Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II, Part 16

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II > Part 16

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There is a further history of this case, which is as follows: The schooner "Severs" arrived at Savannah on July 10 with a load of ice. The ice was dis- charged at a wharf in the city, when the "Severs" dropped down the river to the wharf of the Atlantic & Gulf railroad company for a cargo of lumber. At the time the "Severs" was at this wharf there were two Spanish vessels, recently arrived from Havana, also taking on board lumber; these vessels were the "Ynez" and the "Maria." The "Severs" lay within a hundred yards of the vessels. While

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the "Severs" was receiving her cargo Schull was taken ill, was removed from the vessel, and was carried through the city to a boarding-house upon Indian street, in the extreme western portion of the city, and at no great distance from the wharf depot of the Central Railroad company, where he was treated by Dr. William Duncan, who diagnosed the case as one of congestive fever. From the house he was removed, without the knowledge of Dr. Duncan, to the Marine hospital, located in the eastern portion of the city. It will therefore be seen that this case of undoubted yellow fever was twice carried through the streets of Savannah prior to the general epidemic outbreak.

On Aug. 6 a boy named Thomas Cleary, who is about fifteen years of age, and who resides with his parents on Wright street, east of Broad, and between Bay and Broughton streets, was taken ill with what was undoubted yellow fever.

It is necessary to ask especial attention to the block into which Wright street runs; it is bounded by East Broad, Bay, Reynolds and Broughton streets. Upon the map of Savannah, published in 1868, this block is designated as "Garden." But Wright street pierces it on the west for one-half its width, while East Boundary pierces it on the north to one-third its depth. The portion of this block at the corner of Bay and Reynolds is occupied by the city gas works, while the sides of the block are occupied by small tenement houses.

Thomas Cleary was taken sick, as we have said, on Aug. 6. This sickness, as described by the boy and his mother, is as follows: "Was taken sick with pains in his bones, with yawning and stretchings, and became so weak and staggery that he had to go to bed. Had fever and great pain in front part of his head, wanted to drink all the time, had very short breath, and felt all the time as if he had to gasp to get it. When he got up he was very weak and could not walk; was very yellow all over." The fever in this case lasted ten days, during which time he was confined to his bed.

This boy states positively, and corroborates the statement under oath, that during the month of July, 1876, he, in company with several boys, named James McCarty, George Bussell, Bill Ray and George Lappin, was in the habit of going, after school hours, to the wharf of the Atlantic & Gulf railroad to look for shells and rocks amongst the ballast discharged from vessels.

Aug. 17 .- James Patrick Cleary, aged II years, a brother of Thomas Cleary, and residing in the same house in which he had been sick, and in which he was convalescing, was taken with yellow fever. As the boy Thomas had been suc- cessfully treated without medical aid no physician was called to the case until Aug. 21, when Dr. Stone was called in. The case terminated fatally the same day. At the autopsy the surface of the body was found yellow as gold, the liver box- wood; further examination not permitted.

Aug. 18 .- A mulatto boy living near the Atlantic & Gulf railroad depot was taken with yellow fever and died the same day. Reported by Dr. W. H. Elliott.

This locality is upon east Broad street, distant (according to map of the city), but three blocks from the Cleary case. Aug. 20 .- Ella Scott, living on west side of Reynolds street, north of Broughton (in same block as the Clearys), had yellow fever, but recovered. The same day, the 20th, Lenia Smith, living on Reynolds street, nearly opposite to Ella Scott, took the disease, from which she died Aug. 26. Aug. 21 .- Bill Ray, one of the boys who frequented the Atlantic and Gulf wharf with Thomas Cleary, and who lived on Broughton and East Boundary streets, was taken with yellow fever, but recovered. The same day John Fountain, living at the north end of East Boundary street, was taken with the same disease, but recov- ered. Aug. 22 .- A child of John Lynch, who lived on Wright street, a few doors

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east of the Clearys, died of yellow fever. The same day, the 22d, Mrs. Keogh, living at the north end of East Boundary street, was attacked by the disease, and died Aug. 27. Aug. 23 .- George Bussell, another of Thomas Cleary's companions, was taken ill with yellow fever, but recovered. The boy lived in East Boundary street, north of Broughton. Aug. 26 .- John Lunch and Mrs. Lynch died of the same disease at the same place as that at which the case of Aug. 22 had died. The same day, 26th, Michael Delaney died in East Broad, two doors north of Brough- ton. Aug. 27 .- Fred Lawson, living on Randolph and President streets, died. Aug. 28 .- The children of Thomas Keogh, living on north side of Broughton street, west of Reynolds, are reported to have been sick with the disease-one case was fatal. The majority of these cases occurred in the practice of Dr. George H. Stone, and are reported from records obtained from his note-book; some are noted from the annual report of the mayor of Savannah in the "Morning News" of Jan. 8, 1877.

