The Tupelo journal., 1905-09-01
RAILROAD OFFICIALS DENY
AUTH0RITlES' STATEMENT

Colonel Russell, vice president
of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad
and R. v. Taylor, general man
ager Of the same system left st
Louis last night for Mobile, where
they will remain until the yell
low fever scare is over.
Mobile has been spared the
plague so far and its health au-
thorities expect that it will re-
main immune. Before depart
ing Mr.. Taylor said to the Re
public that he and Colonel Rus
sell stood pledged to make public
the first sign of fever at that
point if any should be manifested
In a telegram from New
Orleans, published in the columns
of your paper issued to-day"
said Mr.. Taylor, appears the
the following statement:
"The local health authorities
have appealed to Surgeon J. H.
White of the Main Hospital Ser
vice to stop the entry of banana
trains from Mobile, because it is
claimed that cars bring large
quantities of mosquitoes from the
ports infected with yellow fever
in Central and South America.
1t is charged tea. mosquitoes of
the stegomyia fasciata type are
imported to New Orleans via
Mobile than are exterminated
here in a week by the sanitary
squads.
In times of extreme public
anxiety and excitement it is just
such statements as this by the
local authorities which do great
harm. This statement is errone-
Gus in every particular. Nc
banana trains are handled from
Mobile to New Orleans, and any
traffic carried on between the
two cities is under the strictest
quarantine regulations. Conse-
quently, it is absolutely impos-
sible that any mosquitoes of the
%stegomyia fasciata or any other
type could be imported into New
Orleans, via Mobile.
There has not been this year
one single case of yellow fever,
or fever even of a suspicious
character, in the city of Mobile,
and the health conditions Of the
port were never better than at
the present. This state of af-
fairs is being protected from the
menace of fever in New Orleans
by the most scientific and in
telligent quarantine service ever
in effect at any Southern port.
THE transportation of mos.
quitoes in ventilated fruit cars
is an impossibility. A practical
demonstration of this is found
in the following statement OF
facts:
Until the recent outbreak OF
yellow fever in New Orleans
there had not been a single case
of yellow fever in the South
since 1898, and since this period
approximately zoo, 900 cars OF
bananas have been imported
through the Gulf ports, and not
one single case of yellow fever
was introduced by these methods
Since 1893 there has been at
times yellow fever in Central
America, but not one case of
fever was disseminated by the
enormous Importation of bananas
since that date.
1T is greatly to be regretted
by all persons that New Orleans
should have been so unfortunate
through laxity in its quarantine
regulations or otherwise, to adj
nit yellow fever into this country
and all possible precaution should
be used to prevent its spread. This
fact should not be allowed to
affect the good name of other
Gulf ports, whose health has
been preserved by the proper
regulations, or to interfere with
the traffic in fruit, which is no
more likely to carry the yellow
fever mosquito now than it has
been in the past.
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad
lis one Of the princinal