Smallpox Standoff Hits the Rails
A bitter public health dispute erupts between Snohomish County and the Great Northern Railroad over who should pay to contain a growing contagion.
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There are now eighteen smallpox cases at the pesthouse. Dr. R. M. Eames, the health officer, says that whilst there are no new cases in the city, cases are likely to be imported over the line of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern road, and also from the Great Northern. There are eight at Silverton in Snohomish County on the Everett & Monte Cristo, five at Index on the Great Northern road, and one at Snohomish who walked to that place from some railroad camp of unknown origin. The Snohomish County commissioners have taken practical precautions, and the board of health sent Dr. C. W. Sharples to Snohomish to insist upon action, in default of which Seattle will quarantine against Snohomish. The Great Northern officials say they have offered to co-operate by vaccinating their men and quarantining camps, provided the county will take care of patients the road sends. County officials have refused, arguing that the railroad has been collecting hospital funds from their men's wages and it is the company's business to care for them. Dr. Hathaway of Everett says if there is no solution, he will, by virtue of his authority as a member of the state board of health, declare a quarantine of the railroad camps regardless.
“The county... will not pay the board of the Great Northern's men when that company has already collected money for the care of this identical case.”
The tension between public health mandates and the financial responsibilities of private industry remains a recurring theme in Washington’s civic life, echoing debates over employer obligations during modern health crises.
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