The disease spread rapidly in the immediate vicinity of this block first infested, and then appeared in, and spread from Stone street, a short street running from West Broad street between Liberty and Harris streets, on the opposite side of the city. The first of these cases occurred in the person of Mrs. Mary E. Malcomes. The same day a fatal case was reported on State street, between Whitaker and Bernard, in the person of Edward L. Drummond. It has been shown that prior to the occurrence of these cases the disease was under full epidemic headway in the northeastern portion of the city, from which locality it is simply impossible to trace any connection with those last noted, nor indeed is it considered at all necessary to do so, as the migrations of individuals and their effects cannot always be observed. It will, however, be shown hereafter that, in all human probability, a focus of infection was established in the northwestern portion of the city, as well as in the northeastern, for on Aug. 29 Dr. William Duncan reports a yellow fever death on Indian street lane. Attention is, however, asked to the case of one Law- rence Kelly, who is a foreman for the master stevedore of the city, and who resides at the corner of Joachim street and Indiana street lane. This man claims that on Aug. II he was taken with yellow fever after removing the ballast from the Spanish bark "Neuva Ygnacia," July 14, and the brig "Pepe" Aug. I, at the Central railroad wharf.

YELLOW FEVER IN BRUNSWICK-1876.

The state board of health traced the origin of the epidemic of Brunswick in 1876 as follows: At almost the identical time at which the yellow fever outbreak occurred at Savannah, the same disease occurred at the port of Brunswick, Ga. The board present the evidence of Col. J. T. Collins, the collector of customs at that port, and of Dr. J. S. Blain, the health officer, in detail. He said: On the 15th of July an American schooner from Havana, with yellow fever, anchored in the sound and remained forty-eight hours. Distance, nine miles from the city. The water fur- nished her was by a water-boat; no assistance needed. Think she had no com- munication with the town. The Spanish bark "Marietta" was from Havana; arrived Aug. 1; cleared Havana July 20 and sailed on July 23; crew, fourteen; in ballast a mixture of dirt and pebbles; no yellow fever occurred on her during the voyage, but while at Havana her crew were taken sick with yellow fever; no sickness in port; cleared Aug. 26; ballast discharged on Cook's wharf, between high and low water mark; know of one case of fever, Capt. Bean, of the schooner "Ed Johnson," lay just to the north, twenty or thirty yards, from the Spanish vessel "Marietta;" Capt. Bean was taken sick Aug. 21 and died Aug. 24; cases of Zeigler, Toate, Hertzog and a Mrs. West, who died; Zeigler and Toate dined the captain

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of the Spanish bark on several occasions; Hertzog was a butcher who supplied the vessel with meat; Mrs. West did some sewing for the captain on clothing taken from the vessel. Two of the sailors of Capt. Bean's vessel, one of the schooner "W. H. Boardman," that lay alongside of the "Marietta," one of the schooner "M. M. Pate," that lay to the southward of the "Boardman" and alongside of the "Board- man;" these cases occurred within a week or ten days of Capt. Bean; Capt. Bean died at the hotel; all the cases were fatal. Do you think the port physician has sufficient authority? Answer: We have no suitable building for quarantine sta- tion, no provision made for fumigation of vessels, and none to prevent intercourse with the town by pilots. I know that I heard of the existence of yellow fever in Savannah prior to its occurrence here. On Aug. 22 I declined to send two men, who applied, to hospital in Savannah, because of yellow fever in Savannah.

