Frantic sanitarians had vaccinated 600,000 persons, doused thousands of wells with germicidal potassium permanganate to halt an epidemic which began the end of April.
Among the dubious household remedies: swallowing narcotics made from hempseed, douching with the caustic disinfectant potassium permanganate, and even quaffing gin laced with iron .
The potassium permanganate, normally used as a water purifier, came from China, which is the world's leading producer.