Terrible Typhoid Mary: Chapters 5–7

To an epidemic fighter such as George Soper, the mystery wasn’t whodunit.

Koch had also proved that germs were contagious. His laboratory methods, known as Koch’s postulates, are still used today.

With dismay, he realized that most employers didn’t know much about their servants’ backgrounds.

“I felt a good deal of responsibility about the case,” explained Soper later. “Under suitable conditions Mary might precipitate a great epidemic.”

He had made Mary defensive and indignant. “I had made a bad start,” he wrote.

Soper’s words may have sounded preposterous to her. How could a healthy person make someone sick? Soper’s accusation must have struck at the very core of her sense of self-worth.

Soper forgot the old adage that cooks rule the kitchen.

The dominant social view at this time held that a proper woman should be “pious, pure, domestic, and submissive.”

The dominant social view at this time held that a proper woman should be “pious, pure, domestic, and submissive.”

She was stalwart and brave and not afraid to stand up for herself, even if it meant a fight.

She had crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone as a young teenager. When her aunt and uncle died, she fended for herself in a large, foreign city.

She wasn’t going to let George Soper harass her at her place of work or interfere with her livelihood.

The sharp tines of Mary’s carving fork said otherwise.

At this point, however, the evidence that Mary Mallon caused typhoid wherever she worked was circumstantial. The fact that she happened to work at places where typhoid fever broke out did not prove that she caused the outbreaks. The outbreaks may have been a coincidence.

But these facts—and her behavior—convinced Soper that Mary Mallon was “a menace to the public health.” The circumstantial nature of the evidence did not deter him.

As scientists and statisticians know, correlation does not imply causation. So far, he had only established a pattern that put Mary at the scene of the outbreaks. He needed the specimens to prove that Mary had caused the outbreaks.

From census records, it seems that he was born in Manhattan in 1856, making him fifty-one years old when Soper met him.

From Soper, we learn that Breihof was out of work, lived in a run-down flat, and spent too much time drinking. His only friends in the world were Mary Mallon and a large motley dog.

Soper convinced Breihof to allow him to wait for Mary after work. We don’t know what Soper said or did to convince Breihof. Perhaps Breihof was drunk. Perhaps Soper slipped him a few dollars. Perhaps Soper wasn’t forthright about his intentions. However it happened, the two men set a meeting time, and Soper left.

This time Soper vowed to do better. He would be more patient with Mary. He would choose better words and speak more carefully. He would use as much tact and good judgment as he could muster.

This time Soper vowed to do better. He would be more patient with Mary. He would choose better words and speak more carefully. He would use as much tact and good judgment as he could muster.

We don’t know where Breihof was, if he was bellied up to the bar in his favorite corner saloon or cowering inside his room, knowing that he had betrayed Mary.

She must have been tired after fourteen hours or more spent on her feet. She may have splurged on a ticket for a horse-drawn taxi or for the
elevated train. Most likely, she walked the thirty-nine blocks home.

Mary had a point. In 1907 the New York City Department of Health would report 4,476 cases, resulting in 740 deaths. Why should Mary be blamed when the disease was rampant throughout the city?

Other people held old-fashioned ideas that sickness and disease were caused by exposure to miasma, a foul-smelling poisonous mist or vapor that arose from garbage, filth, and the sewers.

Even today, there are people who adhere to old-fashioned—and sometimes wrong-headed—ideas about sickness and disease.

As Mary raged in the hallway, Soper concluded that he would not reason with such an emotional and irrational woman. The two men retreated, escaping down the stairs. The whole while, Mary swore at them, throwing at them “a volley of imprecations.”

We are left to imagine what transpired when she faced her friend Breihof, who had betrayed her.

He created a persuasive story, using words that dehumanized Mary and turned her into a dangerous machine. He called Mary “a living culture tube” and “a chronic typhoid germ producer.”

He created a persuasive story, using words that dehumanized Mary and turned her into a dangerous machine. He called Mary “a living culture tube” and “a chronic typhoid germ producer.”

Our civil and legal protections are spelled out in twenty-seven amendments to the United States Constitution. The first ten amendments make up the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1791.

The Fifth Amendment states that no person “shall be...deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law” through the judicial system.

The Fourteenth Amendment strengthens the protection of due process and further stipulates that “no state make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the United States.”

The Fourteenth Amendment strengthens the protection of due process and further stipulates that “no state make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the United States.”

Years later, Dr. Biggs admitted that the power wielded by the New York City Board of Health was unique.