The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-03
Authorities Not Alarmed.

I New Orleans, August 2-Today's report of the fever stuatlon showed again an increase in the number of deaths, but I the health authorities confessed to no alarm over the situation and said that more fatalities were to be looked for 1 from the fact that in the past three or l four days there has been a sufficient in crease in the number of new cases to- warrant the expectation of d heavier nor | tality. High temperatures, succeeded by l heavy precipitation and coer weather produced climatic conditions also favor | able to fatalities. Practically all of the deaths were of Italians. and nearly all of l them were either in the emergency hos l pital or in the district adjacent thereto. Some of the victims were unfortunates whose cases were only reported in the past two days, indicating that they were practically in a moribund condition when 1 their illness was discovered
 There was no dissent among the au- l thorities from the view expressed by Health Officer Kohke that conditions were hopeful There is of course a certain geometrcal progression to be considered | in the appearance both of new cases and | of deaths and for some time to come the visible results of the scientific campaign | that is being waged will be few. But | in the meantime there is and there will be no relaxation in the energy with which the battle Is being fought and with only a slender number of isolated cases in the district above Canal street, it Is conf dently believed that once the infection begins to decline in the section below, where the conditions, sanitarly and other wire, are more favorable for a spread of tie disease. there will be little difficulty I in stamping out the cases which may be under treatment elsewhere. There Is no attempt to conceal the fact that the ex- l tent of the fever spells are in a serious state of affairs, but there is not believed | to be any justification for the terror which seems to have spread over the country outside of New Orleans.
 Continues Italian Infection.
 That the fever continues an Italian in- | lection is borne out by an analysis Of | the full report of the city board to the state board of yesterdays forty-two new l cases and six deaths. In the list of forty | two the Italian victims number thirty | five The six dead were all Italians. e I Hospital street in the heart of the origi- | nally infected area. theer were twelve l cases, all of them in a single block. In one of the Hospital street houses five cases were found and in another four. l Barracks, Chartres. Decatur, Dumaine, | St. Philip and Ursuiine streets, all in the vicinity of the French Market, furnished the bulk of the remainder of the new cases Almost without exception the vic- l tims are persons of humble station in | life.
 1 In spite of what has been done to reas- sure them many of the Italians continue | to make efforts to conceal their cases. | They are still stricken with panic and | they turn in fear from the doctors and health officers It was due largely to the | energy with which the marine hospital forces set about the work of discovering
 hidden cases that Tuesdays record was
 made so large. With local inspectors they l ignored custom and insisted upon reach | ing spots where they believed cases to exist Since this campaign has been in progress cases have been turned up in | the most unexpected hooks and corners. | In one instance when the officers had made a thorough inspection of the prem | ises and failed to find what they were l looking for they went through skylight | and found a sick man lying on the roof. | In another case they found a patient con- I cealed under a cistern. The other day a wagon loaded with household goods and accomnanied by Italians started to cross | one of the ferries. Suspicious officers | insisted upon an investigation, and when | the goods were unloaded man very i'll was found in the bottom of the wagon. Sleep Without Bars.
 l One of the reasons why the fever has spread so extensively among the Italians | is said to be the fact that many of them
 have been accustomed to sleep without | bars Whether or not there is Illness or
 not ninety nine out of every hundred peo- ] pie in New Orleans in the summer time l are forced to sleep under netting to pro | tect themselves against mosquitoes The l humber Italians have in many instances | refused to follow the custom. In conse- l quence they have been prety to the plague | of insects since the fever appeared, stego-
 myia reaching them at will.
 l Postmaster Woodward today received a | letter from the railway mail service at Atlanta saying that Greenville, Miss, had notified that office that hereafter 1t will | receive no letter mail from New Orleans | that has not first been disinfected and that under no circumstances will 1t re- I ceive newspapers. whether disinfected or not. Greenville will doubtless be tempo rarily without mail or newspapers. Post | master Woodward has talked over with the marine hospital surgeons the question | of the fumgaton of mails. MT Wood 1 ward was told that having accepted the mosquito theory the surgeons considered disinfeetion of mail matter utterly un-
 necessary. Several Mississippians have
 written here on the subject. The post
 office will hold their mail until the scare is over.
 It was said at the state board of health today that Secretary Hunter of the Miss issippi beard will probably be here short ly Dr. Hunter did not come when the re- port of the suspicious eases was commit nicated to him, but quarantned on tele- graphic advices subsequently received by him. His present visit is to survey the | situation generally and especially to study the scientific fight now in progress on the
 basis of the mosquito theory. Dr. Hun | ter is quoted in an interview as asserting that il Is remarkable that so few cases 1 have developed and that more points of infections outside the city have not been reported. In his opinion the greatest
 danger has passed. that to the country | outside of Louisiana. for there will be no further exposure of the present quarantine
 restrictions are properly maintained.
 However. the Louisiana authorities ex- pect little notification of the quarantine
 r0<uations until the fever is entirely
 stamped out owing to the widesnread
 lndisnosition of the lav public of Miss
 issipni to accent the moscnito theory.
 Surgeon White Returns.
 Surgeon White of the marine hospital