Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1875-12-03
A ROMANCE OF THE OLD HULK
Founded on Fact.

FROM the time of the Quarantine riots,
when the hospital buildings ON Staten
Island were destroyed by fire, to that of
the erection of houses on made land in
the lower bay for the reception of cases
of contagious fevers, the old steamer Illi-
nois, stripped of masts and spars, lay
| rocking below the Narrows, the only hos
pital where patients from infected vessels
were admitted. This floating pest-house,
| with yellow flag waving at its stern,
was anchored within sight of the south
eastern shore of Staten Island 1t was re-
garded with curiosity and dread by excur-
sionists up and down the bay and with a
| horrible interest by those ON board vessels
plying to and from southern ports. AL
| though christened at one time the" Flor
ence Nightingale" it was usually known
| by officers of the Quarantine service and
| mariners of the harbOr as the Old Hulk.
This dreary-looking black hulk, anchored
| in an unfrequented spot in the bay, was
really a comfortable and capacious hospi-
tai, quite as agreeable to those transferred
from ships and accustomed to their mo-
ton as would have been accommodations
ON land. With machinery and state
rooms removed, the long cabin was en-
larged and fitted up as the main ward,
while the upper saloon was partitioned
ints apartments for the use of the physi-
clan, assistants and nurses At the period
our story opens every cot in the fever
ward of the Old Hulk was filled with
young men-the flower of our land
smitten with yellow fever in its most fatal
| form. During the past three years ample
accommodations for patients with infec-
tious fevers have been made and the Old
Hull ic nOyU r1co6 nr1xr 40 q Taonntiop
place, where patients are examined and
from thence removed to the island hos
pitfalls.
In the summer of 1868, when DR.. Swim
burne was Health Officer of this port, he
resided in cottage on Staten Island, in
the Enclosure so long known as "Quaran-
tine grounds" and distinguished by the
remains of the stone wall which formerly
bounded the hospital buildings. Below
this officers residence were the houses Of
his deputies, Drs. M and R, the
cottage of the latter being quite adjacent
to the long pier used exclusively for the
boats in the service of the Quarantine De.
partment. Small boats employed in board
ing vessels were moored to this dock, and
| the little steam tug Fenton, familiar to
boatmen on the bay, was always waiting
here with steam up to convey the Health
Officers wherever duty called them. YES
sells entering the port of New York are
obliged to be quarantined in the Lower
Bay when there is contagion on board !;
otherwise they pass down to Staten Island,
| where they are boarded and examined be-
fore proceeding to the city. Although
| there was a resident physician on the Old
Hulk, DR.. Swinburne or his deputies Wis
tied there daily, watching the patients
with anxious interest. Evening was the
time usually selected for these trips,
which were made in the Fenton, when
letters or packages for those confined in
the floating hospital were conveyed to
them.
The rules of quarantine are necessarily
very severe when the city is threatened
with an epidemic from fevers brought by
vessels from infected ports. Ship and
| yellow fevers are more dreaded by health
officials than other forms of contagion
| On vessels where these diseases are cpl
| denies infection hangs about their corners
and crevices like verdigris on an old copper.
| None but officers of the service are permit
| ted to visit the sick, relatives and friends
| never in any instance being allowed to
| approach the hospital. This is trying
| deprivation to those learning that kindred
| are detained in the Lower Bay, isolated
completely, and stricken with deadly
| disease. 1t has required hearts of stone
| in the officers in authority to deny petit
| tons of wives, mothers and loving friends
who would gladly have risked their lives
for the privilege of nursing their be-
| loved. 4......
| 1t was a distressing season for the quar-
antine service when, in the June of 1868,
| the school-ship Saratoga entered the
Lower Bay with officers ,!midshipmen and
crew attacked by yellow fever. The Sar-
| atoga had been on a long cruise with an
advanced class of midshipmen from
our Annapolis school, under Lieut.
Com. Ralston, a young officer of bright
promise. With a lack of wisdom and a
reckless disregard OF consequences unac-
countable, the Saratoga made for Key
West in this season, when that place is
known to be unhealthy. While lying off
that port the Yellow Jack broke out
| among the crew. The ship was headed
for New York. On the passage several
| died, and when she anchored off the Old
Hulk nearly every man on board was a
victim to the terrible malady. The day
that the Saratoga reached the Lower
| Bay Lieut. Com. Ralston, who had be-
haved heroically throughout the ordeal,
| was attacked with violent symptoms of the
| fever. Among the patients on the Old
Hulk there were none about whom so
much interest centered as Edward Raj
ston. Belonging to an excellent and
wealthy family residing on the banks OF
| the Hudson, an only son, and affianced to
a young girl who was impatiently await
ing his return to fulfill their nuptials, this
young man, in his twenty fifth year, had
! been the idol Of his comrades, whose