of health for the colony, states that at present no persons are solely
employed on rat catching, but the sanitary staff is required to take
all possible measures to reduce the rodent population. By the use of
bird lime a very large number of rats have from time to time been
destroyed. Doctor Gregory also refers to experiments made to determine
the value of tar and funnels placed on ropes to prevent the access of
rats to ships. The experiments were made to simulate actual conditions
that would prevail at ships lying at docks. It was found that thickly
coating a rope with fresh tar had not the slightest deterrent effect
on rats passing along. Funnels of a less diameter than 20 inches were
equally unsuccessful, and it was thought the experiments proved the
fallacy of trusting to tarred ropes or to disks of a workable diameter
being able to prevent rats from migrating in either direction between
shipping and shore.
RAT EXTERMINATION IN ALEXANDRIA AND CAIRO, EGYPT.
In Alexandria, Consul D. R. Burch stated that measures for the
extermination of rats were practiced; that the cost of disinfection
was defrayed by the municipality, which also supplied rat traps and
poison.
In Cairo rat destruction was being practiced, but it was stated that
the results could not be described as encouraging.
EXTERMINATION OF RATS IN THE PORT OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
Consul-General E. H. Ozmun, at Constantinople, states that while no
special measures have been taken to exterminate rats in that city, the
sanitary administration of the Ottoman Empire has provided measures
for the destruction of rats and mice on all vessels arriving from
places contaminated with plague, and he has furnished the following
copy of instructions concerning vessels which have or have not
undergone disinfection in view of destroying rats and mice on board:
ARTICLE 1. Vessels coming from places contaminated with plague and
which have not been disinfected either in the port of departure or
in an intermediary port during voyage, for the destruction of rats
and mice on board, according to the regulations of the superior
council of health, shall undergo their disinfection in the lazaretto
while finishing their quarantine.
ART. 2. Vessels coming from places contaminated with plague provided
with a certificate stating that the aforementioned disinfection has
been undergone may, after their admission, work in the port but
without landing on the quay.
ART. 3. Vessels proceeding from an uncontaminated Ottoman or foreign
port and which are provided with the certificate mentioned in
article 2 shall be free to moor at the quay if it is proved that the
vessel has been disinfected within a period of forty days; if not,
the vessel will operate in the port or at anchor.
Vessels in a similar case not provided with this certificate but
which can prove by the journal of the vessel that they have not
sailed within a period of four months to a contaminated port shall
be authorized to moor at the quay.
ART. 4. Vessels mooring at the quay must be at a distance of from 1
to 2 meters (39⅓ inches to 78¾ inches) maximum. During night they
must draw up the gangways and ladders, and must leave no towline
suspended without protecting it with funnels, brush wood, etc.
The vessels working in the harbor must also protect their towlines
in the same manner.
It is prohibited for lighters and boats to remain attached to these
vessels during the night outside of the time for working.
ART. 5. The above-mentioned vessels, mooring at the quay and on the
way to an Ottoman port, shall be required after having finished the
loading and discharging of cargo, to pass through the disinfection
prescribed by article 1 if their certificate of disinfection
mentioned by article 3 is found to be out of date, and also as long
as the city of Constantinople shall be considered as contaminated.
ART. 6. Vessels coming from uncontaminated quarters, although not
under any restraint, are free to go to any lazaretto in the Empire
and ask to be disinfected according to article 1; the latter will
work without delay so as to prevent loss of time as much as
possible.
ART. 7. The expenses of disinfection are to be paid by the vessels
disinfected.
ART. 8. Captains, doctors, or any officers of vessels are expected
to furnish the sanitary authorities with all information asked for
relating to the presence of rats and mice on board the vessel.
RAT EXTERMINATION IN RUSSIAN PORTS.
In Vladivostok, according to Consul Lester Maynard, the only efforts
to exterminate rats were made by the commissary department of the
army. Poisons, which had for their active principle caustic lime, were
distributed but were not entirely satisfactory, as the baits were not
sufficiently tempting food.
The keeping of cats had been recommended as the best method of
exterminating rodents, and it had been suggested that skunks, weasels,
and similar animals should not be killed, as they are the best
destroyers of rats and mice.
In Riga and Libau there were no laws and regulations prescribing a
systematic extermination of rats. The consul reported that only in
case of plague did the sanitary authorities order a thorough
destruction of rats not only on ships but also in warehouses and
private dwellings. The steamship companies, however, were said to
employ rat poison on their vessels, and, in addition, the ships were
thoroughly disinfected by means of sulphur fumes several times a year.