Testimony of Dr. J. S. Blain: Health officer, and I have been since Sept. 9, 1876. From Sept. 7 to 12 Mrs. West, Messrs. Zeigler, Toate and Barnes died of yellow fever, but being unwell did not see most of them. The first case I saw on the schooner "W. H. Boardman," on Aug. 10. The captain called on me to visit the steward, who in my opinion had yellow fever, and the vessel sailed on the 22d. The captain said he had another sick man on board, but he was all right. This man died on the following day. The vessel discharged her ballast at Littlefield & Tyson's wharf, a little above high water mark, and took in her cargo at Carter's wharf. Capt. Bean, of the schooner "Ed. Johnson," boarded the "W. H. Board- man" while the dead man was on deck, previous to burial. Saw Capt. Bean on the 22d; died on the 24th of uremic poisoning, in a convulsion; no black vomit. The schooner "W. H. Boardman" was lying alongside of the "Marietta," which came from Havana with a crew of convalescents from yellow fever. The "Marietta" discharged her ballast at Cook's wharf. Messrs. Zeigler, Toate and Hertzog were on terms of companionship with the captain of the "Marietta," as also were Messrs. Peitzer and Doerflinger, who about the same time had yellow fever. (From Sept. 4 to Sept. 12.) The disease was carried to different points in the city, which acted as a radiating force. That it progressed against a northeast wind that prevailed during the whole of the epidemic. The town was perfectly healthy up to the time of the outbreak of the epidemic. It is customary for us to have malarial fever here after the prevalence of a northeast wind. There are absolutely no malarial influ- ences affecting the town nearer than the rice fields, which are twelve miles off. I fully indorse all Col. Collins' statement concerning quarantine, and have this only to add, that the whole of the sea coast of Georgia should be taken in charge by the state or the general government, because of the inability of the city to establish and keep up suitable quarantine stations. I will add that yellow fever prevailed on the vessels in the vicinity of the "Marietta" twelve or fifteen days before the disease made its appearance among the residents.

In a private letter to Surgeon E. McClellan, U. S. A., Col. Collins states that he finds Mrs. West (one of the early cases at Brunswick) did no sewing for the "Marietta," but for the schooner "Johnson." Mrs. West went on the "Johnson" after the disease was among the crew, got two or three suits of woolen clothes, repaired them, pressed them with a hot iron, returned them to the vessel on the evening of Sept. 2, and was taken with yellow fever the next day.

Dr. Blain's Supplemental Statement .- The sanitary conditions of Brunswick are good. No fresh water streams, ponds or marshes are in or around it. Rain, when it falls, soaks in rapidly, or is carried off by the drainage. The drainage is sufficient to keep the place perfectly dry. There are no closed drains or sewers. Salt water has access to all these drains at each tide. We have no typhoid diseases except occasional accidental cases. We have but few malarial diseases,

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of a mild type. Our epidemics of scarlatina, etc., are of mild character and easily managed. The excreta from the privies is disposed of by burying it in the earth. Have no reason to suspect the drinking water, which is exclusively furnished by wells and pumps, is contaminated by drainage from the excreta. There are no conditions, in my judgment, to warrant the supposition that yellow fever could originate in the city. James S. Blain, M. D., health officer, city of Brunswick.

Will state that I rode all over the city with Dr. Blain and saw absolutely no cause for the generation of malaria or any other disease at this time. B. M. Cromwell, member of the state board of health.

Brunswick, 1893 .- Dr. H. Buford, president of the board of health of Bruns- wick, in a letter to me, says: "The epidemics of yellow fever in Brunswick in 1876 and 1893 were traced to introduction through defective quarantine."

Darien, Jan. 3, 1877 .- Doboy Island .- On Aug. 23 the Spanish bark "Valen- tina" arrived at Brunswick from Havana. Had no bill of health-was in ballast. Did not discharge at Brunswick, but left immediately for Doboy Island, where she discharged ballast and took in a cargo of lumber. Within ten days of her arrival yellow fever broke out on the island. (See testimony of Col. Collins and Mr. E. C. Davis and letter from Darien.)

Doboy Island, Jan. 1, 1877 .- Col. John T. Collins, Brunswick, Ga. Dear Sir-As requested by you, I have made full inquiry concerning the fever that prevailed to such an extent on this island during the months of September and October last. I find that IOI persons had the fever-thirty-nine whites and sixty- two colored, but the number of deaths were equal, seven of each-and six of the seven whites were of foreign birth, the other one being that of the captain of the American schooner "Ralph Norris," who died and was buried at Darien. This does not include those who left the island and were taken sick elsewhere. There was no sickness here until after the Spanish bark "Valentina" discharged her ballast at the mill wharf, commencing Aug. 28 and 29. The first case that occurred was that of Mr. Jussley, the superintendent of the mill, who went to the hold of the vessel to ascertain its carrying capacity; and the next case of sickness was that of Mr. Harley, who had a general oversight of the wharves and store of Messrs. Hilton, Foster & Gelson in the absence of the latter gentlemen. Mr. Harley was about the vessel several times while they were discharging ballast, and, no doubt, contracted the disease there, from which he died Sept. 20, after a severe relapse of the fever, from which he had almost recovered. The next case was among the negro houses nearest where the ballast was deposited, and not more than 100 feet therefrom. These people commenced to be taken down from Sept. 5 to 10. Cannot learn from them the exact date, only that it was a few days after the bark discharged her ballast. From these houses of the colored people the fever appeared simultaneously almost all over the island. It was of quite a mild type, and with medical attention and nursing, no doubt the death rate would have been much less. The only wonder is that it was not much greater, as almost every person on the island was sick-hardly enough being well, at one time, to bury the dead, to say nothing of nursing the sick. There was no aid extended the sufferers from Darien, or any other quarter, and the only notice taken of the island was by a sanitary committee from Darien, who came down here on a junketing excursion, and after deciding that there was no yellow fever here, returned to town and left it to its fate. I understand that the Spanish bark "Valentina" lost her entire crew from yellow fever in Havana, just before coming here; and from all I can learn, have no hesitation in saying that the disease was

