The formation of a Harvard-Technology group of sanitary engineers and physicians, in order to fight the typhus and cholera in Servia has just been completed, and the group will sail from New York on the Athenia next Saturday. They are being supported by the American Red Cross, and were organized by Professor W. T. Sedgwick from the students of the University Medical School, the Harvard-Technology School for Health Officers, and the sanitary engineering department of the Institute of Technology.
The immediate cause of the departure of this group is as follows:
A few weeks ago Professor R. P. Strong, of the Medical School left for Servia in company with Dr. F. B. Grinnell and Dr. P. T. Cellards. As soon as they arrived in that country, Dr. Strong realized the serious dangers which threatened there because of the prevalence of typhus and cholera, and immediately cabled over to his associates here for a group of twenty-five doctors and one sanitary engineer. Professor Sedgwick undertook the organization of the group, and has succeeded in securing more volunteers than were needed. Mr. Edward Stuart, a sanitary engineer, has been put in charge of the party.
Each member of the group realizes that they will be exposed to far more danger than if they were fighting in the trenches, for one bite from a louse, the vermin which carries the typhus, is considered fatal. The spirit and courage of the men who have volunteered to fight this pest which is now ravaging Servia, is, as Professor Sedgwick and others have remarked, nothing short of heroic.
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