In Odessa it was reported by Consul J. H. Grout that the public health
officers of the port had been fully alive to the importance of
exterminating rats in order to prevent plague. In 1901 a systematic
extermination of rats on board vessels had been inaugurated, and in
1902 this practice was extended to include all vessels leaving the
port. The agent used in this process was the burning of sulphur in
specially designed iron containers. In 1902, 2,054 rats were killed in
346 vessels. In 1903, 1,038 rats were killed in 68 vessels. In 1904,
17,074 were killed in 168 vessels. In 1905, 512 rats were killed in
166 vessels. In 1906, 553 rats were killed in 188 vessels. In 1907,
1,887 rats were killed in 135 vessels; and in 1908, 1,138 rats were
killed in 97 vessels.
In St. Petersburg and vicinity no consistent effort, according to the
consul, had been made to exterminate rats, but at Cronstadt the port
authorities had experimented with ratin.
DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN TRIESTE, AUSTRIA.
All vessels arriving at Trieste from plague-infected countries on
board of which rats appeared in abnormal numbers were disinfected with
sulphur in accordance with rules of the Paris convention of 1903.
Consul G. M. Hotschick stated that it was a rule, whether rats were
numerous or not, to disinfect every vessel every six months so as to
exterminate rats on board. An exception was made in the case of the
Austrian Lloyd steamships plying between Trieste and the Far East,
these vessels being disinfected by the Clayton apparatus. All attempts
to destroy rats along the port shore had proven fruitless, according
to the consul, but in custom warehouses cats were kept, thus limiting
the number of rats.
The rules applying to Trieste extended to all the ports of Austria.
DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN GENOA, ITALY.
The methods employed at Genoa for the extermination of rats found on
ships were those prescribed by the ministry of the interior at Rome in
accordance with the Sanitary Convention of Paris.
As stated by Consul-General J. A. Smith, the regulations place all
ships arriving from plague-infected ports into three categories, as
follows: Infected, suspected, and noninfected. On ships coming under
the first two headings all rats must be destroyed previous to the ship
being allowed to pass quarantine. Noninfected ships were subject to
the same regulations only in case of an unusual mortality among rats
aboard, or in case of an excessive number of them being found on board
on arrival, which, in the opinion of the port medical officer,
required their destruction. Sulphur was used as the agent of
destruction, the gas being generated in a special apparatus. This
apparatus had been installed in the ports of Naples, Genoa, Messina,
Brindisi, Venice, and Asinara.
Further regulations of the ministry provided for the means to be
employed in preventing rats from reaching shore.
RAT DESTRUCTION IN BARCELONA, SPAIN.
In Barcelona Vice-Consul-General Wm. Dawson, Jr., reported that the
officials in charge of public health measures attached no really great
importance to the destruction of rats as an effective means of
preventing the spread of plague. Several attempts, however, had been
made to kill rats, which invade Barcelona to an enormous extent. In
his report the vice-consul further stated that bacterial cultures
known as _Tifus ratoso_, and supposed to have given excellent results
in Formosa, had been tried without appreciable results on wild rats.
He further stated that wheat boiled in a 5 per cent solution of
corrosive sublimate, dried in the air, and spread in sewers and other
places, had proved the most effective means of killing a few thousand
of them, but this practice had not been carried out to any great
extent nor for any length of time.
RAT DESTRUCTION AT FRENCH PORTS.
In Marseille the following was the practice as reported by the
director of the maritime health service at that port and forwarded by
Consul-General H. L. Washington:
The obligatory destruction of rats in all French ports is enforced
by virtue of a decree dated May 4, 1906. This applies: (1) To all
vessels arriving from a port regarded as contaminated by plague or
having only touched at such port. (2) To all vessels having received
in transshipment—that is to say, from ship to ship—merchandise
originating in a country deemed contaminated by plague. The
destruction of these animals is carried out exclusively by means of
apparatus whose efficacy has been recognized by the Superior Council
of Hygiene of France.
The devices employed at Marseille are:
(1) The “Marot,” adopted June 19, 1905. This apparatus utilizes
liquid sulphurous anhydrite, which is slackened, diluted in the air,
and subjected or not to the action of the electric spark. The gas is
introduced into the vessel by means of a ventilator at a rate of
from 25 to 30 meters per minute (82.02 to 98.42 feet).
