Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-08-01
The Real Border Raids
BY Frederic 7. Haskin

quarantine cannot be made perfect for
two reasons. In the first place, per-
feet quarantine against typhus would
necessitate q twelve.day detention to
see whether any symptoms developed.
This Is impossible. To feed and house
every Mexican who crossed the line
for twelve days would be tremendous
expense, and would amount to feeding
a large part Of the population of north
ern Mexico. For whenever Mexican
needed twelve days of free board, he
would merely have to cross the border.
and few lice would always serve as
a meal ticket. So detention Is out of
the question.
Again. with border eighteen hun
dred miles long. marked by an I'M
, aginary line or by river which may
be waded, swum or crossed In boat,
1t Is impossible to stop any man who
Is really determined to cross the Dor.
der unobserved. 1t is we'll known
fact that there is constant surrepti-
tious crossing of the Mexican border
to cvade customs and immigration
laws. No boubt the United States
quarantine is to some extent evaded
in the same way. However. the quar-
antinc, considering its necessary lin
itations, has been remarkably effec-
tive. The public health officers were
on the ground promptly, after the dis
ease reached the border, and fought
its spread from the first This natur-
ally gave them great advantage, for
if the disease had once gotten good
start in this country, it would have
too late for quarantine measures,
| AS it is. the disease has appeared
sporadically upon this side OF the
border, but almost exclusively among
Mexicans. Sixty cases were reported
from FL Paso county in six months,
and there have also been cases in
other parts Of Texas, and In New
Mexico and Arizona. No epidemic Is
feared on this side, however, as long
as infected Mexicans are prevented
from crossing the border in any con-
siderable numbers.
Typhus, which has destroyed so
many lives in war-ridden countries, is
like bubonic plague in that it is con-
veyed exclusively by the blood of the
infected person. None of the excre-
tons are dangerous as in typhoid,
and most of the other communicable
diseases. So far the louise Is the only
carrier known. Hence, while it quick
ly becomes a menace in military
camps. it is not apt to spread far
among clean and prosperous civil
population.
No less important than the disin-
lection Of the immigrant is the dis
infection Of his clothing in guarding
against this disease. For this pur-
pose, the public health service now
has steam chambers at Ell PasO. Eagle
Pass, Laredo and Brownsville. A
great majority of the Mexicans cross
the river at these points. Smaller
towns, such as Roma, Rio Grande and
Hidalgo, are also watched, and gas
oline used on both the traveller and
his clothing. Except for the high
price of gasoline. the maintenance of
this quarantine would not be very ex-
pensive Two men have done all of
the work at Ell Paso. even during the
rush that followed the Carrizal Incl
dent. .:.
The United States government is
doing Mexico one good turn by this
quarantine. 1t is vaccinating very
considerable percentage of the popula-
ton of northern Mexico against small
pox. This disease has always been
scourge in Mexico. 1t kills
great numbers Of children, and the
pitted face is strikingly common
among the poems The public health
officers are using about 100000 vaccine
points every year on the Mexican Dor
der. This can hardly fail to cut down
the prevalence of the disease in Mex
leo to a very considerable extent.