Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-04-18
MOSQUITO QUARANTINE
How the Steamers From Gulf
Ports Are Watched.
ARRIVING CAPTAINS QUESTIONED

sells Are Lying out From shore and
he Carried to Distant Porta.
The argus eyed mlnions Of the gov
eminent stationed at the several ports
where big ocean ships come IN are not
combining their attention, II appears. 10
the exclusion OF inlrin, diseased, pau
per, convict, anarchistic and yellow
skinned aliens, but have for some time
been watching the members of a fly by
night class OF immigrants until recent
" disregarded. says a Washington spe
cial dispatch to the New York Post.
These are the Stcgomyla fasciata ana
a less important relative. the common
culex. The invaders are perhaps bet
ter known by their popular name. mos
qultoes.
Ever since last June observations
have been made al the gulf quarantine
station under the supervision of Passed
Assistant surgeon s. Il. Grubbs; every
vessel arriving from ports where the
stegomyia. the yellow fever bearing
mosquito. prevails has been carefully
examined to ascertain whether mos
qultoes are on board, and II 80 their va
riety, where and when they took pas
sage and under what conditions, The
inspector IS armed for this work with
a cyanide killing bottle and a sheet OF
questions for the captain to answer,
like these:
/. Were there any mosquitoes on board
on your outward voyng consisting Of -
days2
2. II so. did they come aboard before
departure from home port or at sea ana
under what circumstances?
3. Were there any mosquitoes on board
at your destination or on homeward voy~
age7
I, II In pors ta) How far were you
from shore2 (b) Prevailing wind ana
weather.
8. II on homeward voyage Consisting
of - days.: ta) Were they from porty
Oh Did they come aboard at sea, on what
day and how far were you from land? t3
Were there wigglers in any OF your tanks
at any time?
or eighty-two vessels inspected be-
tween June | and Nov. / Of last year,
all arriving from stegomyia infested
ports, only seventeen were found to
have carried any mosquitoes during
the voyage. Five had them aboard be-
fore leaving port, two of these Were
rid of their winged passengers as soon
as they were well out to sea, three car
rled them for two days, after which
they disappeared, and one, after seeing
as IL supposed. the last of them, re-
ceiyed another visitation when b had
got about twenty miles from land at
this end of her voyage. Nine sailing
vessels, having no mosquitoes aboard
before sailing, had them appear at sea.
In one case they came from he water
casks, in which the captain found
larvae. but In the others the vessels
were boarded by mosquitoes from the
land they were approaching at dis
tances ranging from two to twenty
miles out. In all these instances the
mosquitoes found on board We're OF the
harmless culex genus, with no stego-.
myia among them.
In three cases stegomyia were found
on board and identified. One vessel
had made a fifteen days voyage from
Vera Cruz, Mexico. The captain said
that mosquitoes came aboard in multi
tubes at Vera Cruz. although he lay =
half mile from shore and there were
variable winds with squalls and rain
all the time. They decreased in num-
Der on the way, but were always In
evidence, and -four or Eve were caught
after the ship reached gulf station
On another vessel from Vera Cruz
which lay there a half mile from shore
and amid variable winds stcgomyia
were found when she reached port.
The captain said they came aboard at
| Vera Cruz, and he had been unable to
get rid OF them on the voyage, though
their number decreased. In neither or
these cases were any mosquitoes bred
10 the water tanks.
A third vessel, twenty-five days
from Vera Cruz, had had a case OF yell
low fever aboard at that place, where
she lay q half mile from the sea wall
~three-eighths of a mile from an infect
ed prison and 200 yards from another
infected ship. Stegomyia were found
| aboard before she sailed. as well as
larvae In the tanks. All through the
trip the insects kept up a buzzing ~
the ~forecastle. The captain emptied
several water barrels because be found
that they were breeding mosquitoes.
but there were no live larvae In the wa
| ter. though many old molts were seem
The conclusion reached by DR..
Grubbs as the result of q seasons OBJ
servations at a single quarantine sta
ton Is that mosquitoes car come
aboard vessels under favorable condi-
| lions at fifteen miles from shore; that
| stegomyia can be carried from Mex
ican or West Indian ports to those
OF our gulf states, and that a vessel
may become infected with yellow fe
yer though moored a short distance
from land, in spite Of old beliefs to the
contrary.
Novel bed For summer Use.