Pan-American Notes [excerpt]

THE Pan-American Exposition was formally thrown open to the public on May 1st. Its incomplete condition delayed the formal [854][855] dedication until May 20th. The ceremonies were brilliant and highly interesting. There were parades, followed by dedicatory ceremonies at the exposition grounds; scientific kite flying, in which great flags, streamers and emblems were sent aloft and floated in mid-air without apparent support, music by combined military bands, ariel [sic] bomb explosions setting free Pan-American souvenirs and flags, and speech making and singing at the Temple of Music.
     The newspapers have been full of Pan-American news and descriptions, but the most important part of the exposition has not been exploited to any great extent. The medical department has kept in the back ground, preferring to do its work without any midway hurrah or tom-tom beating. The medical director, Dr. Roswell Park, has organised a most perfect hospital service, a handsome building has been erected and occupied and fully equipped. There are five doctors on duty, assisted by six nurses. Emergency cases are taken to the hospital in an automobile ambulance, and after receiving first aid are transferred to one of the city hospitals, the cases being divided among the various institutions. The deputy medical director, Dr. Vertner Kenerson, has charge of the hospital work, and Dr. Nelson W. Wilson is sanitary officer of the exposition. [855][856] How well the health of the big fair is safe-guarded may be realised when it is known that during the first days of the exposition Drs. Wilson and Kenerson, under Dr. Park’s direction, handled a small epidemic of measles and stamped out the disease without creating a panic. Few people knew that a portion of the midway was under quarantine rule for two weeks.