The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-10
which so far remains untouched, Boulao

The Alexandria authorities are to be warmly congratulated on having taken in good time every precaution, especially In the case of arrivals by train from Cairo There Is consequently every reason to be- lieve that but for their prompt action In the matter cholera would doubtless ere now have got into Alexandria, a serious matter for the most important seaport town in Egypt. Three cholera cases have in this way been detected in the trains and isolated in time. All passengers on arrival at Alexandria terminus are med ically examined. The system of super vision is very thorough, and there is req son to hope that Alexandria will keep free of cholera. It may interest you to have a few details of the way in which the examination of passengers arriving by train is effected.
 As soon as train arrives at the ter minus all persons are obliged to remain In their carriages until a doctor and a sanitary officer have made a complete examination of each compartment. All first and second-class passengers who ap- pear in good health are allowed to leave the station. but any suspicious oking bundles have to remain behind for ex- animation, and are put into a hot disin- fecting stove, when necessary.
 "The third-class passengers, consisting
  est classes and poor Greeks, have to un- dergo measures of disinfection which last about two hours before being allowed to leave the railway station. Their disin- fected clothes and effects are not worth much after the process undergone. To prevent any surreptitious escape of peo- pie from the train policemen are station ed on each side of every carriage. A properly equipped ambulance carriage is attached to every train, and any suspi- cious cases noted during the journey are at once removed into 1t.
 T admit" pr. Doty said yesterday ''that have for years been an optimist in regard to the efficacy of modern sani- tation and methods, and firm in the be- lief that they were able to cope with any situation, and I believe that these views are fully justified in the present instance. Mind you, I am not speaking of cholera alone but of such scourges as typhus fe- yer. yellow fever and the bubonic plague. You see ~ this instance the essential principle was followed mainly, never to halt when a case of contagious disease Is discovered until its source is ascertained beyond a doubt This principle am glad to say is one of the best features of the present administration of the health department of New York City, ana, WuSH Ipho"SA AiA pASN AOS'''N"' wrought wonders.
 ''In my visit to Europe I did not look over the cholera field alone. It's home Is, of course. Mecca and the Nefood desert neighborhood, in Arabia, because of the pilgrims caravans. The devout from Af- rica go to the sacred city by way of Suez, the Red Sea and Jidda. looked after centers of typhus fever in Russia, and studied the bubonic plague. In regard to cholera. I made arrangements to be kept constantly in touch with the area of danger, with the results now before me. To me the check of the disease only a couple of weeks ago at Cairo appeals as a splendid accomplishme when the fact that cholera spreads like prairie fire is taken into consideration. There they had the outbreak within control in A couple of days. and the tracing of its source to Mousha eliminates such lm- portant places as Port Said, Alexandra and SueZ It is evidence that not only cholera, but all other scourges of the kind can be controlled if they are prop erly handled, checked by the exercise or proper methods and robbed of their ter TOTS to those who do not know that they flourish and spread only where such san itarv methods cannot be put in operation.
 "The disease was without doubt carried to Mousha by pilgrims. who. instead Of going up the Red Sea from Jidda, evaded quarantine by crossing the sea to the AL rican coast between Kossier and Don Rola and worked their way to the Nile. Had they gone by way of Suez they would have been subjected to the splen- did and thorough quarantine at Tor, ana not a case could have passed that point
 Tn old times the case of the woman who died at Boulac would have been cred UniiIA have snread like fire in flax at Mousha until if had involved the whole Nile and the Mediterranean and Red Sea ports. As il ia the local sanitarians were able to nounce on upper Egpt and hold the scourge there and protect AleXandria ana nearby places. 1t Is an Illustration that we are getting down to the important principle of fighting contagious diseases. Instead of blindly accepting the cause we 20 behind and burrow to the source or the outbreak. It was just this principle that led nine years ago to the stamping ont of typhus fever in New York city a,ben it appeared to be ineradicable un- til it was traced to Bowery lodging houses.
 "JudRlng from what my correspondent here tells, we travellers should not be timid about going to Egypt now. We must not gauge the terrors of a disease bv the way it spreads in countries where there Is no sanitation. no intelligent CO., oDeration with sanitary work. Iake TOT instance. typhus fever, and Introduce II among the seething, crowded centers of flthv population in India. and it would travel ike the wind. Then. on the other hand. take what was done with cholera in Hamburg, and the bubonic plague at Lisbon, Glasgow, Rio de Janeiro, Santos Alexandria, and see how modern sanita- ton was able to cope with them and tranouilize public apprehension.
 Strengthen the tired kidneys and purify .ne liver and bowels with few doses of