Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-04-28
The Cholera Ship YIrGInia-Ohicial
Report Of the Sanitary Superinten-
hanN

The Cholera Ship VIrsInia-OAicial
Report of the Sanitary Superinten-
dent.
OFFICE OF THE SANITARY SUPERIN-
TENDENT METROPOLITAN BOARD
OF HEALTH, NEW YORK,
April, 1886.
SIR: 1 have the honor herewith to
transmit a written report of the facts re-
garding the steamship Virginia, which l
reported verbally to the Board on Friday
last, as the result of an inspection made
by order Of the Board. In obedience to
said order, DR.. Harris, Registrar of Re-
cords, and myself, proceeded on Friday
morning 10 the Quarantine office at
Staten Island and called upon the
Health Officer Of the port. Failing TO
obtain facilities to proceed further,
we returned to New York, and
finding the police boat unavailable, hired
a tug and proceeded to the lower bay,
where We arrived at Il o'clock ". We
ran alongside the hospital ship Falcon,
which lay not far from the Virginia. DR..
Bissell, health officer in charge, then join
ed US. We then ran a little nearer the
Virginia, the captain of which sent a
small boat for lis. On board the Virginia
were found some ffty-six persons i'll with
epidemic cholera, all storage passengers.
The captain reported that no arrived at 4
o'clock, T. N. on the Ssth instant was
bearded and ordered TO the lower bay,
where they proceeded the following morn
ing, having been detained over night by
fog and tide. He stated that he
had experienced great difficulty in
restraining the Indignation of his pas
sengers at being left thirty-six hours
without succor or message from the shore,
hi infected passengers being still crowded,
and the dead lying in boats under his
stern, he being unable either to throw
them overheard or to send a burial party
on shore. He urgently requested that a
tug Or seine craft of greater capacity than
a row-boat be used for the transfer Of the
sick to the hospital ship, but no such was
at hand. The transfer had Just COM
menced. The arrangements for the same
consisted Of one row-boat, into which the
patients were lowered by means of a rude
chair constructed from a hogshesd and
slung from the yard arm. Three at a
time were transferred, each trip occupy
ing about t~hree-quarters Of an hour. 1t
appearing that this process was painful
and tedious, DR.. Bissell and ourselves
consulted with the captain and requested
him to lower and man his own beats and
assist in the transportation, which he did,
thus enabling the sick to be transferred as
fast as they could be lowered over the
side.
The following are the facts regarding
/ H. ar,.a.-aw.a anA hTztnr- af tho IT-aaEa
US obtained from DR.. Cherferner, the ships
surgeon, and the captain The Virginia
sailed fl I'M Liverpool on the Attn instant,
having On board fourteen saloon passen-
gers and one thousand and t~wenty-nine
in the Storage. y few of the latter were
Irish, but the great majority were Ger
mans and Dutch, coming-chiefy from
Rotterdam, Wittenburg, and various
towns Of Holland and Denmark. They
had ne knowledge, so far as we ascertained
of the existence of any epidemic in any
of the places they came in or through
which taey passed, on their way to Liv-
erpool. There is evidence, however, that
in certain towns of Saxany, near which
some of them have resided, the disease
had appeared during the past winter. All
were perfectly well at date of sailing, and
remained so until the 18th, when three
persons, a man, a woman, and a child,
died after a few hours illness, with symp-
toms of epidemic cholera. On the follow
ing day eight persons died with similar
symptoms. On the l4th four died, and
SO the mortality continued up to the 18th,
when the vessel arrived at this port, up to
which time thirty-seven had died. Tho
disease was characterized chiefly by So
we're vomiting and purging of material
similar in appearance to rice-Wate, sever
muscular cramps and finally collapse,
with cold livid skin, eeblecirculation and
excessive mental indifference. The course
of the disease was, in the fatal cases, very
brief, some dying within five hours from
the time of attack. The first cases of the
disease occurred on what is called the
"orlOp' deck, which is below two decks.
and below the water-liRe. Since arriving
in port, the disease has not materially
abated, fourteen additional deaths having
o~ccurred-in all, fifty-one deaths. The
surgeon reports that about three per cent.
Of all who have suffered from decided
symptoms Of the disease, have recovered
or are now coDyalescent.
1AZ AASEl-t A1e DGGu COuuntu 10 Luc
steerage passengers and crew. At the
time OF our visit eight were in collapse
three were suffering from the character
istic cramps, and others exhibited the va
rious symptoms of the disease, especially
the vomiting and rice-water discharges.
The condition Of the ship itself al the
time Of our visit wa good, clearly and
well ventilated. There wa no evidence
of panic, but on the contrary, the passen-
gers looked well and reported favorably
Of their accommodations and treatment
on the passage. The saloon passengers
especially requested that they might be
allowed to remain on board the ship, and
not be transferred with the steersge pas
sengers.
On leaving the Virginia we we're hailed
by DR.. Bissell, who had returned to the
hospital ship, and earnestly requested to
report that he was in great need of addi-
tional assistance.
Very respectfully
Your obedient servants,
Z. B. DALTON,
Sanitary Superintendent.
ELISHA HARRIS,
Registrar Of Records.