The San Francisco call., 1897-07-12
CAME TN With
YELLOW FEVER
The San Juan Arrives for
Quarantine With an
Unburied Body.
A Leaking Hold, No Surgeon
on Board, and a Corpse
Saved for Inspection.
Remains Will Be Burned on Angel
Island. Which Four Steamers
Helped Populate Yesterday.

| Two Panama steamers from the infect ed
| tropics and the contagious corpse OF a
| Chinese boy who died at sea of yellow
| fever are at the Government quarantine
station at Angel Island. The body will be
either burned by some improvised Gre
mating process or buried deep with quick
lime.
The City of Sydney arrived yesterday
forenoon from Panama and way ports
twenty-three days out from the Isthmus,
with the report to the quarantine officer
that case of yellow fever had been put
off the ship before leaving Panama, and
that there hai been no cases of serious
sickness on board during the trip.
An hour later the steamer San Juan
from Panama and Acapulco passed in,
leaking slightly with no surgeon on board
and carrying the CORPSE of Chinese
steerage passenger who had died two days
before at sea. The body had, oddly enough,
not been buried at sea because the captain,
not supposing it to have been a case OF
yellow fever, decided to bring it to port,
that the quarantine officer might not sus-
peet that there had been case of the
scourge on board.
Both vessels anchored off Meigrs wharf
while Quarantine Inspectors DR.. Blue and
DIR. Ro enau of the quarantine station
pursued their inspection. The City of
Sydney had touched at Point Arenas, CO.
rinto and San Jose de Guatemala and car
red twenty-three cabin and twenty-six
seera passengers. The surgeon re-
ported that al Panama a Chinese passen-
gr who had been passed by the local au-
a IN wit oil
low f yer while the vessel lay in port and
had been put off. On the way up there
had been Two cases of so-called malarial
fever, with recovery. All of the cabin
passengers had got on at San Jose de
Guate nala and as no sickness had devel-
oped in the eighteen days since the vessel
left that port DIR. Blue allowed the ca bin
passengers to land. They were taken off
the steamer by the tug Milen Griffith and
landed at the mail dock early ill the after
noon. The ship was then sent TO the
quarantine station for thorough fumiga-
tlon OF the steerage passengers, crew, mail
and baggage, as well as the ship itself.
The vessel may be released from quaran-
tine to-day.
When Drs Blue and Rosenau boarded
the San Juan the story OF the death at sea
was told them. They Immediately in.
spected the body and from external ap-
pearances they diagnosed the case as one
of yellow fever. Then they made an au-
topsy on the body as it lay on rough box
and confirmed their diagnosis. All the
post mortem signs of yellow fever were
found in the internal organs. The BODY
was that OF a Chinese boy of about Is
years OF age, named Ah Ki, en- route to
China. He had taken passage at San Jose
de Guatemala and had been found dead in
his steerage quarters on Friday night
Why there was no surgeon on board is not
nad hnt \ H.,
the trip down nothing but freight was
carried. Nobody on board knew what the
cause of death WAS, but it was not sup
posed to be yellow few anu the captain
decided to avoid annoyance on reaching
port By displaying clean bill of health
for all on board an letting the uuaran-
tine officers see for them selves that there
had been no yellow fever and no deceivine
ourials at sea this time.
In the afternoon the San Juan followed |
the City cf Sydney to Angel Island with |
the 81 ca bin and the 21 steerage passen- |
gers which she carried. The vessel and |
passengers will be held for at least five |
days, and meantime there will be rigid |
fumigation of the ship and everything |
and every body in it. 1t is not at ali likely |
that any further cases will develop.
As none of tho passengers came ashore |
it was not definitely learned what caused |
the leak in the San Juan's bottom, of |
which well-d fined rumor reached the |
shore, but it was stated to be slight and |
at no time was it considered at all dan.
gerous.
The Pacific Mail people, from the stokers
up, have little information to give about
accidents or yellow fever. and information
a bout sickness on board Is not received in
perfect faith by the quarantine officers
Three weeks or so ago the Acapulco came
into port with report of four buriaIs at
sea. Since then a story that there had
been ten sea burials on that trip has come
to official sources second hand from a
passenger, who was once in the en- ploy of
the company, and other disagreements
between the stories of passengers and
ships officers reg arding the cases of sick.
ness on board have been noted.
Yesterday kept the quarantine men
busy, for early in the morning the City
Of Puebla got in, carrying a party of
twenty Japanese steerage passengers who
were taken to the island, fumigated and
soon released.
Al p NJ. the Doric arrived from Hong
kong and Yokohama with record of
lwelve days and twenty hours and with a
,mail party of cabin passengers and 126
Chinese in the steerage. Thirty-two OF
.he Chinese were bound for southern
ports and were lef: with the Pacific Mail
Company TO be transferred to south
pound steamer. The remaining Orientals
we're ordered TO The quarantine station
or fumigation by DR.. Blue. No other
passengers were detained.
The big Norwegian tramp steamer
Florida arrived yesterday on its second
rip from Departure Bay with coal, carry
ng the enormous cargo of 5l77 tons.