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New Orleans (La.) quarantine.-Surg. G. M. Corput in charge. The New Orleans quarantine station is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River 90 miles below New Orleans. The reservation consists of approximately 2,000 acres, all very low and mostly marsh. The work of the station is at all times heavy, and on account of its nearness to numerous ports infected or suspected of being infected with yellow fever, typus fever, and plague its operation at all times requires extreme vigilance.

Two officers board all ships and both make the inspection in order to obviate the possibility of one or the other overlooking some detail of the work. Careful thermometric and visual examinations are made of each passenger and member of crew. The various compartments of the vessel are inspected and special attention given to sanitary conditions, screening of living quarters, the evidence of rats, mosquitoes, bed bugs, or other vermin.

On August 16, 1915, the station was swept by a tropical storm of considerable intensity and much minor damage done.

On September 29, 1915, the station was swept by another hurricane of extreme intensity and very extensive damage resulted, this being estimated at $40,000. All station wharves were destroyed and all buildings more or less damaged. Since then the main wharf has been rebuilt, but only minor repairs have been made to the rest of the station, this being due principally to lack of available funds and also to the fact that the moving of the station to a more advantageous site was being considered.

The station is therefore in a very bad condition and woefully inadequate to the needs of the service.

One case of smallpox was treated in the station hospital during the year and 251 refugees were quartered and fed at the station.

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Nome, Alaska.-Acting Asst. Surg. Newman in charge. transactions.

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Pascagoula (Miss.) quarantine.-Acting Asst. Surg. W. A. Cox in charge.

Report of service transactions at the station for the year follows:

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This shows a notable increase over the transactions of like character for the previous year. Character of vessels remain practically the same. No case of quarantinable disease was met with during the year, and the routine work calls for no special mention.

On but one vessel have dead rats been found after fumigation— this the Norwegian bark Solheim, from Havre, France, fumigated on May 14, 1916. As a result of this fumigation 39 dead rats were found.

Pensacola (Fla.) quarantine.-Acting Asst. Surg. Wyatt Barnes in charge.

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Perth Amboy (N. J.) quarantine.-Acting Asst. Surg. Charles W. Naulty, jr., in charge.

The maritime commerce of this port is unusually responsive to foreign affairs. Eight years ago the principal cargoes were bullion from Mexico and asphalt from Trinidad and Venezuela, but prior to the war in Europe the port was rapidly developing a general commerce from all over the world. This year 45 per cent of vessels entering carried crude oil, mostly from Tampico and Tuxpam, Mexico. About 40 per cent of the remaining vessels brought copper or iron ore. The balance of the cargoes was largely asphalt.

None of the vessels entering this port direct carry passengers and the cargoes do not make desirable harborages for rats, thereby making the quarantine procedures correspondingly easier. There were no cases of quarantinable diseases arriving at this station during the

year.

The present station building, which is owned by the city of Perth Amboy and leased by the board of harbor commissioners, is extremely in need of painting both inside and out. The harbor board has agreed to have conditions remedied and the building wired for electric lights and, if possible, the building itself moved bodily to a new position on the bulkhead.

Vessels have been fumigated on arrival and rat guard notices served upon the master and the assistance of the customs inspectors enlisted to see that the proper precautions are observed while at the dock.

The Trinidad Line stops at New York and discharges passengers and miscellaneous cargo there and is remanded here for discharge of asphalt and fumigation to prevent unnecessary delay. This company has supplied every boat with a complete equipment of pots and pans and sulphur and alcohol, and the fumigation is done by their own officers under supervision of the service officer or a service employee.

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Port Angeles (Wash.) subport.-Acting Asst. Surg. Frederick T. Hunter in charge.

During the year 18 sailing vessels were inspected and passed, and 1 was fumigated for rat destruction at this station during the fiscal year. One sailing vessel was inspected and directed to proceed to the quarantine station at Diamond Point, Wash., for fumigation. These vessels carried a total of 232 members of crews and 11 passengers.

Port Hartford, Cal.-Acting Asst. Surg. C. J. McGovern in charge. During the fiscal year there were inspected at this port 54 steamers, carrying a total of 2,162 in crews. There were no quarantinable diseases discovered, nor were there any other transactions.

Port Inglis (Fla.) quarantine.-Acting Asst. Surg. B. W. Burland in charge.

During the year 2 vessels, carrying a total of 52 passengers and crews, were inspected and passed.

Portland (Me.) quarantine.-Surg. H. S. Mathewson in charge. During the year 231 steamers and 35 sailing vessels were inspected and passed, and 3 steamers and 9 sailing vessels were spoken and passed. These vessels carried 45 passengers and 8,690 members of crews. Eight vessels from ports infected with plague were disinfected for the destruction of rats, 117 dead rats being collected from various parts of these vessels and autopsied, but no evidence of plague infection was found among them.

Port Royal (S. C.) quarantine.-Acting Asst. Surg. William P. Gibbes in charge.

