, 1874-02-12

We have received advance sheets Of report
On the immigration aarvics by United Btates su.
pervising Surgeon John II. Woolworth. The
report ia based upon personal examination Of
twenty-ono steamships and nine sailing vessels,
and an inspection Of 8, 488 gteerage passengers
carried thereon. The days when life in steer
age was life under reign Of terror aro said to
be wholly Of the past. "The mower stoau-yes-
aolH ato believed to be quite as well. if not bot
tor ventilated than the average hotel, hospital,
or other public building" A combination Of tho
two systemH. Of vantilntion--tho 'propulsion p"
and the IL suction would make matters even
better in this respect. THO passengers Them
selves choke up the ends Of tho air-tubos, close
the ports, aud wilfully tlisarrange tho machinery
IN order to spare themselves currents Of fresh
air. The proposed plan OF combination would
prevent tho possibility OF auch interference.
Tho STORAGE would then be thoroughly cleanscd
of foul mir, whether or no itH occupants wishod
1t. OF tho general treatment OF passengers,
Dr. Woo1worth says:
" tho food and supplies generally the medical caro-
OF tho sick, mud oshor matters going to make up "tho
general treatment Of immigrants on board ship" 1t Ia
exceedingly doubtful Il per cent OF said immigrants
we1o eyeE 40 well tfcatedfed, lodged and cared for
IN their lives before ~ during their Rteeragevoyage
On any aveEugo steamship while Of tho most
recent ones tho steesage accommodations md treat
ment Will compare not unfayorably with tho cabin
commodat1onn aud comforts Of . dozen ycara ago
The main thing needed is to protect passengers
from tho crew. Tho supply OF good aeameu IL
rapidly decreasing. Too often q vessel is in the
hands Of mob which, when of duty, tho Cap
tain cannot control Capt. Williams, Of the
Atlantic, testified that ten good seamen out of
forty would be all unusually good crow. 4 COM
mitteo Of inquiry into the conduct Of British
merohant-acameu, appointed at Liverpool in
1870, declared that men soften obtain A 3
rating though they aro incompetent to perform
the most ordinary duties OF q sailor. Many
masters asaort TINT, out Of crows OF twenty-five,
not more than three Or four know the compass,
can steer, hoavo tho load or such liko duttes.''
The London Lancet declares that 10 per cont Of
the men who ship are physically unfit for duty.
Tho recensly-appointed "noyal Commission On
Unseaworthy Ships" anys In its preliminary re-
port Of Sept. 2s, 1878:
Whilo 1t Is admitted that ahip-astors have Of late
yeaEs improved, the general opinion Of shilowners is
that British sailors havo doterIorltcd. They arc 1t la
xaid, not only drunken and fpsabordiuate, hut they
ARC unframed md do not know their business. At
homo they are ln the hG1ds Of criinpB, and abroad
they desert wheuever prospect Ut gain ia presented
to thom.
It ia believed that tho outrages on shiphoard
occasionally reported aro duo almost entirely to
the character Of tho average crow. Till better
men eau be got, aailora must DO vigorously OK
oluded from tho STORAGE.
The death-rate shows gratifying decrease. It
haa boon cut down ever 80 per cent within i've
yoara. Among oyery thousand passengers OIL
sallug-vcsBols and steamships shoro wore, In
1867, 11.07 aud .os deaths respectively, mud, in
1879, only 5.42 and .45. Caro- must DO takon not
to confound thoso statistics OF the death. rate
per voyage with the annual rate. A recent ofl-
oial report speaks Of mortality Of 2o1 in 22B 7a2
passengers as "most favorable" but this rep-
rosents au annual doath-zase OF 85 In tho thou
sand, which 10 about thrice the ratio In the United
States. 1t should be less~ becauHo the immi-
grants nre largely solicited lives" And, in
faob during tho last six mtmths OF 1879, tue per
aunum mortality OF ateam-passengers was 3
tYi1e below our annual dosth-rato. On sailing
vessels, thls mortality was, however, 448 to tho
thousand.
Tho United statoB have 1itllorto dono almost
nothing to prevent suffering among tho raw ma
testal Of American citizerIs while On thar way