New-York tribune., 1885-03-07
DTsINFECTION OF RAGS.
.,.crs WHERE TT SHOULD BE DONE.
svvrsriGArIoN BY THE KINGS COUNTY GhANp
JURY-IIGHrERs SUGGESTED.

INVESTIGATION BY THE KINGS COUNT "
JURY-LIGHrERs SUGGESTED.
The Grand Jury of Kings County has recently l,
psea considering the danger Of permitting tne IN
in ection of imported rags at the baItic S.oro ne
bsookyn whsIe 1t i extensively oaf of this practice
that unnecessary risk is incurred Dy ALLOWING Sno
rags to he hand in the midst ofa aelse son1nrm mnn
house L'a9 a1s 'Hhs Hamilton ferries in which
the res are situated and it Is malnta,ned ith siu,
those charged with the execIton on su;tnb,e place
tar a;sinfecton at a distance from the city, and
that the work should be thoroughly compieted oe
icTS snS nearuproach of spring has recalled atten.
ton 10 the danger of visitation OF inc As'a0 t =;
cholera, which spread to such an aiarins and
some OF the countries Of Europe last seasE dS %
when the frost came was within easy a;r " the
tance of this continent The health oncer am;raJ
BSrth Grand jury Of Kings and DR. N
Beli formerly surgeon in the United STATES Navy Ivy
sess.a application Of tho system Of disinfect@on @ BY
superheated steam, employing that agsn1 r Ur u
purpose on vessel ID tue naIoor .bst Sodv last week
and took strong ground against peraitting rags 10
he landed before disinfection.
Eshed in this city. said to a.TRIBUNE reporter
that, while it would he improper Ior MN I'm
to state anything that had occurred before the
freely on the subject under consideration The
propcr place for the disinfcction OF rags ne con-
nued s within the Limits sps os .9e SSsMsyer NO
fae;i;,ies for their disinfection there The Score
tary of the Treasury has issued an oider % Stas
that imported rags be disntected, Dut tne Stato
has nrovided no place where this may safely be
done' dor p'o' AT the o. Quarantine islands. which are
in shallow water ships cannot aPppoatch t tbe he island
without being placed on lighters: MY view ls Isl that
the dsnectng apparatus s%ca sSond as be pIaced
on a lighter of sufficient dimensions Inls lign'et
can be placed alongside of any vessel arriving aS
this port and the rags can oe hs " landed
envwhere without danger to the public health
The lighter together with all the necessary ma; IA
stsam wond cost trie compared with the expense
of building any structure which could be erec.eu
site sufficiently Isolated ana au tno saS shat nur,
pose This would be facilitating commerce ana not
hindering it. The term QuarandSn1e tine comSiSSs S;SS
the idea of detention and delay Wnicn
should be avoided, but this would necessltasye
no detention. merchant could Obtain MS geogs
dlsinfectcd within twenty-four hours a1ter ther
ii believe the expense of disiufecting goods at
the Ballc Stores is mach greater than II Wouia Go
On lighter The now vi gre s1S 1n
then placed on lighters second time .;ntti0U TO DC
conveyed to their places OF destination. est Ion.
tom toms harbor S&'VIi they have built warehouse
at Quarantine for the especial purpose OF dsin,
fectng rags. To build warehouse here, II He tnerS
were auy suitable place for 1t, would cost much
more than to place the disnfecting machinery. on
lighters. Another alternative strikes me, ana tnat
is to have a special vessel with derrlc
on board which could be placed between an arriving
vessel and another which it was desired to trans,
fer the goods to be carried elsewhere SO as TO av9d
bringing them shore. BY direction OF tne Ieatn
Of BROOKLYN, goods are now taken to the Baltic
Stores to be dlsinfected, but the Grand Jury can can
mt stOp to this If were asked as to the special
danger of landing rags brought from Smyrna ana
places other than Egypt, should say that that don tha
fhey are not and therefore it is best to disinfect
them. Why SO large proportion of our rags come
from Rgypt don't know, but suppose II is be-
cause there is paper made there and all the rags