The New York herald., 1921-02-12
BARS UP AGAINST
TYPHUS EPIDEMIC
THROUGH ALIENS
Wholesale Bathing OF In
migrants Must Be Done
Aboard Steamships.
COPELAND CALLS HALT
In Absence OF Federal Ac-
tiOn He Will Use Power to
Protect City's Health.
COSTLY TO COMPANIES
Carriers of Human Freight
From Europe Meet to Consid
er New Conditions.
COSTLY TO COMPANIES

Vi 4NOt'
Possibilities OF a typhus epidemic
here receded yesterday as the various
heal.,, and immigration authorities
and the steamship companies put up
new bars against disease carriers and
inaugurated strict preventive meas
ures. Surveying the situation last
night, Dr. Copeland Health Commits
sioner. said he was confident an cpl
demic could be avoided, but that it
would be criminal folly to let up the
slightest in vigilance.
Il learn with regret" DR.. Copeland
said. that the President or, should
say. the Public Health Service, de-
Clines to put a temporary embargo
upon all immigration from the typhus
injected regions OF Europe. Very we'll.
/ shall declare a little embargo of my
own. as have the right TO do. Here
after until I am satisfied that an in
snip 10 lIG0 1lOAi
disease, nobody lands from that ship.
My inspectors will be at every pier to
examine every passenger in every
cabin Nobody will get by.
IT have had a letter from Surgeon
General Cumming Of the Public Health
Service which clearly indicates what
the service intends to do on the otner
side of the Atlantic toward protecting
the United States from typhus or other
epidemics. Instructions have been sent
to public health service medical officers
in Europe to forbid the embarkation or
every immigrant discovered with dis
ease. To public service medical officers
in Italy. which country refuses to let
American medical officers inspect i'm
migrants about to leave her ports. or
ders have been given to keep their eyes
open. American consuls in Italy have
been instructed to refuse clean bills
Of health to vessels whose medical in
spection has not been satisfactory These
methods should be very effective, COM
bined with vigilance on this side"
Immigrants Must BE Clean.
The italian steamship Duca d'Aosta
arrived yesterday and was inspected BY
Dr. Leland L. Cofer. Health Officer OF
the fOII- NO QlBedSc WIS lOuHQ aiio liiO
Health Officer permitted her to come up
to her pier There she was boarded
by city medical officers, who also satis-
fled themselves the big ship had no
typhus cases. Ellis Island officials will
look over the immigrants to-day.
Steamship officials have been told
that they must keep their unclean steer
ego passengers until they can be made
clean. That is the reason the Ryndam
fthe Holland-America Line did not
and could not sail yesterday. Crowded
below decks aboard the Ryndam are
T4& immigrants that have been turned
back from Ellis Island twice because In
spectors found that many among them
were vermin infested. This became the
problem Of the Lapland also which has
1000 immigrants little too unclean for
Ellis Island to take over. The whole
flock Of newcomers went to the island
yesterday, but Superintendent Baker
ordered them back to the ship. The
Lapland Is scheduled to sail to-day. but
cannot because she cannot get rid OF
her undesirable6
This situation Is so serious to the
various steamship companies that a
meeting was held late yesterday after
Stadt, general passenger agent OF the
Holland-America Line. to work out
ways and means Of cleaning up.
Costly TO Steamship Companies.
Working IN cooperation with DR.. Cope
land the steamship companies concerned,
including tho Cunard line, the Holland
America limo, the Norwegian line, the
United States Mail and several others,
hoped to get possession of the army dis
anfection station at Hoboken for the
swift cleaning Up Of the immigrant pas
eengers of the Ryndam, Lapland and
other ships that are here or soon will
be incoming. The steamship officials.
however. were told that It could not be
done
Last evening. therefore. they dis
cussed what could be done to get them
out Of their expensive predicament- DR..
Copeland told them he hoped to be able
to reduce the congestion at Hoffman
Island very soon, SO that the island
could be used for disinfecting purposee.
and Meanwhile he recommended that the
steamship companies do their disinfect-
ing aboard ships as they come In. That
plan is being considered, an official of
the Holland-America line said last night,
and there Is a plan also to erect q disin-
fecting plant at pier Z. Hoboken. where
the Ryndam Is now tied up
Word came from Boston last night
that three steamships approaching the
United States have been diverted to that
port from New York on account of the
congestion here and the mpossibility of
rapidly disembarhng immigrants. The
steamship Mount Clay. from Hamburg.
with S29 passengers: the Holland-Amer-
ica liner Nieuw Amsterdam, with 1900
passengers. and tho Red Star liner Fin
land, with 100 pa seen gers will go 70