The First Newspaper Article

THE FIRST NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:

Illness Sweeps across the Broad St. Area!!

By John Snow

DENMACK 1854 – An outbreak of an illness has swept across a small suburb of Denmack during the past few weeks. Hundreds have died from the horrible disease that can kill in a matter of hours. No end to this tragedy seems in sight, for no one understands what is causing the outbreak of this disease.

Thomas Sutterfield, a lawyer who lives in the Soho area is recovering from the disease that threatened to take his life. When asked about the details, he said, “Well, I am the only one in my family to get the disease. I thank God that my wife and 2 children have been spared. I hope someone solves this case before more good people die.”

Throughout the Broad St and surrounding areas, panic has set in. The streets are empty except for caskets filling the streets and the occasional policeman maintaining law and order.

Expert physicians and doctors from other parts of Denmack have been called in by local authorities to help solve this very serious tragedy. A team of scientists has agreed to study the situation in Denmack and promises to report their findings soon.

BACKGROUND ON DENMACK:

Denmack is a large city with many different boroughs or areas. The illness has so far only been found in the Broad St. Area. Town officials are hoping to keep the illness isolated so that it does not become an epidemic. Denmack is a prosperous town with exports including steam engine technology, railroad technology, and clothing to name a few. Factories are found throughout the city to support its strong economy. The Broad St. Area is mainly a residential area with a few shops and markets within it. There are 2 large parks, a large church, and the mighty James River running through part of this area.

Right now it is the summertime in Denmack, and the citizens find themselves scared to walk the streets. This is not normally the case, but with the fear of illness present and rumors floating around the streets like dust, people are staying in, scared to open their doors to anyone. Normally during the summertime, Denmackians walk the streets after work and spend most of the day outside on the weekends. A favorite weekend activity is to walk to the river and spend the day fishing, cleaning their weekly clothes, gathering drinking water for the week, swimming, and playing with their friends. This summer has been especially bad for mosquitoes and townspeople have been complaining. The park is another favorite place to spend a Sunday picnic. It is found north of St. Bartholomew Church.

Remember that living in 1854 was much different than living today. Imagine living without electricity or plumbing in your home. Imagine gathering water for your family from the local water pump. Imagine using candlelight at nighttime. Imagine storytelling and games as your entertainment and now you are imagining Denmack in 1854.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE ILLNESS?

Symptoms: Rapid dehydration caused by vomiting, diarrhea, and sweating. The victim’s skin darkens and shrivels. Victims may suffer only mild symptoms and can die in less than 1 hour.

INFORMATION & INTERVIEWS FROM CITIZENS FROM DENMACK:

I am THOMAS SUTTERFIELD a lawyer in town:
·  I live in the Soho Area with my wife and 2 children
·  I refuse to go to the river because of the mosquitoes and beggars
·  I am the only member of my immediate family to get the disease
·  Recently, I won a case defending a Broad St. butcher accused of selling spoiled meat.
·  Although I was very ill, I am recovering slowly.
I was TOLLY MARTIN and was 10 yrs old. I considered myself to be a Professional Pickpocket:
·  As an orphan, I was homeless and slept in doorways around Soho Square and in the park near the river.
·  I often steal scraps from the butcher shop to cook over the fire for dinner.
·  Occasionally, I roamed quite far from Soho, looking for wealthier citizens to rob.
·  I died 2 days after a fist fight with the Turner boy at Broad St. Square.
I am OWEN and this is my wife, OBEDIENCE TURNER, and my 3 CHILDREN:
·  I lived on Paddy Lane, behind Butcher Shop on Broad St. and Ely.
·  I earned small change cleaning up the day’s slops at the butcher shop.
·  The community picnic at the park last week was the last fun thing our family did before we began to feel really bad.
·  My entire family died.
I am WILLIAM HENDERSON, the Mayor of Denmack:
·  I live in another part of Denmack (not in the Broad St. area)
·  I believe the illness is not a big problem and will not spread
·  I made all the arrangements for the community picnic at the park.
·  Something I have noticed - many people who live in the Broad St. area are related to each other
·  I feel great and do not understand what all the fuss is about.
We are JOHN and MARY CANTY and we were the Blacksmiths from Soho:
·  We regularly pulled our cart through wealthy neighborhoods, mending pots and pans for the wealthy.
·  In the evenings, we often stopped to visit John’s ailing Mother who lived on Butcher Lane.
·  The disease hit us fast – we died quickly.
I am GREGORY PHILLIPS the local Fisherman:
·  I spend my entire day at the river catching fish for my wife to sell at market.
·  My one complaint is the number of mosquitoes I have to deal with this season.
·  Saw the fight between Tolly Martin and one of the Turner kids the other day – a real roust about!!
·  So far I have been lucky, I feel fine!!
I am JEREMIAH SMITH and I am the editor of the local Newspaper:
·  The past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time getting the death toll into the paper. So far we have had:
Of the 9 families on Butcher Lane:
37 individuals have died; 8 got ill but are recovering.
Of the 12 families on Ely St:
60 individuals died; 10 got ill but are recovering.
Of the 25 families on Queens Row:
89 individuals died; 31 got ill but are recovering.
18 families on Paddy Lane:
83 individuals died; 7 got ill but are recovering.
OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:
·  It is the summer time in Denmack
·  Mosquitoes are prevalent around the river.
·  People use the river to fish, bathe, clean clothes, drink water & swim.
·  There is a park by the river where the community recently had its annual picnic, and folks like to gather at the market.

