Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-01-13

through the United States public health
and marine hospital service, to continue
the work in the city. In the second place
the newspapers, while not following their
former course of active and positive
abuses, will not give that publicity to the
matter which alone can arouse general
interest and secure the cooperation of
the people as whole. When pressure
Is brought on them they occasionally
refer to the existence of infectious dis
ease and mildly suggest the necessity
for cooperating with the health author
tiles. In the third case, the commercial
bodies of the community will not awake
to the gravity of the situation and aid,
by the contribution of funds, individual
efforts at sanitation, rat-killing, rat
proofing premises, etc.
There is not rat-proof warehouse nor
Iat-proof wharf in the city, and al
ready Panama has refused to permit the
introduction of grain foodstuffs coming
from this port unless the same, if they
have been introduced into the city, are
certified as having been kept in a rat
PROOF warehouse or on a rat-proof wharf.
by the United States public health and
marine hospital officer in charge, DIR.
Blue. Thus far no steamship company
has made move in the direction Of pro-
Vidlng rat-proof wharfage; and that other
countries will follow the lead of Panama
before long is at least probable.
"All ships, whether coastwise or for
eign bottoms, are being carefully fumi-
gated; the coast and river boats oy the
state board of health, and foreign bot
toms by the public health and marine
hospital service, under the able direction
of DIR. Hobby. All steamers are required
to Use rat guards at docks, and every
precaution is being taken to prevent the
passage of rats either to or from the
city"
That the danger is not confined to San
Francisco is shown by reports from Oak
land, Contra Costa county, Seattle, Los
Angeles. Sacramento and San Jose, in all
of which places stringent precautions are
being taken and in some of which cases
are already appearing. The correspon-
dent concludes:
1.-The continued existence of such a
disease over such an area, and for the
time during which it is evident that the
infection has existed here, would seem
to make the infection a subject for ma
tional consideration and protection. Not
only California, but the entire country
should be grateful for the fact that the
public health and marine hospital service
has taken over the burden of expense
for conducting the work in San Fran
cisco, as the city has no available funds,
and to allow the situation to develop
would be a menace to the entire United
States.
at seems impossible to arouse the
people from the lethargy and to secure
their cooperation in necessary sanitary
work. AS a consequence the excellent
work which the officers in charge are
doing is, to a considerable extent, mega
lived.
ITO summarize the situation, we find
that active and thorough anti-piague
work is beinC done in San Francisco and
Oakland, including inspection of all dead,
isolation of all suspects, destruction of
suspected infected material, clothing. ETC..
and the destruction of large numbers of
rats by poison, Danysz's virus, trapping.
etc. The sewer men report that they
never saw SO many dead rats IN the
sewers, so 1t may be assumed that a
Danysz of high viruiency has been pre-
pared and put out Nevertheless, while
the number of cases seems to be some
what on the decrease in San Francisco,
the territory over which the infection has
spread is constantly increasing. Outside
of San Francisco something is being
done, but in comparison with the danger
of existing undiscovered foci. and of
cases occurring which may and probably
do go unrecognized, and of the great
amount of work which the state should
be doing, it is not encouraging. Literary
Digest