Chapter Four: Confusion, Distress, and Utter Desolation Summary and Analysis

Friday, August 30. The city echoed with the blasts of a militia's cannon. On orders of the governor and mayor, the cannon was being rolled through the streets and was fired every several yards to cleanse the air. The fear and panic spread to the state legislature that had assembled to meet. An aid who lived in the state house died there of the infection. The spread of the illness had now struck home to the state's senators and representatives. When asked by the legislature what they could do to protect themselves, Dr. Rush reiterated his stern advice to avoid contact with the ill. The legislature held a hasty meeting and passed a few quick resolutions—a quarantine act and improvements for the public health office—and adjourned...