Quarantine at the Hospital
A hack driver suffering from smallpox is discovered at Providence Hospital, triggering immediate isolation measures.
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.
Two cases of smallpox developed yesterday, one at Providence Hospital and the other at Ninth and Alder streets. Joseph M. Hemphill, a hack driver formerly employed at Holcomb's stables, was the victim at the former place. The case is described as mild, but the health officer does not anticipate any further outbreak at the hospital. The patient came in three days ago to be treated for rheumatism, but the smallpox rash broke out yesterday and he was immediately removed to the pest house and the hospital placed under quarantine. There are about ninety persons in the hospital, but, because Hemphill was in the room alone, only his attendant has been exposed. The other patient is Mrs. E. C. Damon, living near Ninth and Alder, whose residence was placed under quarantine last week.
“The patient came in three days ago to be treated for rheumatism, but the smallpox rash broke out yesterday.”
The fear of contagious disease outbreaks in dense urban environments is a recurring theme in Seattle's history, predating the modern era's focus on pandemic management. The use of 'pest houses' for isolation reflects a time when hospital containment and public health law were still being refined in a growing frontier city.
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