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brought here by that vessel. Any further information we can give you will be furnished with pleasure. Edwin C. Davis, Darien.

YELLOW FEVER IMPORTED.

The maritime quarantine of the past was necessarily a lamentable failure for the reason that the system was not founded upon an intelligent conception of the issues to be met. Take Charleston, S. C., a city so frequently and cruelly scourged by yellow fever, and an occasional source of yellow fever in Georgia. What were the quarantine regulations? They were as follows: I. In summer all vessels from ports where yellow fever occurs are brought to quarantine; if all are well they are permitted to come up, and the vessel is permitted to come to the wharves of the city within five days, but the time may be extended at the discretion of the port physician. 2. If any are sick, the vessel is detained at quarantine, the sick sent to the lazaretto, and the cabin and forecastle cleaned and purified as far as practicable; we have no facilities for doing any more. 3. Ves- sels coming from any port or place whatever with infectious or malignant mala- dies on board shall be made to perform a quarantine of twenty days or more, if, in the judgment of the port physician a longer quarantine is necessary. Now for enforcement of this quarantine, the port physician, the sole quarantine officer, said: "I must, in candor, say that I do not believe the yellow fever was ever produced in Charleston from importation; and this is the result of an experience of thirty years as port physician, and twenty-four years as member of the board of health, many years of which I have been its chairman." Was ever a man known to enforce a system which he believed was useless? What was the result of administering quarantine by this officer who did not believe it necessary? Yellow fever attacked Charleston twelve times during his term of service. Dr. Hume, of Charleston, unquestionably traced six of these twelve infections of the city to foreign importation.

Examine the quarantine system of Georgia. The then health officer of Sa- vannah, before the state board of health, in 1876, after the epidemic, said: "It has been the custom for years past to establish a quarantine on June 1. Upon the arrival of a vessel from an infected port I am notified by telegram from the quarantine station. The vessel cannot come up to the city until I visit her and give permit. The usual detention is about ten days from port to port, provided she has a clean bill of health. If there be any sickness on board, or there be any grounds for suspicion that there is, the health officer can use his discretion and keep her at quarantine as long as he please. Upon going on board of a vessel the first thing I do is to muster the crew. The crew list is produced, and I have the men arranged on deck and check them off. If any are missing I institute inquiries, and my action is guided by what I ascertain and believe. No vessel arrived at the city this season in less than ten days- sometimes as long as forty days or more, on their trips from South America. The usual time to keep vessels from infected ports in quarantine is ten days. Vessels coming from Ha- vana with clean bills of health are allowed to come to port in ten days-that is, ten days from port to port. This has been the custom here so long as to almost become a rule. On some occasions I have made it fifteen days, in others thirty days or more. I have no guarantee after leaving vessels that I have quarantined that my instructions will be rigidly carried out; have no doubt the crews sometimes have communication with the sailor boarding-house runners, and they may come up to the city. There is no guard boat or river police, and hence there is nothing to prevent them from coming up to the city if they are willing to run the risk of penalty and imprisonment.

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"There is certainly a very grave defect in the quarantine regulations here; there is no lazaretto or hospital at Tybee (the quarantine station), and no arrange- ments for treating sickness below the city."

Mayor Anderson said: "I think it likely that the sailor boarding-house run- ners do communicate with vessels in quarantine. There is nothing to prevent persons from visiting these ships, as there is no guard kept there. I heard through the health officer that vessels had arrived on which it was suspected there has been yellow fever. I think the entire quarantine system of the southern coast is very defective."

