The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-14
THE MORNING NEWS: MONDAY. SEPTEMBER IA. 1896

against ATTITUDES, but against infected or
/ suspected ports. He does US the credit
/ OF stating that we have irst-class quar-
/ antine establishment furnished with all
/ the best and newest appliances for rapid
| disinfection of vessels and their cargoes,
! their bedding and their cloth
ing. and maintained at great
! expense to the city and with a full corps
! OF competent officers to do the work. This
I Is one of the few correct statements to
/ be fund in the article; but he goes on to
| say that under our present regulations
every vessel from the West Indies and
| South America is detained two weeks or
! longer This is untrue. Immediately
| following this he says that one vessel lad
! den with coffee, which left Rio Janeiro in
| the winter with a clean bill
! Of health and no sickness on
| board, was detained ninety days I'M
| der the present regulations. The present
| quarantine regulations have been in force
| since 1898. They are based on the mini
mum regulations imposed by the United
! States marine hospital service. This ser
! vice, in March, 1893, called together the
| health officers of the Atlantic and Gulf
4 coasts, from the Canadian line to the Rio
| Grande river, for an expression of their
| views on quarantine. II will be seen that
| these regulations were the result of what
| the practical sanitarians of the marine
| hospital service and the health officers of
! the different seaports have thought for
the best interests of the whole country.
| The following regulations governing the
| treatment of vessels coming from infect
ed or suspected ports are imposed at this
station:
A sailing vessel from an infected or sus-
| pected port is required to discharge her
| ballast at quarantine station. She is then
| disinfected thoroughly and detained five
days thereafter to cover the period of in
| cubation of yellow fever. So far as the
| vessel is concerned she could leave imme-
| diately after discharge of ballast and dis
| infection. The period of incubation is for
the crew. 1t is only fair to state here that
| there is some delay occasioned to sailing
vessels at the Savannah quarantine sta
| ton, but this delay Is unavoidable. The
| United States government, in improving
| this harbor, has driven the quarantine sta
| ton OF the city of Savannah from one
| place to another, and two years ago drew
! its harbor lines. These harbor lines cut off
| about 500 feet of our present station and
/ compel all ballast to be placed without the
| harbor lines. This occasions delay of from
to 4 days, depending on the amount OF
| ballast in the vessel. Most of the steam
| ships, in fact, nearly ALL coming to this
port subject to quarantine, are water bal
last vessels. They are disnfected and the
| time occupied in this work is from S6 to
| As hours. They are detained, as in the
| case of sailing vessels, five days to cover
| the period OF incubation; total detention,
| days. yet the writer of this article says
/ that under our present regulations
| every ship from the West Indies and
! South America is detained two weeks or
| longer The statement as to the vessel
| laden with coffee from Rio Janeiro in the
| winter with clean bill of health and
| no sickness on board having been detain-
| ed ninety days is incorrect. No vessel
| has come to this port within the past
/ wit a
| speaks of a clean bill of health from Rio.
! Let us see what a clean bill of health
| from Rio would mean. over 50 600 people
! have died of yellow fever in Rio from 1865
| to July IS, 1896. The number of deaths
| occurring annually from yellow fever in
| Rio is from 300 to 5000. Small pox and
cholera are not nfrequent visitors. A
| clean bill of health from a port infected
| with yellow fever for forty years is APP
| parently worthless piece of paper. The
| writer says: at seems. however, that no
! confidence is placed in either of these
! methods by those who direct them, from
the fact that when incoming vessels have
sickness on board, or have touched with
! in month or two at an infected or sus-
| peeted port, they are Immediately sent
| to the marine hospital quarantine station
| at Sapelo." This statement is also tn
| correct. All vessels with sickness on
| board, or having sickness during the voy-
| age or at the port of departure, are sent
| to the national quarantine station for
| treatment, All vessels from Santos, Rio
| and Havana are also sent there. The rea-
sons for sending them to that isolated
| station are apparent. These
| vessels are foul, the ballast from Havana
and Santos reeking with filth. is better
| placed under the waters of Sapelo sound
/ than on the banks of the Savannah river.
There is not one vessel sent to the ma
tional station where five are treated at our
station The course taken by Savannah
| in sending positively infected vessels and
vessels from the three ports named above
is followed out by Wilmington, N. c.,
Port Royal, and, in many instances, by
| Brunswick, Ga, and Fernandina, Fla.
While it is stated that the present quar-
antine regulations have been in force since
1893, the Improvement in quarantine meth
DDS began Immediately after the yellow
fever epidemic Of 1876. Before that time
the following conditions of affairs existed
at our quarantine station, and the Ian
| guage of the health officer during
the year 1876 is quoted: 1.-THE quarantine
station up to 1876 was merely an anchorage
for vessels at Tybee, opposite Tybee
| light" Upon the arrival of vessel from
an infected port the health officer was no.
titled by telegraph, whereupon he visited
the vessel. He instituted inquiries COM
corning the condition of the vessel and
health of the crew. The usual detention
/ was ABOUT ten days from port 10 port
No intelligent disinfection was practiced
There was no quarantine officer to carry
out any instructions which were given by
the health officer. His own statement
shows that there was nothing to prevent
the crew of any vessel from coming to the
city. During the year 1876, Jan to May J.,
there We're twenty-four vessels from Gu
ban ports at this station, which either
brought cargoes or came in ballast. This
ballast was deposited along the river
front. 1t is easy to see where yellow fever
came from in 1876. Such a condition of
affairs could only end in one result-yel-
low fever. Your health officer would here
quote from a paper written In 1876 by Sur
geon McClennan, U. S. A. This paper was
read before the state board of health Of
Georgia, - and the following quotation
shows that at least one man had arrived
at correct conclusion as to the causes
OF yellow fever in Savannah and at other
southern ports. His exact language is as
follows: "Oh. menl Endowed with UNI
derstandng minds, can you not see, that
for nearly 900 yea RI This local oriQ gin theory