SMALL-POX IN NEW YORK.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 833, 4 July 1871, Page 3

SMALL-POX IN NEW YORK.

Small-pox, of late, has been making great ravages in New York, the percentage of deaths, according to the " New York Times," beiug enormous. The same Journal giveß the following particulars regarding the means taken to prevent tho spread of infection : As a general rule, as soon as cases are reported, an inspector is despatched to the premises to make an examination. If it proves to be a real case of smallpox, an ambulance is iustantly sent to convey tho patient to the hospital. Where the parties are able to allot the entire upper floor of the dwelling and furnish a nurse, in utter isolation from the world, the patient is permitted to remain, and the place is disinfected and watched. There are many highly respectable persons who cannot do this, and to remove the sufferer to the dreaded hospital precincts is a most painful task. The patients there are isolated from all the world; the nearest and dearest friends cannot see them. When death ensues, the Board of Health men wrap the corpse in double sheets, completely saturated in carbolic acid. The coffin is sealed perfectly tight and boxed. No fuueral is allowed. The remains are in* terred privately in the family plot, vault, or • potter's field.' Several cases have been reported in person at the Sanitary office. One came into the building completely pitted. Dismay seized upon policemen and clerks, who scattered In all directions, some sliding down the bannisters, some vaulting out of the windows, and others plunging pell-mell into closets and locking the doors. Finally a brave African was bribed to lead the sufferer to the ambulance."