Snohomish Wants Its Health Officer Gone as Smallpox Closes In
A mass meeting demands Dr. McCready resign, the new pesthouse burns down overnight, and a pauper patient dies — all while the state threatens to quarantine the town.
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.
SNOHOMISH, Aug. 24 — [Special] — The continued inactivity and apparent incompetency of Health Officer McCready, in the face of the danger which threatens this city of a smallpox pestilence, became so apparent today that a mass-meeting, which your correspondent predicted yesterday would be held in case the state board of health declined to take action in the matter, materialized even sooner. Dodgers with the following announcement were circulated about 2 o'clock this afternoon:
'INDIGNATION MEETING! The citizens, business men and taxpayers of Snohomish ask everybody to meet with them at 4 o'clock this afternoon, August 24, at Odd Fellows' hall, for the purpose of devising means to avert the dangers at present threatening the people of Snohomish. The presence of our health officer, Dr. McCready, is especially desired.'
In response to this call over 100 representative citizens and business men met two hours later, and expression of opinion was almost unanimously in criticism of Dr. McCready's course and in favor of securing his resignation if possible. A resolution was accordingly passed with only one dissenting vote that Dr. McCready be requested to resign, and the following committee was appointed to notify him of the sense of the meeting: H. C. Comegys, W. W. Casey, William Pattison, W. C. Sigler, A. M. Blackman.
The council met tonight to consider the situation. Dr. Hathaway, of the state board of health, was present and confirmed the position previously taken by the council that it was the duty of the health officer to maintain quarantine regulations and enforce the ordinances of the city council relating thereto. He detailed at length the powers of the health board and the local health officer.
The pesthouse bought by the council last night was destroyed by fire before morning. It was situated fully a quarter of a mile from the county road and an equal distance from any residence to the north of the town. The council will build another pesthouse tomorrow and will see that it is not destroyed.
William Komines, the pauper smallpox patient, is dead. He was at one time a wealthy farmer of this county, but has been a county charge for seven or eight years.
Health Officer Spurling will go to Snohomish today for the purpose of inquiring into the condition of smallpox affairs and to ascertain what precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of the disease. He said yesterday that if things were not in a satisfactory condition a quarantine would be declared against the town.
“The pesthouse bought by the council last night was destroyed by fire before morning. The council will build another pesthouse tomorrow and will see that it is not destroyed.”
A frightened town turning on its own public health officer, a quarantine threatened from above, and a pesthouse burned to the ground overnight — this is the same argument over official authority and community trust that surfaces in every modern epidemic. What counts as 'inactivity' during an outbreak is a question Snohomish was asking in 1892 and Americans were still asking in 2020.
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