The word quarantine has been used a great deal in the past year and we have never experienced anything like the restrictions that this serious virus has imposed on us and the world. Down through history there have been diseases of epic proportions and we all learned about the Black Plague in history classes. Many of our ancestors lived through the Spanish Influenza of 1918 and recall personal stories that they told us of that worldwide infection.
Quarantine is not totally unknown to me as I recall when my brothers and I were attending the Box Alder School and we were in quarantine as nearly all the students were infected with impetigo or headlice- or both. Sanitary measures were not the best in rural schools in the early 1940’s. A visit from Dr. Young resulted in the school being shut down for a week or two as both these things are highly contagious. I am sure that he issued instructions as to the treatment and I do remember the Gentian Violet that was applied to the impetigo and turned the sore spots around the mouth a bright purple. At that time kerosene seemed to be the treatment of choice used to try to get rid of head lice.
When my sister was about five she became very ill. My mother consulted her huge black ‘Doctor Book ‘ and phoned Dr. Young as she thought Marion had Scarlet Fever. A trip to the doctor’s office in Emo confirmed that she did have this serious childhood disease. It was a mystery as to where she got it. A sign was nailed to our gate post and we were quarantined for 21 days.
It was winter and we lived on a small farm with animals to look after. My mother did a lot of the barn work as our animals were all stabled. We all knew how to work and how to do things but with Marion so ill there were days Mom hardly left her bedside let alone go to the barn. The outside work was left up to my two brothers but I recall some of the neighbour men coming to the barn if the boys needed some help. Another neighbour brought a load of wood. No one came into our house at all and we were strictly avoided. Mom wanted some letters mailed but no one wanted to touch them for fear of infection. Groceries were delivered and mail left in a box at the road and we hauled them in on the sleigh.
After so many years there are things I don’t recall but I remember waking in the night and Mom was sponging Marion with cool water to try to bring the fever under control. I also remember a kind of steam tent being made with sheets. It was a very hard time. After the 21 days, on Dr. Young’s orders, our house had to be fumigated by burning sulphur with its strong and acrid fumes to make sure all the germs were killed. For two days we had to stay in our grandfather’s house that was usually empty in the winter. Years later we learned that neither quarantine or fumigation was necessary as Scarlet Fever does not spread like other illnesses as it is bacterial rather than viral. One other child in the area contracted it but was not very ill.
In my next experience with quarantine our whole farm was involved as were other farms that raised pigs. Hog Cholera was spreading rapidly. I think this would be about 1945. It was so sad to see the helpless mother pig just lying there with the little ones around her. They all had to be destroyed on orders from the veterinarian and buried in a big pit with lime over them. It was a very sad loss. Our barn and pens had to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with Creolin that had a strong but not totally unpleasant odour. I remember working with my grandfather sweeping and helping clean the stables.
Dealing with the quarantines and restrictions of COVID 19 brought back the memories of these times back in the 1940’s. Now, just as we did those many years ago we do our best to follow the guidelines set out by the medical officials.