CLUE 1:

The people living around Broad St are poor. Large families are crowded into 1 and 2 room apartments. None has indoor plumbing; people must use outdoor toilets and haul their water from the nearest pump.

CLUE 2:

Thomas Sutterfield fell ill 2 hours after stopping off to visit his great aunt Tilda. He had tea, biscuits, and sausages with her. It was a hot day and he took a drink of cool water before leaving.

CLUE 3:

After his fight with the other boy, Tolly Martin washed the blood off his mouth at the Broad St Pump and ran off with a sausage stolen from the Butcher Shop.

CLUE 4:

Ausley and Martha Brown and their 2 children are the only people on Ely St. who haven’t gotten sick. Martha’s family lives in Soho. The Brown’s haul their water from the Soho pump, which allows them to visit their relatives.

INFORMATION ON SEVERAL DISEASES

MALARIA

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. People with malaria often experience fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may develop severe complications and die. Each year 350-500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, and over one million people die, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

This sometimes fatal disease can be prevented and cured. Bed nets, insecticides, and anti-malarial drugs are effective tools to fight malaria in areas where it is transmitted. Travelers to a malaria-risk area should avoid mosquito bites and take a preventive anti-malarial drug.

dysentery

Amoebic dysentery is an infection of the intestine (gut) caused by an amoeba called Entamoeba histolytica, which, among other things, can cause severe diarrhea.
Some amoebae are parasites that are found in contaminated food or drink. They enter the body through the mouth when the contaminated food or drink is swallowed. The amoebae are then able to move through the digestive system and take up residence in the intestine and cause an infection.

ULCERATIVE COLITIS

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores (ulcers) in the lining of the large intestine, or colon. It usually affects the lower section (sigmoid colon) and the rectum. But it can affect the entire colon. In general, the more of the colon that’s affected, the worse the symptoms will be.

Experts are not sure what causes ulcerative colitis. They think it might be caused by the immune system overreacting to normal bacteria in the digestive tract.

Ulcerative colitis is not caused by stress, as people once thought. But if you have ulcerative colitis, stress can make it worse.

You are more likely to get ulcerative colitis if other people in your family have it. The main symptoms are: belly pain or cramps, bloody diarrhea or an urgent need to have a bowel movement and bleeding from the rectum.

CHOLERA

Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately one in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these persons, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.

A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.
The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the United States have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.

COLON CANCER

Colon cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the colon. Colon cancer affects both men and women of all racial and ethnic groups, and is most often found in people aged 50 years or older. For men, colon cancer is the third most common cancer after prostate and lung cancers. For women, colon cancer is the third most common cancer after breast and lung cancers.

Colon cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States, but it doesn't have to be. If everybody aged 50 or older had regular screening tests, as many as 60% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented.

These and other symptoms may be caused by colon cancer: a change in bowel habits, blood (either bright red or very dark) in the stool, diarrhea, constipation, or feeling that the bowel does not empty completely, stools that are narrower than usual, frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness, or cramps, weight loss for no known reason, feeling very tired and vomiting.