The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-10

New York City. March s.-The
typhus germ cannot Be Americana
ed. It is one European product
that must be kept ont of tho we'll
worn melting pot; one danger
which esnnot be accepted and alb
sorbed even by such an uifdiscrim-
mating nation a. ours. Immigrants
may be compelled to suffer hard
ships; travellers be inconvenienced,
and steamship companies lose mon
ey. but the typlus oootie must be
prevented from entering this coun-
try.
Everybody is agreed a. to this:
only there are various disagree
ments as to how 1t should be done,
and the nation a. . whole seems to
be painfully slow In making up its
mind.
Already 40 cases Of typhus have
occurred In New York city and its
harbor, with several deaths a. a
result Nearly every ship arriving
from q foreign port carries infect
ed immigrants. while thousands OF
others. suspected Of the same con-
dition. will continue to sail for
this country as fast as there is
steerage space to accommodate
them.
Yet the New York city health
department has been severely crit
icized in some quarters for adopt
ing prompt and rigorous measures
to bar typhus vermin. and only in
the last few days have the federal
health authorities been given per.
mission to act in the matter.
THE importance Of the typhus
danger cannot be over estimated, y
DR.. Royal s. Copeland, health com
missioner of New York city, told
the reporter in q brief interview the
other afternoon. Some people are
inclined to think that we have rails
ed a rather needless scare. but that
Is because they are unacquainted
with typhus. They do not know
that it is one of the deadliest
scourges to which mankind is vic
tim. They do not know that more
men died Of typhus in Serbia dur
ing the war than were killed in
battle. They do not realize that
one infected immigrant, released in
this city, might spread . plague
that would cause a million deaths
in the space Of a few weeks"
DR.. Copeland was the first per-
! son to recognize the fact that q
typhus emergency existed. As soon
as the first cases were discovered
he notified the immigration author.
tiles and stationed fumigatine
squads at the Battery to inspect
immigrants arriving in, the city
from Ellis island. Many we're found
to be vermin-infested and had to be
put through the delousing process
Others carried bundles and suit.
cases containing infected clothing
Chaos at Port
This caused a great deal of con.
sternation both at Ellis island and
Hoffman's island, the quarantine
station, where the immigrants had
been passed without question. The
health authorities at both Of these
places Immediately started making
special inspections for .typhus in.
lection, which naturally required
much more time than the ordinary
health inspections. They were de-
layed in their work by the lack Of
proper facilities. Ships, with steer.
age passengers who had to be ex
amined, began to pile up in tht
harbor, and thus arose the presen
congested condition.
The federal authorities have re
Gently taken over the state guar
antine station at Hoffman's island
but inasmuch as the facilities hav'
not been increased, conditions ar,
not noticeably improved. Reporter
are not permitted to add to the gen
eral chaos at Hoffman's island. bu
from the stories Of returned trav
elers, one learns that the immi
grants have a sad time there.
1T was early morning and fright
fully cold when they came for tn,
immigrants On our ship in a small
tug boat" narrated an American
woman who arrived on a Frencl
ship the other day. They begal
to transfer the infected or sus
pected immigrants at once. but no
without . fight, because the Frencl
officials objected. saying that tn
immigrants were perfectly clean
The poor people, having come from
Italy and the south of France. wer
not prepared for a cold climate
Their clothing was distressingl,
scanty and they trembled with cold
Those who did not get typhus prob
ably got pneumonia later. Mother
were dragged away from their chill
dren and all bundled into the tug
Many Of them could not speak Eng
j lish and did not understand wha
it was all about. They kept then