On February 2
1925, a relay team of sled dogs delivered 300,000 units
of diphtheria serum to Nome, Alaska, saving the town from an
epidemic. Diphtheria broke out in the town of 1,500 on
January 21. Two Eskimo children died of the disease, a third
child was ill, and the village doctor worried that the
highly contagious fatal illness would devastate the town.
There was plenty of vaccines available in Anchorage, but the
weather was so cold that no planes could fly and no ships
could sail. There were no highways. The nearest railroad
line ended over 600 miles away. The only other way to get
the antitoxin to Nome was by sled dog. So, on January 27, in
temperatures running 40 to 50 below zero, a relay team of 20
mushers and scores of hardy sled dogs undertook the 674-mile
journey. The serum arrived at 5:30 a.m. on February 2 and
was immediately thawed out and administered to the
population of the town. No further deaths were reported. On
the trip back, a blinding blizzard struck. The musher was
unable to see the trail-- but the lead dog, a husky named
Balto, led the way home. Although Balto was only one of many
dogs who made the trip, he was the one who became a hero.
For the next two years he toured the country. When he died
in 1933 his body was preserved and put in display at a
museum in Cleveland.
On February 15
1933, officials in Connecticut announced that they would
be constructing the nation's first building devoted entirely
to highway traffic safety. They called it the Eno Foundation
for Highway traffic Control, named for William Eno. William
Eno was nine years old in 1867 when he went to New York City
with his mother. When the performance at the New York Opera
House let out, their horse and carriage got involved in the
subsequent traffic jam which required two hours to untangle,
even though only a dozen carriages were involved. Eno never
forgot the experience, and devoted the rest of his life to
improving traffic control. This became increasingly
important as horses were replaces by cars on the streets of
the nation. In 1903 he published "Rules of
Driving" which became a primer for drivers. He invented
such rules of the road as slow traffic keep right and
passing allowed on the left only. He invented one-way
streets, safety islands, rotary traffic, pedestrian
crosswalks, the stop sign, the taxi stand, and traffic cops.
Still, Eno felt that stoplights would never work and traffic
cops would always be needed at intersections. Eno lived long
enough to see his ideas implemented throughout the country.
He also made many trips to Europe and Asia to help them with
their traffic control problems. William Eno died in 1945 at
the age of 86.Throughout his life, William Eno, known today
as "the father of traffic safety," hated to drive.
His chauffeur drove him everywhere.
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Other columns included in the weekly
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