The San Francisco call., 1899-03-05
THE CITY BOARD
Of HEALTH AND
THE QUARANTINE
What Will 1t Do With
DR.. Chalmers?
YEARLY COST OF THE PERKINS
CAPTAIN LANE AND THE OBE-
DENT SENTRY.
Four Overdue Vessels Upon Which
Reinsurance Has Been Paid.
Sailing of the Trans
ports.
YEARLY COST OF THE PERKINS
CAPTAIN LANE AND THE ODE
DENT SENTRY.

City Quarantine Officer Chalmers sails
out on the bay and boards the incoming
ships, but he might as well stay up in
the City Hall and entertain the Health
officer with stories of his wild crutsings.
The doctor carefully inspects the new ar
rivals at the harbor gates and tells them
whether they can come in or not, but he
has no more authority to do so than one
of the sweepers on the water front. Three
Superior Judges of this county have de-
clared in effect that there is only one
quarantine officer for this port and he Is
DR.. NJ. ]. Rosenau Of the Marine Hospital
SO the Federal quarantine man has ex-
elusive jurisdiction.
In the meantime the Board of Health
of this city is asking itself what is to be
done, regardless of the fact that there is
nothing to be done except lay the state
quarantine tug Governor PERKINS up ana
discharge the Quarantine Otlcer ana the the
crew DR.. Chalmers gets $150; Captain w.
H. Milestone of the tug, 500; Engineer j.
c. Cousins, 500; Deckhand Cfem Johnson,
$76 Lo1is jones mgeSenger af tbese IoE 0nsi
tions would save $500 per month and the
discontinuance Of the tug in a useless ser
vice would save n enz6 coal ana @ 0theT of fums
thing like $1,000 per month. If the state
Supreme Court says the city quarantine
service i s0o not neede9 leo affne fhfn tf T eo g5'y may
DR. j. NJ. Williamson, chairman OF the
quarantine department of the Board or
Health, stated yesterday in an interview
that the present bill before the Legisla-
ture to abolish the San Francisco GUAR
antine Office and establish State office
would place the service on stronger ana
more satisfactory footing. Thls has been
done at New York and New Orleans, and
there the State quarantine officers have
successfully held their own in desperate
warfare with the Federal officers. II the
bill does not pass Dr. Williamson thinks
the only course left for the city is to APP
peal to the United States Supreme Court
form the decision of Judges Cook, Dunno
and Lawlor, or abolish the service. The
doctor holds that if the bill becomes a
law it's passage will not end the fight be-
tween the city and the Federal Govern
ment; it will only make the State party
in the warfare, which hardly settles
peacefully the old painful question
The following quotations have been fur
nished on overdue vessels by Marine I'm
derwriter M. A. Newell: British ship
Brussels, 100 days from Newcastle, N. s.
W., to San Francisco, 8 per cent reinsuT-
ance paid; British ship Carnarvon Bay,
168 days from Tacoma to Queenstown, 80
per cent reinsurance paid; British ship
Banklands, 155 days from Iquique to the
English Channel, 10 per cent reinsurance
paid; British ship Alcide, 1873 days from
San Francisco, to London, 10 per cent re-
insurance paid.
Captain Lane of the steamer Valencia
was refused admittance to his own vessel
yesterday morning. A young second lieu
tenant just from West Point came down
to Folsom-street dock with a squad of
common, everyday civilian clothes moving
up and down the gangplank, concluded
that was not war and placed sentry
with musket and bare bayonet on the
wharf. The first civilian that found that
bayonet Jammed against his breast pocket
was Captain Lane. In vain he tried to
convince the military man that he was
the master Of that craft. and virtually