Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-15
New Orleans Result a Victory
for Federal Officials.
HEROIC WORK EFFECTED
SURGEON WHITES STORY OF THE
MARINE HOSPITAL CAMPAIGN.
Remarkable Scientific Battle With
Deadly Pest-How Contest Was Or
ganized and Success Attained.
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star
NEW ORLEANS, La, October 10. 1905.
With the yellow fever fight in New Or
leans practically over before the advent of
frost a victory as notable that gained
in Havana has been attained by Surgeon
Joseph H. White of the United States pub
lie health and marine hospital service and
his corps of officers, backed up by the peo-
pie and the officials of the city and the
state
Gorgas cleaned Havana and Reid pointed
the way to the eradication of yellow fever.
But that lesson, as well as the lesson in
Vera Cruz, was lost upon the masses of
people in the south, and as soon as the cry
of yellow jack" was started in New Or
leans the quarantine madnesses of previous
epidernics reappeared in all of their cow
ardly forms and outrages against humanity
were perpetrated with shameful frequency
in many of the southern states.
But the beacon light of science, held aloft
by White, pointed unwavering1y toward the
path of reason, and while many did not
see. 1t until 1t was too late to profit by it
in 1905, the fact remains that they have
seen it and yellow fever has been shorn
of it's terrors
In all dark and dismal periods of the cpl
demlc. even when the hopes of many began
TO crumble, as they saw the daily record of
cases and deaths grow larger, and the in
sidious Infection spread from one town to
another, there was one consolation which
enabled this community to bear up under
the burden that had been placed upon 1t.
That was the fact that commerce and trade
went on with practically no interruption.
OF course some communities in their mad
ness even refused to take ice, and others
bottled themselves up SO tightly that even
the birds of the air found an ungracious
welcome. but as rule freight Of nearly
every kind was accepted To DR. White
and President Souchon of the state board
OF health Is due the major portion of the
credit for this ray of sunshine. Whenever
community sought to exclude freight they
Dent their energies toward sensible and
reasonable restrictions. and in the majority
OF instances commonsense prevailed.
The Mosquito Campaign.
Despite the general ignorance of the prin-
clples OF the mosquito doctrine of yellow
fever infection and the amount Of prejudice
against the acceptance of a new theory.
modern thought has prevailed. and while
prejudice has paid its price in lives and suf-
fering. that price Is not nearly so great as
1t would have been had the men of science
failed in their duty. The epidemic, it Is
generally conceded. had It's origin In in
lection brought into New Orleans during
the latter two weeks Of May. The cpl
demlc of 1873, whose ghost revived the
quarantine outrages of 1905. also had its
OF 1878 pursued Its death-dealing course
unchecked until the frosts of winter came
The campaign started by City Health Of
hcer kohnke in July, and taken up by the
marine hospital service on August and
enlarged and extended SO as to better meet
the conditions. began to tell, and thence
forth the followers of the new doctrine
knew they had won. Prejudice is slow to
give way to reason, but in the end it yields
in the light of positive proof.
The city of New Orleans and the whole
south was fortunate in the selection of the
man who led them out of darkness and
showed them that yellow fever was no
longer the terror of bygone days. And he
was fortunate In undertaking such great
work-a work of national. yes, even inter-
national, Importance in city where he had
the backbone of the population heartily in
accord with him, even though proportion
of that backbone was not fully convinced
as in the beginning that the scientific hypo-
thesis upon which he was working was the
correct one.
The yellow fever visitation of 1906 which
is now so near an end has resulted in ap-
proximately 7.139 known cases and 1893
known deaths These are the figures of
every point of known infection and run up
to October II. OF this grand total Louist-
ana has had GAS cases and COS deaths.
New Orleans has had 3,246 cases and AT
deaths Mississippi has had 6S3 cases and
SO deaths. Accurate figures are not OBJ
tainable from some of the Mississippi
points, but the estimates are fair. Pensa-
cola, whlCn now seems TO De IN the WOTSl
of it's epidemic, has so far had 331 cases
and 10 deaths. A few sporadic cases have
developed in other states, but the infection
has been stamped out, without spread,
and by the application of modern methods.
DR.. Whites Story.
The following is DR.. Whites own story
of the work of the marine hospital service
here 1t is modest, but truthful, account
of a great accomplishment:
when it became known July q that
there was yellow fever in this city. there
had been supposedly about 100 cases and
| about twenty deaths. This suppostion Is
borne out by a glance at the city death
record for the month of July. which is abb
normally large, and under the classification
of diseases the deaths from typhoid fever
are more than twenty in excess of the nor
NAL so l would judge that 1t was largely
on this that City Health Officer Kohnke
based his estimate of twenty deaths from
yellow fever prior to July a. The more
we study this the more rational that es-
innate seems to be. Certainly IT is not ex-
cessive.
''The work of eradication was begun by
DR.. Kohnke in small way, with such
means as he had at his disposal. some time
prior to July 81, and when on July 26
offered him such assistance as was in my
power to render him he accepted. Passed
Assistant Surgeon Richardson was detailed
to help in the organization of the work In
the infected quarter. few days later, on
the arrival of Passed Assistant Surgeon
Berry, he was also assigned to the same
duty.
about this time it became evident that
the infection was widespread, not only in
the city. but also in the states of Louisiana
and Mississippi and the state and city
boards of health, realizing the tremendous
task which confronted them, asked, in con-
junction with the business organizations,
the aid of the national government, send
ing a telegram direct to the President.
This meeting with prompt acquiescence on
the part OF the President, and after some
little exchange OF kilograms with the citi-
gems committee and the surgeon general,
to whom he referred the matter, 1t was ar
ranged that the public health and marine
| hospital service provide the forty officers
| estimated by me to be necessary for the
| work, the city providing the remainder of
| the expense, the work to be done under my
/ direction with an absolutely free hand, no
conditions whatever being imposed upon me.
| There Is no mental reservation, when l
| state that the citizens of New Orleans,
| fully including the much-abused politicians,
! showed observation-disclosures and patriotism
| In this crisis which have never seen ex-
celled.
Assumes Control August 8.
| eve took control nominally on August y
| and formed q skeleton organization in each