Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-02
AROUSED At LAST,
Harrison's Twenty-Day Quar-
antine Order Not Looked
Upon at the Capital
AS BEING OUT ON TINE.
1 Week Ago 1t Might Have Been
Considerably More Effective.
oNEWAY FOUND TO GET AROUND 1T
Proposed Postponement of the Grand Army
Encampment.
AS BEING OUT ON TINE.
oNEWAY FOUND TO GET AROUND IT
WASHINGTON'S POOR SANITARY SHAPE
yrnoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT


ran down to the capital this morning to dc
what ought to have been done week ago,
but it is agreed by pretty nearly everybody
that he has not done as much as he should
have done. The order is to detain all yes.
sells carrying immigrants 20 days at quaran-
tine
This is subject to the laws of the States
which govern the quarantine at the various
ports 1t does not apply to vessels WHICH
have already sailed and which are really
more to be feared that those which have
not sailed 1t does not apply to any but
steerage passengers apparently, and there
fore all that an ordinary immigrant has to
do to come to the United States with all
the freedom and compliment that is be-
slowed on the favored cabin passenger is to
paw the small difference of about SIS or $40.
which will get him an intermediate or Sec
ond cabin passage, and armed with this
franchise he can come from an infected
region and walk out upon the shore at the
Custom House or the company's dock with
no inconvenience except that small and
careless detention which all passengers
must suffer at this time.
Not by ANY Means Enough.
Possibly this is all that could be done,
but if any body thinks this is enough l have
not been able to find that body, and it is
said the President himself admits it is prob
able that the barrier will not serve to keep
out the dreaded enemy.
'The order sent from the Treasury De-
partment to-day may be of some benefit"
said one of the mast prominent physicians
or the city this evening, "but in my opinion
it will not be effective in keeping out the
cholera Ms the old story of locking the
stable after the, horse is stolen. If the
order is of any benefit at all it should have
been promulgated week ago If it is not
through which the cholera might be intro
duced. why was it not made so? Su ppose it
has the effect to stop immigration in the
common meaning of the word
Apparently any class of persons from an
injected port may escape the 20 days quar-
antine it they ship as anything but steer
age passenger, and the hundreds that will
come by the first and second and intermed-
late cabins are to be subjected to nothing
more than the indifferent inspection and
fumigation that is given to the better classes
of passengers
What Shourd Have Been Done.
''Why were not all passengers-not only
from infected ports but from everywhere
compelled to endure the 20 days quarantine
Surely it is not asking too much of them
when the penalty of ans less rigid surveil-
l. he ho r,l,o
and the death of thousands who wodld not
otherwise be exposed. Then, there is moth
ing in the order, or in any of the regula-
tions, to prevent ship with the disease on
board from sailing in among other vessels
which have no sickness, though a plague
infested vessel will contaminate the air in
its whole vicinage.
Neither is there any prohibition of the
entrance of merchandise which might trans
nit the disease 1t is the experience of all
history that in such crises. no matter how
great the danger that threatens. inspection
and disintecting are processes that are care
lessly attended to as time wears away anil
the first fright passes. The entrance of all
such merchandise should be prohibited-or,
if permitted, the shippers or ship owners
should be compelled to 60 to the expense of
unloading at some point where the cargo
could not only be fumigated, but also ex-
posed to the air for a considerable time.
F1migation will not destroy cholera germs
in rags and articles of clothing in the touch,
in the manner in which it is usually ad-
ministered.
Bad for Eleventh. .Hou.. Work.
'But what is the use of talking? The au-
thorities have done all they are going to do,
and We will have to accept what comes.
Their action was tardy everywhere, and the
eleventh-hour order of to-day, going further
than any other pronunciation, is subject to
the laws of the States, the whims of State
officials, and the indifference of the en-
plOyes of the States, appointed usually for
the reason that they are good political hele-
ers. Anyone can see at q glance how
wretchedly Intellectual it all must be, and if
the cholera rears its ghastly deaths head
among us it will be because of the imbecil-
lily OF the Government in dealing with the
question.
Think of great nation like this being
compelled to issue an order in such crisis
that is OF no avail unless it commend itself
to the good graces OF petty State A few
thousand individuals are permitted to land
because 1t would be inconvenient for them
to be detained, and 60, 600, 600 of people are
by this means subjected to contamination.
In the interests OF business" the ragpick-
ers and the old clo' merchants of the world
are permitted to SOW the disease broadcast
L sincerely hope the precautions, such as
they are, do not come too late. and that
they will be vastly more effectual than I
think they will be-
Proposed Delay of the Encampmen..
Not the least anxious lot of people here
abouts are the Grand Army men and the
thrifty citizens who have gone to consider
able time and expense with the expectation
OF turning pretty penny during the an
nual encampment. One of the leading
members OF the G. A r. in the District
admitted to me to-day that if there oc-
Cured any sort of an outbreak of the
cholera in this country prior TO the 10Th
of September, which is the date of the as
sembling of the veterans, the whole affair
would have to be abandoned. There are a
number of people here who are more con-
cerned for the health Of the CITY than for
the feeting enjoyment of the old soldiers.
and who hope that in view of the proximity
0, the cholera the encampment will be de-
clared of till next year.
While no one would stop to think of the |
matter under ordinary circumstances, it has
become serious question whether the
health authorities should not take some ac- |
tlon In regard to the VIGOROUSLY inadequate |
sanitary provisions at the free lodging bar |
racks. over $4,000 persons are to be housed |
In barracks OF the himsiest character, rooted !
with paper and weather-boarded with can |
vas, in which the veterans are to be packed |
as closely as sardines in box, three |
tiers deep, the structures looking as though |
they would be blown away by anything |
more than an ordinary breeze. Not an |
available lavatory is within reach OF any of |
these barracks, and there is no sewer near
them over which closets nav he .raotad