Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Anna Tittm
Then this matter of the hair. Oh, I had, as New York statements on a
sheet of paper about so big, what to do
infected
with nits--it was lice--and the nits. Ordinarily
on it of-oh, I 've forgotten now. It was som
at all, but it took care of this. Orit
if they put that on a child's head and wrapped the hea4 up at night.
The [the nits] would all be dead in the morning and wash Out of their hair.
Oh, vinegar was what they put on the hair instead of the ~oal oil. The coal
oil was kind of dangemus, too. I think however, that wag more for people
that understood how careful they had to be. But you see,they were poor and
they had to have coal oil for their lqs. Well, I had qsitors fmm other
cities to take around somtimes to see what they thought qf the propam we
had. It worked out nicely. I was really somy to leave t , but I was
wanted for this other work. It was interesthg, too.
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Q. You mentioned that the dentists set up a free clinic.
ever set up a free clMc here for the children?
Did the dcpctors
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. Well, it was easier to get the child in there, get thq child into their
offlces. Once in a while--no, we didn't have such a thi
the doctors were strongly for it. The mider girls
fsther approved ot it. He was an outstanding man in the qdical society
and in his surgery. It just had to get started, it was s-thing new. Fortunately,
I did have a lot of experience wlth corrara~~lcablei diseases of 'patients
in private duty. They'd have to isolate, you see, at how. We had only an
old shack for comrrau?icable diseases out by the camppounds known as the
pest house. Our Illinois Regiment--I1ve forgotten now, mt regiment . . .
Q. National Guard?
A. National Guard, they used to meet out there, you how,,and every Sunday
they'd have a dress parade. We always went out on Sunday pvenings and
with a big shot, the flag went down. So that was very intpresting. There's
a road west of that, that ran way out beyond the camppun@, and that's
where the isolation place was. People who had commmicabl~ diseases, but
I don't think they took many children there. They were kept at home.
Q. Was this a hospital set up out there?
A. Well, it was sort of an isolation place and. that's all I never saw
it, though.
Q. Would this be for diptheria, scarlet fever,
k
those thin ?
A. No, no. Those things were taken care of at horn, for
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mllpox and
they ' d infect the whole family. But we don1 t have any iso ation place now.
We don't have much now, do we?
Q. I don't think we do. What qtases would they send out t
campgrounds?
ere beyond the