186.

NYC (666) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 186.

North Carolina ( 270) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 193.

North Dakota ( 25) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 198.

Ohio ( 401) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 198.

Oklahoma ( 50) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204.

Oregon ( 32) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204.

Pennsylvania ( 702) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 204.

Philly (175) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211.

Rhode Island ( 111) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211.

South Carolina ( 176) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 211.

South Dakota ( 53) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 216.

Tennessee ( 425) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 216.

Texas ( 576) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 217.

Utah ( 61) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 217.

Vermont ( 40) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 217.

Virginia ( 292) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222.

Washington ( 34) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 222.

West Virginia ( 152) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 223.

Wisconsin ( 218) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 223.

Wyoming ( 4) US Census. Statistics of Deaths. 1902, Table 7, p. 226.

Narrative Information

CDC: “Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Pertussis is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe. After cough fits, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a “whooping” sound. Pertussis can affect people of all ages, but can be very serious, even deadly, for babies less than a year old. The best way to protect against pertussis is by getting vaccinated.”

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Pertussis (Whooping Cough).” 8-7-2017. Accessed 6-22-2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/index.html

New Jersey Board of Health. Thirty-First Annual Report of the Board of Health of the State of New Jersey, 1907, and Annual Report of the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Trenton: John L. Murphy Publishing Co., 1908. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=XDAcX3uIVssC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

New York State Department of Health. Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the State Department of Health of New York For the Year Ending December 31, 1917 (Vol. 1). Albany: J. B. Lyon Co., 1918. Google preview accessed 6-3-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=XE49AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[1] Table 7 — Deaths from each Reported Cause by State; item number 216.

[2] NJ Board of Health, in its Thirty-First Annual Report (1908, p. 10, Table 6), notes 306 whooping cough deaths.

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