The first week after Memphis' first announcement came with little news.
After a few deaths, it was reported that there was only one case left in the city: the surviving son of Judge Ray. There is no explicit mention if the Judge survived, or died within those few days since the initial report. Due to the news, the quarantines on the railroad by Little Rock, Arkansas and other stations were prepping to be lifted if no new cases were reported.
Washington Territory readers had to wait a week to see the dire shift in the disease. On July 31, the Argus published telegraphs from the week of July 23.
33 new cases and seven deaths were reported in Memphis, with others popping up in neighboring cities and counties. Dennis Manning, a fireman for a steamer that traveled between Havana, Cuba and New York died of yellow fever in Brooklyn, New York.
All the train stations on the line spanning between Memphis and Grenada, Mississippi closed in fear of spreading the disease. Tents were donated to Memphis to help establish a camp 7 miles outside of town.
There was debate among physicians of whether the fevers were true yellow fever, or different types of malarial fever. Either way, it was thought to be not as bad as the fevers of 1873 or 1878.
The Howard Association, a relief group, announced only three cases in Memphis needed assistance, and placed "a few new nurses on duty."
It was during this week that the Argus published a short, anonymous statement on page 4 reading:
"The hope that the yellow fever down south might not be as destructive this year as it was last, has been entirely given up since the telegraph wires have been so burdened with news of its awful ravages."[3]
The following week brought some hope:
A check for $2,000 was donated by Washington, D.C. banker W. W. Coehran to help aid the poor leave Memphis.
While physicians in Memphis were discovering that those with yellow fever in the past were still succumbing, they were still hopeful that the worst had passed.
Quarantines became stricter with Memphis and even New Orleans. Within New Orleans, there was debate among the board of health and private physicians about the number of yellow fever cases. The board officially acknowledged four cases, while physicians estimated closer to 17.
Perhaps in response to all of the yellow fever news, the Argus printed a letter that was presented at the city council meeting the week of August 7. The letter was addressed to the Board of Trustees of Port Townsend, written by the city's Health Officer, Dr. Thomas T. Minor.
Minor wrote that he had "made careful inspection of those localities of this city, in which I had reason to believe disease germs were liable to arise from noxious odors and prevalent filth."[6]
Although Minor stumbled across a few wash houses that required directions to clean their garbage and run-off, he found nothing else of much note. Follow-up inspections of the wash houses to see how they cooperated were announced to be 10 days later.
A check for $2,000 was donated by Washington, D.C. banker W. W. Coehran to help aid the poor leave Memphis.
While physicians in Memphis were discovering that those with yellow fever in the past were still succumbing, they were still hopeful that the worst had passed.
Quarantines became stricter with Memphis and even New Orleans. Within New Orleans, there was debate among the board of health and private physicians about the number of yellow fever cases. The board officially acknowledged four cases, while physicians estimated closer to 17.
Perhaps in response to all of the yellow fever news, the Argus printed a letter that was presented at the city council meeting the week of August 7. The letter was addressed to the Board of Trustees of Port Townsend, written by the city's Health Officer, Dr. Thomas T. Minor.
Minor wrote that he had "made careful inspection of those localities of this city, in which I had reason to believe disease germs were liable to arise from noxious odors and prevalent filth."[6]
Although Minor stumbled across a few wash houses that required directions to clean their garbage and run-off, he found nothing else of much note. Follow-up inspections of the wash houses to see how they cooperated were announced to be 10 days later.
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