One vessel, carrying a crew of eight men, was inspected and passed without fumigation.

Port Townsend (Wash.) quarantine.-Passed Asst. Surg. Baylis H. Earle in charge.

During the year 208 steamers were inspected and passed and 19 detained and 68 sailing vessels were inspected and passed and 37 detained. The steamers carried a total of 18,449 members of crews and 15,815 passengers and the sailing vessels a total of 1,567 members of crews and 26 passengers. The vessels detained were fumigated with sulphur dioxid gas by the pot method for the destruction of rats and other vermin. The work was done in the bay of Port Townsend, except in the case of the United State Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Patterson, which was sent to the Diamond Point quarantine station at request of the commanding officer, one member of the crew being ill of scarlet fever. Provisional pratique was granted 53 steamers and 1 sailing vessel bound for Seattle and 8 steamers bound for Tacoma, with the understanding that they would be fumigated at these ports when empty, the service officers there being notified by telegraph or letter. One sailing vessel was fumigated at Port Gamble, Wash., an officer with necessary apparatus being sent there on the launch Wightman for the purpose.

Steamers inspected and passed..
Steamers detained___

Transactions.

Sailing vessels inspected and passed_

Sailing vessels detained_

Number of crews on steamers.

Number of crews on sailing vessels_

Number of passengers on steamers (including 31 stowaways).
Number of passengers on sailing vessels (including 1 stowaway).

208

19

68

37

18, 449

1,567

15, 815

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Providence, R. I.-Passed Asst. Surg. E. R. Marshall in charge. Despite the unsettled conditions in Europe, due to the war, the shipping at this port has increased somewhat over the volume of last year, both in passengers and freight.

No quarantinable diseases have been encountered during the year among the crews and passengers of the incoming vessels.

The Fabre Line vessels, which bring all the immigrants to this port, have not touched at Mediterranean ports for the greater part of the present fiscal year, which greatly lessened the chances of bringing any of the quarantinable diseases. The steamer Roma arrived October 15, 1915, from Lisbon and the Azores with two cases of measles in the steerage, and again on May 12, 1916, from the same ports with one case of measles and one case of varicella. These cases were sent to the Providence City Hospital and the quarters and bedding fumigated. Statistical table of quarantine transactions is appended.

Work performed and equipment installed on the Newark during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916, was as follows:

Heating system: The old system on the berth deck, which was installed at the Norfolk Navy Yard, has been torn out and replaced by a new overhead circulating system. The old system was not properly graded, no provision had been made for bleeding the pipes in the cold weather, and the radiators were either badly corroded or broken. This work was performed by the station force at an approximate cost of $100 for material.

Lighting system: One of the old dynamos located below the berth deck has been hauled up, with considerable effort, and installed in the alleyway leading to the boiler room. The dynamo has been overhauled and belted up to one of the old blower engines, which serves the purpose very well. A very elaborate switchboard has been built by the attendants, and the vessel has been rewired on both decks from stem to stern. The dynamo as now installed will carry about 200 tungsten lights with a boiler pressure of 80 pounds.

The station engineer and his helpers deserve the greatest credit for their very efficient work and untiring energy in installing this lighting equipment, for it has obviated the necessity for spending $2,000 for a new dynamo. The total cost in this connection was about $40.

Shower baths: This system is located in the peak of the vessel on the gun deck, and consists of two batteries of six showers each. In cold weather the water will be heated by means of two Gegenstrom mixing chambers, which receive a supply of steam direct from the donkey boiler. These showers are supplied from a tank of 2,500 gallons capacity, located on the boat deck, which under ordinary circumstances will be ample.

Miscellaneous: The force of attendants have performed, in addition to the above, a great deal of miscellaneous work. The forward and after decks, not covered by the roof, have been repaired, caulked, pitched, painted, and covered with heavy canvass, which was given two coats of drab paint. Numerous tables, benches, and lockers have been built for the convenience of those who may be detained in quarantine. Range, water-closets, urinals, bathtubs, and sinks have been installed at a cost of approximately $600.

The fire system has been completely overhauled and with 60 pounds of steam on the donkey boiler it is possible to cover the whole length of the vessel in a very satisfactory manner.

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Reedy Island quarantine station.-Post-office address, Port Penn, Del.; telegraphic address, Reedy Island, Del. Pharmacist F. L. Brown in charge.

This station is maintained as the detention station of the Delaware Bay and River quarantine, for the purpose of holding under observation and the treatment of passengers and crews, and the fumigation of suspected and infected vessels, in order to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases into the United States. The present equipment will care for 900 people, but the capacity should be increased. The services of the station have not been required during the past fiscal year, which no doubt, is due to the decrease in the number of ships arriving, and the cessation of the arrival of immigrants to the United States through this port. Various repairs and improvements have been made during the past year to improve the efficiency of the station for quarantine purposes.

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