New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-16
THE NORTH ATLANTIC.
! V
THE TEUTONIC-A NOTE ON QUARANTINE
THE GERMANIC AND OTHER
TYPES OF SHIP.


principles What said last summer of the White
Star Teutonic on her trip from Liverpool TO
Portsmouth. for the Naval Review, holds good,
with. so far as | am concerned one qualification
The only serious criticism | should make on this
magnificent ship Is that she is too fast. Ike
more Atlantic for the money. The leutonlc ana
her sister ship, the Majestic, which comes ont
this spring, are built and engincd on the theory
that. leaving Queenstown Thursday afternoon
they will arrive in Ncw-Nork on the "Wednesday
following. This the Tcutonic does. The City
of Paris herself can do no more; the difference III
her favor thus far is one of hours
The difference of hours would lie unimportant
but for one regulation Of the port of Newly YORK
which ought TO be abolished tomorrow. mean
that which closes quarantine at shutdown. The
Health Officer of New-NorlS is far TOO great man.
and he does not use his authority greatly; or
the Legislature does not There is either RUE
or statute under which all quarantine inspection
is done between sunrise and sunset. As the sun
chooses TO disappear below the horizon in winter
somewhere about o'clock. the day is at best %
short one Official arbitrariness makes II shorter
still. Many and many n great ocean steamer
with O. Thousand passengers or more on poard
reaches quarantine by daylight. only to be con
demncd to anchor there till next morning me OIL
cal excuse is that inspecton,to be of NaiuemuS'
he done by daylight. II the excuse ever had any
VALIDITY il has ceased TO have. The electric
light is as good as sunlight and none OF the great
liners are now without it. But the inspection
is 10 a great extent, illusory. The ins?Ating
officer does not and cannot know whether all
the ships company have passed before him. lie
relies to great extent on the word of the ship
surgeon. He might just as well take his word
and the captains once for all. With heavy fire
&1n 1nN /.
statement, it could not be. and is not now, worth
their while TO play Tricks. Quarantine in It's
present form and administered as at present in
Ncw-York is an Anticipated nuisance, of very
doubtful use to anybody but the Health Officer
who fattens its abuses.
do not refer particularly 10 the present Health
Officer do not even know who he IS II is
not the individual. but the system, which Ought
TO be held responsible and looked into Things
are no worse now, far as | know, than theN
have been for many years past. But the Health
Officer in his present form is an anachronlsm;
survival of the unfittest. lie re'lrcs In TWO or
four years a rich man: having during his tenure
of Office inflicted the maximum of discomfort on
the greatest number of human beings with tie
minimum of benefit to the community in general
Save for some overriding public necessity. what
pretext can there be for hampering the commerce
Of New-Yorl1 as il is now hampered by Quaran-
tine? What could he more barbarous than 10
stop ship for a night and part of day but a
few miles from her dock; imprison her passengers
for night. and fine her owners in heavy sums
for every hour Of delay costs moncy-in hteral
obedience to pedantic and tyrannical rule? The
gun fires. and all is over for the day. The Health
Officer holds himself excused from further duty
once that sound is heard. Nay Il have had my
hofo 10
wouldn't come off, said captain to me once.
And another seid that New-Yorll was the only port
he knew where the officials seemed 10 wish 10
drive away shipping. d" In Boston or in Boti-
more they do everything 10 facilitate our bust
ness here. everything TO obstruct il. That is
strong statement: very likely 700 strong: but il
never would have been made unless on q basis OF
truth and fact Make any deduction from il vOu
like: still the matter is worth inqurlng into,
and the commerce Of New-NOTls is surely worth
too much 10 be sacrificed to techncalitlcs or 10
individual interests caprice ! don't raise the
question whether any quarantine at all is an abso
lute necessity, though at Liverpool. for example.
if there be such potentate as Health Officer. be
is hardly ever heard Of by the passenger. !
landed yesterday at midnight IN Liverpool with
ont obstruction of any kind from any health func-
tionary whomsocyer and without hint Of his
was wide OPEN But whether quarantine be
necessity or not, q veXatious and arbitrary quar-
antine cannot be necessity. and The point now
wish to make is that the New-fOrll quarantine is
both vexatious and arbitrary.
The cost of the Tcutonic was, believe. not very
far from 81, 600 900, and the Majestic The same.
This is understood 10 be the highest figure yet
reached for an Atlantic liner. Her builders.
Mcssrs Harland & Wolf. of Belfast, do not pro-
fess to build cheap ships. was told last month
in Liverpool that the Germanic, by the same firm,
now sixteen years old. still has the same boilers
with which She first fitted, and they in
perfect order. That means material and work
manship of the sOundcst kind. Mcssrs. lIarand
q VOLTS system is to charge the owners Tho
actual cost of construction. plus an AGREED PER
centage a system under which there is 40 tcmpta-
ton TO scamp work If anybody wants ship
10 do her twcnty-thrce knots an hour, well ami
good: it can readily be supplied Mr.. Ismay
meantime is satisfied with twenty. lie has given
the public credit for some Of that common sense
which it possesses and exhibits on subject, Of
which it has more knowledge than Of ships. The
princplc of the White Star Line with respect 10
number Of passengers has not been departed from.
The Teutonic and Majestic carry no more first
class PASSENGERS than can dine at once in her
saloon. Overcrowded therefore, these ships can
not be, and they are admittedly in point Of luxury
and comfort superior 10 anything afioat
In writing last summer from on board the
Tcutonfc, believe | mentioned the points which
most struck me; the convenience, the cleanliness
the elaborate decoration, the novelties in her state
room fittings, and many more. The greatest adj
vance of all has been made, however, in the
smoking room and library and on the upper deck
The smoking-room is good enough for any hotel
The library is rcading-room forty feet by twenty
on the upper deck, with windows or doors on all
four sides, and has, therefore, all the light and
sunlight and air there is on the Atlantic al any
given moment. 1t is fitted with writing desks,
md sofas and tables and chairs. and there you
may sit and read write. or lounge, or sleep, II
you like, all day long. Think Of the difference
between this and having to snatch half hour
In, f.. hclnA,r lef the