The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-08-01

New Orleans, July 27.-All the forces
engaged in the yellow fever scourge
today joined in expressing the belief
that while the situation has been. and
is, serious enough, success has already
been achieved by the methods applied
as a result of the work Of the Reed
commission in Cuba, to justify tbs
hope that for tho first time in the his
tory of the country what threatened to
De a malignant epidemic of yellow few
er will be STAMPED out before frost
comes and that New Orleans will be
spared the horrors of the epidemics OF
1853, 1867 and 1873 in New Orleans and
of a century ago in New York and Phil
adelphia.
1t is the opinion of DR.. J. H. White,
in charge of the marine hospital force
and Of the state and city health Off
GERS that If destruction of the Stag3.
myia checks the spread of the disease,
Ne present visitation of the plague will
been a blessing in disguise, since
1t VIII have demonstrated the ability
Of science to control a virulent out
break of yellow fever.
With the cases reported today, the
aggregate since July Is run close to c00
cases. These are included in from
twenty to twenty-five centers. The
first center, include the quarter around
the French market, where the fever
first appeared and where a large pro-
portion of the cases and fatalities have
occurred. This quarter runs from ST.
Ann street to Barracks street, and from
Charles street to the river, including
forty city blocks. Italians III this re-
gion are VIGOROUSLY prone to avoid
physicians and the fever got a foothold
in the settlement before it became
known to the health department.
No precautions were taken to destroy
the mosquitoes and this scourge spread
with such rapidity that, out Of the
cheap and crowded lodging houses, the
Italians who could get away fed in ter
ror, some going to friends in other
parts of the city and some going by
rail to surrounding towns and some by
boats into settlements along the coast
The result is che appearance Of yell
low fever in various parts of New Or
leans, but principally southeast Of Ca
Nal street I'LL uClSlUOI IOouS vi Lie
poorer classes. Six hundred groceries
and saloons in New Orleans are owned
by Italians, and many of these shops
readily gave shelter to fear stricken
cOmpatriOtS.
Almost every instance of a new few
err center outside Ct the French market
district is hat of an Italian who escaD-
ed thence Or of some one of a different
nationality whose business was in that
quarter. There nave been ten fever
centers above Canal street, traceab!e
to the original center, and n in AL
giers, across the Mississippi river. The
Algiers case was of an American boy
proving fatal, whose employment was
in the infected quarter. No subsequent
case has appeared in Algiers.
So far as the health authorities were
able to discover today, no case has
thus far developed from the outlying
infection centers and with few excep-
lions the cases and deaths have been
among the Italians.
The absence of q spread from the
outside centers, notably, those o
Canal street and in Algiers, is held to
be due entirely to the fact that pa
tients have been perfectly screened and
scientifically treated while the premises
have been thoroughly disinfected after
death or recovery.
Reports to the state board Of heath
for the past twenty-four hours show
eleven new cases, three suspicious cases
and six deaths, mostly among Italians.
Detention camps established by the
marine hospital service to enable per-
sons to leave tho city for regions quar-
antined against New Orleans, were op-
ened today.
1t is next to impossible to get into
Mississippi, Alabama, Texas or Louis
lana towns without detention. Quaran-
tines are made constantly more rigid
since the board of health began to
make public the number of cases n
deaths. Mississippi is sending her IN
spectors right into the state by surrep-
titious means. The Louisville and Nash
Vile railroad guards appear at the state
line. the doors of the cars are locked
and there is no chance given a passen-
ger to leave the train until the line is
reached.
Efforts have been made by men OF in
8uence on the gulf coast n in New
Orleans to induce Governor Vardaman
of Mississippi to relax the quarantine
regulations so far as communication
between summer resorts on the Mlssis-
sinni Sound and New Orleans is CON-
cerned. The governor, however, ans
wered that it would be preferable TO
suspend business throughout the STATE
for thirty days than that n case OF
yellow fever should be permitted to get
into the state.