Smallpox Scare in Kittitas Irrigation Camp
A reported smallpox outbreak at an irrigation construction camp sparks local rumors of a 'stampede,' prompting Yakima officials to tighten police oversight on roads.
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.
H. K. Owens, chief engineer of the big Kittitas county irrigation ditch, was in the city Tuesday and denies much of the dispatch published in the Tacoma Ledger regarding the breaking out of smallpox in his camp and the stampede of laborers. He says that his company has two hundred men employed in clearing the right-of-way for the irrigation canal, and that one of the laborers was taken down with a very mild attack of smallpox and that as soon as this became known quarantine regulations were established and the sick man, who was a recent arrival from Seattle, was isolated from the rest. There was no stampede whatever; in fact, Mr. Owens claims that no one quit work. Mayor Weed concluded to order a temporary increase in the police force to watch the various roads leading to this city from the north, and to stop all travelers who could not show clean bills of health.
“The sensational report was spread by a crew of men who had crossed the mountains in search of work... their presence added color to the claim that a stampede had resulted.”
Public health scares in isolated labor camps during the rapid development of the Pacific Northwest remain a recurring theme, echoing modern concerns about how outbreaks are reported and the resulting panic in regional transit hubs.
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