New-York tribune., 1881-08-15
GUARDING TIE CIYY'S HEALTH.

QUARANTINE AND IT'S REGULATIONS.
MEANS FOR THE PREVENTION or THE SPREAD OF
INFECTIOUS NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF ,Hr
HOSPITALS FOR SICK TRAvELLERs-TIIE BURIAL
GROUND AT SEGuIN's POINT
There large class of people not only in the
country but in this city, which fails to appreciate
the necessity OF quarantine. and is frequently heard
to complain OF veXatlous delays. 1t frequently
occurs that the mails from a vessel distributed
and read before the passengers are even landed as
the mails are not subject To quarantine, but are
transferred to the Quarantine Commissioners
steamer n. Is. Hopkins. and taken to the city inn
mediatcly after the arrival of the vessel.
After vessel passes inside of Sandy Hook those
on board constantly within sight of some part
ot quarantine until after the battery reached Ap
parcntly cut OH from all communication and looking
to the stranger Ike prison ship is the dIsmaniled
steamship Illinois anchored in the Lower Bay
below the Hospital islands. and used during the
summer n the boarding station for all vessels from
the West Indies Mexico. South America. the West
Coast of Africa or infected ports. Here Deputy
Health Otheer Mccartney and his family remain at
least i've months IN the year. the doctor seldom
being absent from his post even for one night in
beiween this port aud Aspln~all, aud daring the
gold fever days carried thousands of pioneers and
miners. Descending Lclow the main deck the vsi.
tor iore-s that he is on shpboard. As be Suddenly
looks upon garden of flowers, nurscd and cared
for by Mrs. Mccartney. The quarters foi the
doctors family are ait. and consist of the parlor
with ITS piano library birds and flowers: imnIc-
diately forward Of the parlor is the doctors Office
also furnished vii profnSion of flowers and birds.
Then there are satero0nls. storerooms. etc. and
nursery Tor the doctors children, whose pleasant
voices can bc heard all over the ole ship.
Two miles turthei mp the bay IL Swinburne
Island, upon which are the hospitals foI all yellow
fever patients There are about six hosp.t,l huild
ings this island. They are butt of wood and
painted white. shorf distance further mp the bay
is Hoffman Island. ON 1t stands three brick bnild-
ings resembling warehouses. which were intended
Tor the reception of cholera patieuts; hut which
since fhey were built seven years ago have never
h..n no.s al fort not
Leaving Hoffman Island and passing by Forts
WadsN orth Lafayette and Hamilton. into the
Narrows. the principal quarantine station ut Clifton
rs seen. fr"niinent on me elm ar" the homes of
Health othcer Smith ami his Deputies. At the foot
OF the blut oO the waterfront stands the telegraph
oihce and moored Ia the pier are the steamers used
in boarding vessels not visited from the Illinois,
One "i the avs "i quarantine Is that n" vesse shall
he inspected ana permitted 10 pass quarantine after
sunset aud thls law ~ strictly adhered to. much 10
the inconvenience and dissatisfaction OF many pas
scngeiS ana their Trends on shore INT with more
assured safety {" the health OF the port. Another
stringent law is that no vessel coming from the
West indies in the summer shall be permitted to
proceed to her pier. discharge cargo or land pas
sengers until nye days after her departure the
Wcs Indies. Recently the Havana steamship civ
of Alexandria, compelled to remain at the
quarantine anchorage near Robbins Reef because
il had made tae trip from Havana m The remark.
ably fast time Of three days eight hours and
twenty minutes. The only people that derive any
benefit from the fast trip are those Interested ia
the mails. which are landed aud distributed with
out detention. The passeugcrs lnust remain on
board until the five days have expired. The officers
their families by this restriction.
The National Board of Health having received
adNices from Vera Cruz that yellow fever ana
smallpox prevail ut thai pori IN most mahgnant
form. has ordered that the cargoes of all vessels
leaving Vera Cruz after July @ shall be discharged
from the vessels before leaving the quarantine
anchorages. All vessels coming from infected
ports are inmigatcd at quarantine, whether they
nave disease on board or not In case oi infect ION
the cargo is not broken until the passengers and
crew have been discharged from the vessel. The
regularly licensed Ightcrmcn who DISCHARGE the
cargo are not perntted 10 communicate with the
city while attached To quarantine. While they are
at work tumlgations with chlorine made daily.
When the cargo ~ discharged the interior of the
vessel Is thoroughly washed and scrubbed After
siss Of solution of sulphate of iron In pound to
gallon OF watrrl combined with carbolc acid Of 20
per cent strength.
Yellow fever. as shown by tho records is n YEARLY
yisitant to some parts of the Atlantic scaboard it
Is so common even in this port that from June 10
October yellow fever cases are always to be found
ut the hospli al or Swnburne Island Ii is brought
chiefly III sailing vessels in the holds of which the
conditions of heat filth and fermentation are pecu-
liarly favorable To the development of its germs
Captain Ileakin, of the City of Alexandria and
Captain IimmeTtnan, of the City of WASHINGTON,
both OF whom have been many years in the West
India trade say that their vessels rarely visited
by yellow lever They are very strict in the sum
mer IN regard to the diet of officers and crews while
under the tropical sun. cautionng them to avoid
excessive indulgence in fruits. particularly that
which is in the least decayed and to avoid the use
OF stinulants. Their subordnates are also forbid
den excesses on shore, are ordered TO be on board
Of the vessel ut night. and are not oyerworked I'm
the day. The vessels are also frequently fumigated
while cn the voyage under the supervision of the
captains. These precautions are not generally
observed on board Of sailing vessels or transient
steamships. steamer running at stated intervals
obtains cargo quickly and makes quick passage; !;
but the sailing vessel while being loaded lies for
weeks under tropical sun, the nature of its cargo
producing with fearful rapidity all the conditions
most favorable to the general ion OF fe yer germs
The quarantine burial ground is at Seauin's Point
To this place tho bodies of persons dying from
infectious diseases are taken They can Ee rcmoyeJ
after cold weather sets la. board on which ia
inscribed the name and number OF the dead person
nearly filled with graves
1he regular system OF quarantine now practiced
at TINS port was begun in 1903 though il rs not
until many years afterward that it attained its
present state OF efficiency.