Memorial to William Charles Farquhar

End of Watch: October 22, 1913
Rank: Private  Badge No. N/A
Age: 46   Years of Service: 15 years
Location of Death: Potomac Street near M Street, NW
Duty Assignment: Seventh Precinct

Circumstance:
Officer William Farquhar died as the result of receiving an experimental rabies vaccination after being bitten by a rabid dog on Potomac Street, NW, near M Street, NW. On October 4, 1913, Farquhar was attempting to shoot the dog when he was bitten. A second officer at the scene shot and killed the dog. The rabies treatment that was prescribed caused severe pain and paralysis and led to his death 16 days later on October 22, 1913.

Biography:
Officer Farquhar had served with the Metropolitan Police Department for 15 years and was assigned to the 7th Precinct. He was survived by his wife and two sons.

Articles from the Washington Post – transcribed by Dave Richardson, MPD/Ret.

THE DEATH OF OFFICER WILLIAM C. FARQUHAR
WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED OCTOBER 23, 1913, PAGE 2
MAD DOG’S BITE KILLS HIM.
POLICEMAN W.C. FARQUHAR THE SECOND OFFICER VICTIM SINCE LAST SPRING.

Policeman William C. Farquhar, of the Seventh precinct, died yesterday afternoon from paralysis following the bite of a rabid dog. Farquhar was bitten several weeks ago when attempting to shoot the animal in Potomac Street, near M Street, NW.

As soon as it was learned that the dog had hydrophobia, Farquhar began taking preventive treatment. It availed him no more than it did Policeman Warfield, of the Fifth precinct, who died in similar circumstances last spring.

Farquhar, who was 43 years old had been on the police force 15 years. He leaves a widow and two sons.

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WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED OCTOBER 24, 1913, PAGE 2
RABIES SERUM DEADLY.
KILLS IN “EXCEPTIONAL CASES,” DECLARES U.S. EXPERTS.
TWO POLICE CASES CITED.
PARALYSIS FOLLOWED AFTER TREATMENT OF WARFIELD AND FARQUHAR, WHO HAD BEEN BITTEN BY DOGS—DANGER LAID TO THE INJECTION INTO VICTIMS OF FOREIGN ANIMAL MATTER.

Why paralysis developed in two Washington policemen inoculated for rabies, causing their deaths, is the subject of investigation by the United States public health service. Results so far are rather negative, but the investigation will be continued.

Day before yesterday Policeman William Farquhar, of the Seventh precinct, died of paralysis. Several weeks ago he was inoculated with serum after he had been bitten by a mad dog in Potomac Park. Last spring Policeman William Warfield, of the Fifth precinct, died of paralysis. He, too, had been inoculated following the bite of a dog supposed to have rabies.

TELL OF “EXCEPTIONAL CASES.”
The dog which bit Farquhar died. That which bit Warfield did not.

The investigation being conducted is in charge of medical director John F. Anderson. By coincidence a report has just been made, independent of Officer Farquhar’s death, by Dr. E.E. Hasseltine, of the public health service. Dr. Hasseltine has studied other cases. He reports that the paralysis is due to “anaphylaxis resulting from the injection of foreign animal tissue.”

The general conviction of the public health service on the question as a whole is that the administration of the treatment gives no serious complications in a large percentage of cases, but that “there are occasional exceptions which make it impossible to say that it is always harmless.”

UNCERTAIN AS TO PARALYSIS.
Individual susceptibility must play an important role in the matter, it is asserted. In the case of Officer Farquhar the resultant paralysis appeared gradually and it was distinguished from the ordinary cases by extending much higher up the spine. The result was that the lungs became paralyzed and failed to perform their function.

Dr Anderson sought to conduct an autopsy in the Farquhar case and was disappointed because he was not permitted to.

While a connection between serum inoculation and paralysis has been admitted to be shown by the Farquhar, Warfield, and other cases, this sequence of events does not explain much, it is stated. The nature of the paralysis in general, as respects its causes, is a matter of considerable uncertainty and guess work, according to the statement of public health officials last evening.

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WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED OCTOBER 1, 1913, PAGE 2
SURVIVES MAD DOG’S BITE
BICYCLE POLICEMAN WARFIELD ALMOST DIED DURING THREE MONTHS SUFFERING.

Bicycle Policeman Warfield, of the Fifth precinct, who was bitten by a mad dog about three months ago, will be able to return to duty tomorrow. While undergoing treatment for hydrophobia, Warfield suffered a stroke of paralysis, and only narrowly escaped death.

When attacked by the dog, Warfield weighed 187 pounds. Now he weighs 164. Capt. Mulhall will keep Warfield on office duty until he has regained his strength.