Many veterans of World War I contracted tuberculosis during their service, and were sent to Saranac Lake for treatment.
Chateaugay Record, November 21, 1919
TB VICTIMS EXCEED CASUALTIES Of 27TH
60,000 Killed or Incapacitated By White Plague In New York During 1918
GUARD DIVISION LOST 12,394
Tuberculosis Committee of State Charities Aid Association Will Conduct Christmas Seal Campaign In Effort to Decrease Death Rate.
When New York's; own National Guardsmen, the Twenty-seventh Division of the American Expeditionary Force, stormed and broke the Hindenburg Line, its casualties brought sorrows to homes all over New York State. In that action and in other engagements in which the Division participated, it lost in killed and died of wounds 1701, in wounded 4520, and in gassed 6173, a total of 12,394.
The casualties were unavoidable. They came in the performance of a task which had to be done. And for each measure of sorrow there was a thrill of pride in the fact that the men were willing to go.
The folks at home would have given anything to have saved those lives, but nothing they could do would serve. Yet there is a greater casualty list in New York State each year, whether in peace or war.
White Plague Is Enemy.
Tuberculosis—the Great White Plague—is the enemy. Each year it kills and incapacitates many more persons In the state than the Twenty-seventh Division lost in all its actions. For 1918 the tuberculosis death roll in New York State, outside of New York City, was 6075, more than 350 percent greater than the death roster of Major-General O'Ryan's men. The same year there were a little over 54,000 persons In the State suffering from the disease. Like the wounded in battle they were either wholly or partially incapacitated and their number was 885 per cent greater than the wounded of New York's gallant Twenty-seventh.
Unlike some of the other diseases which sweep a nation in a few months and then vanish, tuberculosis works steadily and remorselessly, summer and winter, year in and year out, and has been working century after century.
Must Fight Steadily.
It has to be fought as it fights— steadily and remorselessly. If all people join in the effort it can be beaten back, controlled and perhaps stamped out. One of the strongest opponents of tuberculosis is the Red Cross Christmas Seal. This little sticker which carries the message of Christmas cheer and good health has been in the battle since 1908. In its first year it brought in but $3,000. Since then its receipts have grown by leaps and bounds. Its battle ground is the entire United States and its objective this- year is $6,500,000 of which the New York State quota Is $582,000.
The tuberculosis death rate went down steadily from 1908 to 1916. Then the conditions brought about by the war, the influenza epidemic and other causes resulted in a gain for the enemy. This year the Red Cross Christmas Seal is going to counterattack in an effort to recover the ground lost during the war and to drive into the enemy's country. The Seals will be for sale all over the state starting December 1.
Adirondack News, April 10, 1920
Saranac Lake has a large colony of service men who have been sent there by the government to regain their health—men threatened with or having incipient tuberculosis. For these a vocational training school has just been established. It opened Monday with classes in law and salesmanship, and other classes were to be started daily. All classes were expected to be in full swing by Monday of this week. Nearly 100 men enrolled at the beginning and this summer was being increased by additional men as the various classes were established. The school is in charge of H.H. Harpster, of Philadelphia. T.C. Strickland, for ten years head of the commercial department of the Saranac Lake High School, has been engaged by the government to direct the commercial classes of the training school. Miss Lucille Mellvane, of Saranac Lake, directs the general education course. The class rooms are in the building formerly known as the Arlington Hotel. The service men at Trudeau and Ray Brook are transported to and from the school daily. –Ex.
