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Story
May 7, 1872
The Bloomfield Times
New Bloomfield, Perry County, Pennsylvania
What is this article about?
Judge Ball recounts a curious case in Hoosick Falls: a house used as a small-pox pest-house in 1799 infected a workman with malignant small-pox during repairs 70 years later, despite continuous habitation without prior illness.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
A Curious Statement.
Judge Ball, who is collecting facts for a history of Hoosick Falls, furnishes the following: "In the year 1799 several cases of small-pox occurred in the town, and a dwelling near the village of Hoosick Falls was used as a pest-house. Seventy years afterwards the house (having been occupied all that time as a dwelling, with no case of small-pox or other unusual sickness,) was repaired. One of the workmen employed on the repairs was taken down with a disease which proved to be malignant small-pox, to which he had been not otherwise exposed than by working on this old pest-house."
If small-pox virus can be retained for seventy years in the walls, floors, ceiling or furniture of a dwelling house, greater care and more stringent measures will be necessary to insure protection from this loathsome disease. - Troy Press.
Judge Ball, who is collecting facts for a history of Hoosick Falls, furnishes the following: "In the year 1799 several cases of small-pox occurred in the town, and a dwelling near the village of Hoosick Falls was used as a pest-house. Seventy years afterwards the house (having been occupied all that time as a dwelling, with no case of small-pox or other unusual sickness,) was repaired. One of the workmen employed on the repairs was taken down with a disease which proved to be malignant small-pox, to which he had been not otherwise exposed than by working on this old pest-house."
If small-pox virus can be retained for seventy years in the walls, floors, ceiling or furniture of a dwelling house, greater care and more stringent measures will be necessary to insure protection from this loathsome disease. - Troy Press.
What sub-type of article is it?
Medical Curiosity
Curiosity
Extraordinary Event
What themes does it cover?
Misfortune
Nature
What keywords are associated?
Small Pox
Pest House
Virus Retention
Hoosick Falls
1799
Repairs
Infection
What entities or persons were involved?
Judge Ball
Workman
Where did it happen?
Hoosick Falls
Story Details
Key Persons
Judge Ball
Workman
Location
Hoosick Falls
Event Date
1799 And Seventy Years Afterwards
Story Details
In 1799, several small-pox cases led to a dwelling near Hoosick Falls being used as a pest-house. Seventy years later, after continuous use as a regular dwelling without illness, repairs caused a workman to contract malignant small-pox with no other exposure.