The American Plague - Molly Caldwell Crosby [88]
There was applause, and glasses were raised. Brandy was poured into cups of coffee, and match tips lit the Partagás cigars. All of the important names were in attendance, including Kean, Agramonte, and of course, Reed. The only person not in attendance was James Carroll, who had returned to Cuba in mid-November. Carroll wrote to his wife that he was “ashamed to go and be the only person present in Khaki which is intended only for a field uniform.” As a contract doctor, he was entitled to an officer’s uniform, but had never been able to afford one. The tone of this letter, and others like it, betray more than wounded pride. Since his bout with yellow fever, Carroll had become bitter. As a noncommissioned officer, he was slighted by senior officers, overlooked for promotions and underpaid—all of this in spite of the fact that he had nearly died in his service in the Army Medical Corps. Carroll also felt that he had been overshadowed by the success of Reed. In the coming years, James Carroll would only grow more bitter.
For Christmas itself, the wives of Majors Kean and Stark threw a celebration in town. They trimmed a guava bush and handed out gifts. Walter Reed was given an oddly shaped present. When he opened it, laughter erupted. It was a makeshift wire mosquito with a note attached:
Over the plains of Cuba,
Roams the mosquito wild,
No one can catch or tame her,
For she is Nature’s child.
With Yellow Jack she fills herself,
And none her pleasure mar,
Till Major Reed does capture her,
And puts her in a jar.
And now alas! For Culex,
She has our sympathy-y,
For since the Major spotted her,
She longs to be a flea.
CHAPTER 19
A New Century
Columbia Barracks,
Quemados, Cuba,
Decr. 31st 1900.
My precious wifie:
11:50 P.M. Dec. 31st 1900—Only 10 minutes of the old Century remain, lovie, dear. Here I have been sitting reading that most wonderful book—La Roche on Yellow fever—written in 1853—Forty-seven years later it has been permitted to me & my assistants to lift the impenetrable veil that has surrounded the causation of this [most] dreadful pest of humanity and to put it on a rational & scientific basis—I thank God that this has been accomplished during the latter days of the old century—May its cure be wrought out in the early days of the new century! The prayer that has been mine for twenty or more years, that I might be permitted in some way or sometime to do something to alleviatehuman suffering, has been answered! 12 midnight! A thousand happy new years to my precious, thrice precious wifie and daughter! Congratulations to my sweet girls on their good health upon the arrival of the New Century! Hark! there go the 24 buglers, all in concert, sounding “Taps” for the old year! How beautiful it floats through the midnight air and how appropriate! Good-night my sweet joys, a thousand sweet dreams of father and dear brother! kisses & love & love & kisses for my precious, thrice precious girls in these first minutes of the 20th Century!
Devotedly,
Papa
CHAPTER 20
Blood
Just before the New Year of the new century, the board began injecting blood taken from yellow fever victims into volunteers. With trepidation in his tone, Reed had written to Surgeon General Sternberg to ask if he would still like the board to conduct blood experiments. At that point, Reed was certain yellow fever was in the blood and transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. Injecting patients with yellow fever-thick blood would undoubtedly produce more cases, and thus far, the board had been lucky enough and vigilant enough to nurse all of their yellow fever cases back