Vancouver Smallpox: No New Cases, One Death, Quarantine Debate
Across the Pacific Northwest, health officials struggle to contain smallpox as performers and desperate travelers attempt to dodge mandatory quarantine.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Vancouver, B.C., Aug. 1.—There are no new cases of smallpox in the city, and no suspects. Pleace died of a complication of delirium tremens and smallpox at Deadman's Island at 6 o'clock this evening. McDonald, the other bad patient, is not expected to recover. The feeling is growing here that quarantine should be renewed. Two cases were reported from the heart of the city of Victoria on Saturday that should have been reported four days sooner, and two more were reported today. Dr. Stoker, of the British army, is still in jail, having refused to pay his fine. Today he had a caller in the person of Mr. Jenns, who forced himself into quarantine, and then complained of the victuals provided. Jenns told Stoker that a lawyer said two days in jail was as good as thirty in a suit for damages, but Stoker refused to accept the advice, and stated that he would remain thirty days rather than pay the fine. Tacoma, Aug. 1.—The board of health today decided to continue rigid quarantine regulations indefinitely. New Westminster, Aug. 1.—Cark's female minstrels took the ferry yesterday to South Westminster, intending to leave for Seattle by the Great Northern; due to quarantine, however, they were not allowed to board the train, and they were obliged to return to the city. Later in the afternoon the minstrels made another start for the south in buggies, intending to run the blockade under cover of darkness. Blaine, Aug. 1.—Duncan's female minstrel troupe passed south through Blaine at 3 o'clock this morning to elude the quarantine officers. They occupied three wagons, which were driven to Custer, eight miles south, where the people took a Great Northern train south. The teams slipped back to British Columbia while the United States inspector was at the train at noon today.
“Later in the afternoon the minstrels made another start for the south in buggies, intending to run the blockade under cover of darkness.”
Public health restrictions during the 1892 smallpox outbreak in the Pacific Northwest highlight the eternal tension between state-mandated quarantine and the economic desperation of travelers and performers. Just as modern pandemics have sparked debates over travel restrictions, these performers and officials engaged in a 'cat and mouse' game of blockade-running that defined the era's civic response to contagion.
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