Kellogg, J. H.
St. Helena, California
February 20, 1901
Portions of this letter are published in 5Bio 48. +NoteOne or more typed copies of this document contain additional Ellen White handwritten interlineations which may be viewed at the main office of the Ellen G. White Estate.
Dr. Kellogg
Dear brother,—
Some days ago I commenced a letter to you, but could not finish it. The second attack of la grippe is treating me severely. I now understand the cause of this affliction. When we took this place, we permitted the Sanitarium dairy to remain here, where it has been for some time. There are twenty-two cows in the herd, and as sheds had been put up for the work, I granted permission for the cows to be kept here till another place was found. Those in charge of this work have looked now and then for a place, but the matter has dragged on, and the smell from the barnyard has made us all sick. I am very quickly affected by a bad smell. I have had a serious time discharging blood and matter from my head. I have taken treatment regularly. Now a slow fever seems to be coming on, with a degree of nervousness. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 1
It has been found that there is a great deal of manure in the barnyard. We have been having it hauled out and ploughed under. I am so surprised at the unsanitary condition of things in this dairy that I know not what to think or say. I sent for Brother Nelson today and talked with him about it. But he said that he occupied no official position, that when Brother Burden was cut off the Board of Directors, he himself was cut off also, <so that he could take no action regarding the dairy.> 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 2
Nevertheless, I told him some straight things about the cows, which are shut up all night inhaling the impurity of their own breaths, which is the worst kind of poison, is it not? Then these cows are milked in the place where they have stood all night. Think of the effluvia that must poison the air round them. And yet there are those who look me in the face, and say, This will not hurt any one. It is said that this odor is healthful. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 3
So months have passed by, and the cows have not been removed. Brother James and his family, who have lately come from Australia and are now living near the dairy here, have all been sick with la grippe. Mabel, who works in the office, which is also near the dairy, has la grippe. We have all had it. Brother Ward, who has been working at our place, has been sick nigh unto death. At one time it was thought that it would be impossible to save him, but he is slowly mending. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 4
Nearly all our family have been sick. Sara and I have had a lingering, slow fever. We have ascribed this sickness to various causes, but I think the cause is close by us. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 5
For the past two nights I have had a burning fever, with nervousness. This is a strange experience for me. It is something I have never felt before in the same way. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 6
I think I shall now secure rooms in the Sanitarium and stay there until the dairy is most thoroughly cleaned up. I am so easily poisoned by an offensive atmosphere. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 7
And think of the Sanitarium using milk which, if not diseased in reality, is in great peril of being so. The cows giving the milk used by our sanitariums should be kept in premises where there is perfect cleanliness. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 8
I have much to do before going to Conference. There are some things to be completed for Testimony 34. In two weeks we shall leave here for Los Angeles, where we shall stay over Sabbath and Sunday. From there we shall go to Nashville, and from there to Chicago; that is, if I can go at all. I had thought to go to the Sanitarium for a while, but I seem to be needed here. I must select the most important matters for the Testimony, and then look over everything prepared for it and be my own critic; for I would not be willing to have some things which are all truth to be published, because I fear that some would take advantage of them to hurt others. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 9
After the matter for the testimony is prepared, every article must be read by me. I have to read them myself, for the sound of the voice in reading or singing is almost unendurable to me. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 10
I try to bring out general principles, and if I see a sentence which I fear would give some one excuse to injure some one else, I feel at perfect liberty to keep back the sentence, even though it is all perfectly true. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 11
During my sickness, I have worked every day excepting the Sabbath, sitting on the bed propped up with pillows. 16LtMs, Lt 32, 1901, par. 12