The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-10
A Good Cause for Complaint.

Il a OOO4 Sa46o OOAhbA6AAhs
The cabin passengers on the Normannia
and other cholera infected ships at the New
/ York quarantine have good cause for COM
plant. They have been cooped up in their
! close quarters for q number OF days. and
new cases of the disease are developing all
the time. The prospect Of an early release
from quarantine is, therefore, not at all
promising. As long as new cases continue
to appear it would be extremely hazardous
to permit the passengers to go to their
respective homes. They would, in all
probability, carry the infection with them.
and all the good work that has been done
toward keeping the cholera from getting a
foothold in the country would be OF little
account.
But it Is clearly unjust, cruel, and even
dangerous 70 keep the passengers on ship
board. Cholera has not appeared among
them yet. but there is a very strong proba-
bllity that It will IL they are kept where
they are much longer. The fact that ten
sailors on the Normanuia were attacked by
the disease after they had been taken to
Swinburne Island and thoroughly washed
and their clothes fumigated and then taken
back to the ship, shows that the cholera is
in the ship. 1t would be horrible condi-
ton Of affairs indeed IL cholera of a viru-
lent nature should break out among the
cabin passengers. The health authorities
would have more work on their hands than
they could attend TO.
The passengers should be put ashore and
cared for In tents until such time as 1t
would be considered safe TO let them depart
TO their respective Destinations In fact,
that Is what should have been done with
them the very day they arrived in New
York harbor.
II may be said that there was no provi>
sion for dealing with them in that way. 1t
is true there was not, and 10 not now, but
there should have been. There was every
reason to believe that there would be chol-
era on passenger ships arriving in the
harbor. and the health authorities must have
known that it would not be advisable TO keep
passengers on shipboard for any consid-
cradle length Of time. All experience shows
that the surest way to stamp out the disease
among g shipload of people is to put them
ashore as soon as possible and use disinfect-
ants freely.
Before the cholera infected ships Landed
in New York ID was said boastingly that
at least 1000 cholera patients could be
treated at the quarantine station. The fact
that it would be necessary to make provis-
ion for healthy people as well as for those
who were Ill does not appear to have re-
ceived any attention. The truth is, as DR..
Holt, OF New Orleans, recently said, the
New York quarantine is not prepared for
the work that has been suddenly thrust
uponit. The health officer had no idea of
what would be required Of him. He is now
hunting for a ship on which to put the
healthy people Of the infected ships, or for
some spot of land where they can be put in-
ground selected before the first cholera ship
arrived.
All Of the newspapers Of New York city
see the blunder that has been made, and
while they do not put any blame upon the
health officer they are very emphatic In de-
manding that the passengers shall be taken
on the infected ships. No doubt the health
officer Is doing the best he can under the
circumstances. He has never had any such
OApo AohSo no AO 20 hoNihh NJ" uhu ~ 40 q
question whether he should not have the
assistance Of some such man as DR.. Ham
ilton, ex-surgeon general Of the marine
hospital service All the money that the
health officer wants he can have. New York
would willingly place millions Of dollars at
his disposal rather than have the disease get
a Judgment within her limits. and she could
well afford to do so.
The fact that stands out clearly is that
the resources Of the New York quarantine
are not equal to the emergency that will
soon exist there, II. in fact, it is equal to the
present demands upon it. Within the next
week over 1000 immigrants will arrive on
thirteen steamers from Europe, some OF
them from Hamburg. What is to be done
with them If the cholera is on a number Of
the steamersi