From the facts quoted from the officials of Savannah it is found that the maritime quarantine system of that port was utterly devoid of even the elemental principles of modern quarantine. Vessels came directly to the wharves of the city from several infected West Indian ports wherein yellow fever was prevailing epidemically, and ten days' detention from port to port, provided no cases of yellow fever were in existence on the vessel, was the extent of ship sanitation required before giving them pratique. If nobody on shipboard was sick on arrival at Savannah, it was accepted as proof positive that the vessel could be safely landed at the wharves of that city, and the crew were allowed to enter the boarding houses of Savannah and carry with them their clothing, mattresses and blankets brought from infected places, never having been disinfected. No fact is now better established in sanitary science than that every member of a ship's crew may be immune to yellow fever by having previously had the disease, and yet the clothing and bedding be dangerously infected, and disseminate this poison in a previously non-infected city soon after the fomites are admitted. So too may. the vessel be dangerously infected and the crew show no case of yellow fever for the reason that each one had previously had the disease and was therefore immune. This was the case with the "Maria" and "Ynez," one or both, at Savannah in 1876, for Schull, the first case, certainly contracted yellow fever from one of them. The books are full of similar cases. I could fill a volume with published details of like instances. It is an established principle in ship sanitation that thorough disinfec- tion of every part of a vessel, cabin, forecastle, hold, ballast, bilge, bedding, clothing, hangings, etc., and thorough fumigation of freight is necessary in a vessel from an infected port, even if there be no case of yellow fever among crew or passengers. Yet Savannah had not the shade of a shadow of a plant equipped for germicidal treatment of infected vessels. The truth is, she had not so much as a proper apparatus for fumigation of vessels. It is true that the health officer said in 1876: "I had the vessel ('Maria Carlina') thoroughly fumigated." Savan- nah having at that time no equipment for thorough fumigation of a vessel, it is impossible that the "Maria Carlina" was thoroughly fumigated. By crude and wholly ineffectual appliances a given quantity of sulphur was burned, probably in the hold of the vessel, but the effort to so thoroughly fumigate this vessel was mere child's play, devoid of every elemental principle of scientific application of sulphur fumigation. Savannah has now a scientifically constructed apparatus for thorough fumigation and for thorough application of germicidal solutions to fomites, and for the application of dry and moist heat at a temperature of 250 degrees Fahrenheit, to all parts of vessels, which is known to be positivcly destruc- tive of all kinds of micro-organisms. Not only do we find that Savannah had no equipment for sanitary treatment of infected vessels, but her quarantine system was most radically defective-one equally as essential as a disinfection plant, i. e., her health officer. No man had higher regard for the health officer than I had. He was a man of the highest integrity, an elegant gentleman, and a highly accom- plished physician. But unfortunately for Savannah, he held the following opinions

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expressed by him to our state board of health in 1876: "I don't believe yellow fever can be imported; don't think quarantine would kecp it out." No city, state or nation has the right to place in charge of her quarantine system a man who does not believe in its efficacy. Man's actions result from his conceptions of the necessities of measures, and no man since the dawn of creation was ever known to rigidly enforce a measure which his judgment impressed him would fail of success. A quarantine system should be administered only by a man thoroughly imbued with its necessity. A man who will rigidly enforce its every detail. The health officer of 1876 was by no means the only health officer of Savannah who held the same views as he did as to quarantine. But this does not vitiate the principle for which I am contending. I comment upon Dr. 's views because in 1876 he was the health officer, and I wish to show his views as a part of the lax system of quarantine operated in Savannah against the importation of yellow fever. There can be no question that a municipality has no right to commit so sacred a trust into the hands of a man who does not belicve in the principles upon which it is founded. Likewise, it is a reflection on the common sense of our citizens and a disgrace to the municipality to place upon a medical officer so sacred a duty as protection of the public health and not provide him with every requirement necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of his office. Fortunately for Savannah she has remedied both defects. In her healtlı officer, Dr. W. F. Brunner, she has an officer thoroughly equipped in knowledge of the great principles of modern ship sanitation, as well as zeal and fidelity in the discharge of duty. She has too, a thoroughly equipped quarantine system with approved modern disinfection apparatus for sanitary treatment of vessels from ports infected with yellow fever or any other infectious disease. I would not be understood as intimating that any of our other Georgia seaports had a disin- fcction plant. None of them had until recently. Brunswick, now under the supervision of the United States Marine hospital service, has a thoroughly efficient one, and in so far as thorough disinfection of vessels and their contents is con- cerned, she is amply provided for. The weak spot in Brunswick's quarantine system, and it is one fraught with danger, is the location of her quarantine station, being on the same peninsula with the town itself, and only two miles distant from the city.

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II, Part 16

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1166

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166