The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-26
LAW GUARANTEES.
ACTS OF PANIC-sTRToKEN TOWNS
Nv THE soUTHWEsE

ment in Favor OF National Control.
New ORLEANS, Sept. 2l.-The experience OF
the Southwest this summer has produced q
sentiment In favor Of q fvuornl quarantine sys-
ten, or ut least of some system that will as
sure q uniform, sensible. scientific, and effec-
tive quarantine. Tho experience since the out
break of fever at Ocean Springs has made the
present condition Of affairs uncomfortable. The
injury to public health as we'll as commerce
from the contradictory guarantees now In op-
Grafton has been n hundredfold as great as
from the fever. and the losses will run far up
into the millions.
The very prevalence Of the fever at Ocean
Springs, Biloxi, New Orleans, and Mobile is
due entirely to the quarantine war. the jealousy
of the several States and cities, and the utter
lack Of any uniformity or system. The change
In public sentiment In regard to a Federal quar-
antine is shown by the fact that the New Orleans
papers which have heretofore opposed any Fed
eral control OF health matters are now In favor
Of surrendering the quarantine to tho United
States Government under certain guarantees.
They find that no matter how perfect the quar-
antine service of Louisiana may be. New Or
leans and Louisiana are not safe 30 long as tho
other States do not have equally efficient SER
vice. The limo of quarantine Is only as strong
as its weakest part.
aIter the ulSaStTOuS eplQem1C OF 1878, Now
Orleans recognized that 1t would have to es-
tablish an efficient quarantine system and pre-
vent yellow fever from coming in IL 1t wished
TO continue a commercial city. The result
was the extension of the power of the Louisiana
Board Of Health and the establishment Of
quarantine stations with disintecting apparatus
laya. and Pontchartrain. The system has been
a complete success, and during the last nino-
teen years not a case OF yellow fever has broken
through This nrriar md New tlrlannl which
had been tho point Of origin of previous yellow
fever epidemics, became the safest place on
But. unfortunately, the Louisiana Board of
Health had jurisdiction over only q limited por;,
t 1Rs 0 of the b G%lf coast Is io and 1T ,; could nTom mo, eom TSd
Texas health authorities adopted the system OF
non.interconrsc which protected that State. SO
that from Mississippi! Sound to the, Rio Grande
there is no danger of tho disease invading tho
country. East Of Louisiana, however. tho
quarantine system Is thoroughly bad, and the
has passed without n scare or an epidemic.
There have been outbreaks in Biloxi uss6,.
willie and Brunswick, and the present outbreak
Is the eighth in twelve years.
again ain and mUi' pointed d0 ont n the aar "nssr. E EsHIig t ins
summer it demonstrated That the Mobile quar-.
antine was II folly and a threat to the entire
entire tropical. fruit trade Of the Gulf. That
trade, which is carried on In summer with
ways more or less dangerous, and is only
safe when n perfect quarantine and disin-
fiction tee n system prevails. TO- carry on the sys,
Central American vessels a considerable sum TO
pay the cost Of quarantine. The fruit mer-
to Mobile 10 transfer their business thither
If the quarantine fees were reduced. The
offer was accepted, bit the quarantine service
protection. The bad example thus set has
been followed by Biloxi, scranton, Pascagoula
and other lumber towns on Mississippi Sound
In the interest of their large and growing lum-
Der trade With the yellow fever ports Of South
AT AND T Esn,Tal A Am aaSaI,v IN in liGTiid%; particularly @IsnsIn
service has been in operation, and health ccrti-
fcates have served In lieu OF the disinfcctiOn
OF person and baggage insisted ON by the Louisi-
All this has been well known for years. The
dozen times that the quarantine was "A mock.
cry. but has been told to mind its own bust
a aSss: II has ssa SGsn STTS SBBiIs on se Si.r times at tho to
the ground that It was equally dangerous with
ried out. because It WAC feared that it would be
misunderstood. and because 1t is impossible
for New Orleans to quarantine efficiently
against Mobile, as a person Cnn come from
that town to New Orleans In a few hours by
way Of Meridian and Jackson.
animation there shows that the yellow fever
aas been prevailing in Mobile or in ocean Springs
originated there. and cannot be traced to other
points. II has been suggested by some that
Ocean springs may have got the fever from
tons, as the town itself is merely a pleasure
resort, with no m or business: but
whether this can be proved or not does not az.
feet the proposition that the quarantine Mt Mo
bile and at most other Gulf ports Is insu fncicnt.
These are the facts that will be brought be.
fore that sanitary and quarantine conference
which will necessarily be called as soon as the
present outbreak is over. The sentiment in
emphasized by the idiotic and inhuman quar-
antineS prevailing in the panic just now raging
through the ports of the South. Business has
suffered a heavy loss already from these quar-.
antines and the experience this year shows that
they are likely to grow worse with every future
this chaos.
A large proportion Of the quarantines in the
Southwest are merely a new emanation or de,
vel0pment Of lynch law. The so-called Boards
OF, Health are usually without constitutions or
other po%%ers' In o., The he smaller towns mass
the most peremptory and far;reaching edicts.
They have even banished people from town be-
States Government hns been defied in even
those prerogatiyes which were supposed to bo
lowed Natchez In Its quarantine OF the mails.
No papers or letters can come in.
There arc n great many varieties OF quaran.
shotgun style, and the quarantine against the
world. Some towns they are few and growing
and other infected G districts from ON simple hnw o ree,ia'
Gates Of health. Others prohibit all persons
from these points. and chase a suspect who
NNN' 80" N.tt' hf'bN ooAllN olIlt
locality. You may be from New York, but
unless you can prove II in n manner to satisfy
the quarantine guards in .Mississippi. you arc
liable to be chased out OF town or put into a
detention canp-that is, some old shanty half n
dozen miles out OF town. Mississippi will al
low II person from New Orleans to pass through
the state provided he has n, certificate OF
health. does not get OFF the car during his pas.
cage through the state, and pledges himself un.
der oath not TO return to Mississippi by way OF
some Western city. Texas goes a step further
and stops Them at the boundary. 1t will not
take any chances of their slipping off the train.
Alabama locks each car in which there are sns.
poets, closes the windows, and will not let the
trains stop.
A still further advance of this is the shot
gun quarantine, samples of which prevail at
Natchcz, ,Nicksburg, and Shreveport. The
trains are boarded twenty miles from town, and
the INSPECTORS go through tho cars, cross.exan.
Inc every passenger, put him under oath, and
make him swear to more facts than when be IL
under examination for n lifc insurance policy,
ana II the answers are not satisfactory or IL
there is anything suspicious about him, he is |
put OFT at some wayside station. where his fate
Is snd enough, because every ono looks on him
as dangerous. Not only the railroads but also
the river and every dirt road are pickctod with
men armed with shotguns and rifles, who will
shoot If necessary, TOO. At NatcheZ all steam.
boats are required to land at quarantine, half
IA IIllh ~ Hnpn aHI a.