Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-03-11
TYPHUS!

| island all day, waiting for examina-
tons, and during all that time they
did not have thing to eat. " course,
l suppose the government CANNOT nolp
it, but I do think something ought -
be DONE"
This woman's ship was fortunate,
| however, to be held up only - hours.
Others have had to lie in the harbor
| for two or three days while the quar-
antine office caught up with its WORK
On one Of these detained ships, the I'M
migrants recently staged q reDsnlou:;
threatening in the choicest wordss ~
! several different languages to 40 soMe
damage if they were not permltteu "
| leave the boat. Then, as they WeIe
not released, they carried out !nslr
threat. They broke some IurnN Mar
and incidentally the water pipes Nev-
ertheless. they had to remain there the
rest of the day, and the ships stewards
got even by charging them % cents per
cup for drinking water.
Hard on Ship Companies.
The immigrants, moreover, are not
the only ones who are not enjoying
the present situation. The steamship
companies find it equally difficult.
Every day they are held UP in the har-
Dor means a large money loss, for not
only must they lose valuable time but
thew must continue feeding their pas
senrers. One large steamship COM
pany placed one of its vessels at the
disposal of the quarantine officials as
detention ship for immigrants, who
are transferred to it for examination
while the ship that brought them con-
tinues on it's way. Under the emer-
gency ruling, no craft from foreign
port can approach within 3OO yards or
a New York pier without a permit,
granted only after the most rigid IN
spectibn.
One hears vague rumors that the
| steamship companies are establishing
their own delousing plants on the
European side. but no definite infor-
nation seems to be available on this
point. Many people feel that it is up
to the foreign governments to take the
necessary precautions against the
spread Of typhus, and to prevent any
but clean Immigrants from embarking
for this country. The foreign govern
ments, however. do not seem to agree
with this view. The Italian govern
ment, in fact, has even resented the
charge that any infected immigrants
could possibly come from Italian
shores, although the fact remains that
they have.
To avoid the congestion in New York
harbor, many steamship lines are now
diverting their vessels to other ports,
notably Boston and Philadelphia
From these points the immigrants
come to New York by rail, thus max
ing it necessary for the city health
department to keep inspection squads
also at the railway stations. Forum
ately. here the New York Travellers
Aid Society has come to the rescue
and IS taking care of family groups
while their various members are re-
moved for examination and fumigation.
Sometimes while husband is sent
away to be freed from vermin," one
of the Travellers Aids. told the re-
porter. the wife thinks he is being
dragged off to Siberia. Then we have
to rush our interpreter to the scene
to explain the matter to her. So many
Of the people are war refugees, who
have already suffered so much that
their anxieties are easily aroused"
If the man is detained for any great
length of time the Aids see that the
children get food and that the family
obtains proper lodgings. Sometimes
as many as % families must be taken
care of out of n group of hundred
or more who come through on one
train.
While precautions against the ty-
plus cootie are ever becoming more
systematized the congestion remains
unrelieved at the port Of New York.
The health authorities are putting up
a valiant ffght against tremendous
handicaps They need more men, and
more facilities. Congress, they say,
could solve the whole typhus emergency
at once by ordering cessation of
immigration until the disease subsidized
IN Europe, but congress has it's own
reasons for desiring immigration to
continue. The least, then, that it can
do is to authorize an increase in the
size Of the force and working ma
ter:als at Hoffmans and Ellis Island
and thus held to prevent the spread
Of the plague.