(2) The “Gauthier-Deglos,” adopted February 18, 1907. This method
requires the combustion in an oven of a mixture of sulphur and coal
dust. A ventilator withdraws air from the vessel and causes it to
pass over the mixture in combustion; the gas thus produced is cooled
and then introduced into the vessel. A third device, known as the
“Clayton,” in use in some of the French ports, also operates from
time to time in Marseille on such vessels as are provided with it,
but it does not exist in the port itself. The principle of this
device is based upon the combustion of sulphur, its transformation
into sulphurous sulphuric gas, the cooling of the gases leaving the
oven, aspiration of the exterior air or the air in the holds of
vessels, and introduction into the holds by means of a powerful
ventilator.
With all three systems, the ships’ holds are opened only after they
have been in operation for three hours.
In Bordeaux, according to the consul, contracts had been entered into
between the Government and a private individual for the extermination
of rats on all ships coming from plague-infected ports, the apparatus
employed being that in use at Marseille.
In Havre the extermination of rats on vessels from plague-infected
ports was reported by Consul A. Gaulin as being systematically carried
out in accordance with a ministerial decree of May 4, 1906, which is
as follows:
ARTICLE 1.—The destruction of rats, or “deratization,” effected
exclusively by means of apparatus the efficiency of which has been
recognized by the Superior Council of Public Hygiene of France, is
obligatory for admission into French ports:
1. Of every ship coming from or having called at a port considered
as being contaminated with plague.
2. Of every vessel having taken in transshipment—that is to say,
from one vessel to the other—more than 50 tons of merchandise coming
directly from a country considered as being contaminated by the
plague.
The above provisions are applicable to vessels having already
discharged a part of their cargo in one or several foreign ports.
ART. 2.—May be exempt from deratization:
1. Vessels which only land passengers in French ports without
docking and which sojourn only several hours.
2. Vessels making a call of less than twelve hours and discharging
less than 500 tons of merchandise, on condition that the
surveillance of discharging be accomplished during the day
exclusively, the ship being moored away from the quays, and the
hawsers provided with rat guards.
3. Steamships which shall not have called at any port considered as
being contaminated by the plague for sixty days since their
departure from the last contaminated port, and on board of which
there shall have been observed nothing of a suspicious sanitary
nature.
4. Vessels which, having called at a port considered as being
contaminated by the plague, will prove that they neither berthed
alongside the quay or landing stages, nor embarked merchandise.
5. Vessels which have undergone the process of deratization in a
foreign port subsequent to their departure from the last port
considered as being contaminated. It must be proven, in this case,
that nothing of a suspicious sanitary nature has taken place on
board during the voyage, and that the deratization has been effected
with the same apparatus and the same guarantees as in France. The
captain of the vessel shall deliver as proof to the sanitary
authorities a certificate mentioning the apparatus employed, the
conditions under which the operation was effected, the verifications
made, etc., and a certificate viséed by a French consular officer.
6. Vessels whose status is that indicated in paragraph 2 of article
1, on condition that the merchandise has been transshipped from a
vessel which has been deratized under the conditions prescribed in
the preceding paragraph, and if such merchandise is accompanied by a
certificate of deratization provided for in said paragraph.
ART. 3.—Shall be considered as merchandise, for the application of
the present decree, all products embarked, figuring or not figuring
on the manifest, the only exception being coal embarked for the
needs of the ship without touching the quay.
ART. 4.—Deratization may be effected during the voyage by any French
ship having a surgeon, and one of the machines prescribed by article
1.
The sanitary official at the port of arrival shall determine, upon
examining the documents presented and the proofs furnished, the
conditions under which the operation has been effected, and he may
exact a total or partial renewal of the same.
The same provisions are applicable to foreign vessels, by virtue of
reciprocity, on the twofold condition that the sanitary officials of
the one (nation) enjoy the same standing as French sanitary
officials, and that the apparatus used are the same as those
mentioned in article 1.
ART. 5.—In ports, the deratization is effected before the unloading
of the ship.
The operation comprises the holds, bunkers, storerooms, crew’s
quarters, emigrants’ quarters or compartments for third and fourth
class passengers, and, in general, all interior compartments of the
ship.
The officers’ cabins, and those of first and second class
passengers, as well as the dining rooms, and saloons which are
provided for them, are not subjected to deratization except in cases
where the sanitary official judges it necessary—notably when the
ship is suspected of being or is infected by plague, when it has
been observed that the malady exists among the rats on board, or
when there has been a death from unusual causes.
ART. 6.—The apparatus to be employed for the deratization, by virtue
of article 1, are placed at the disposal of the owners or agents,
according to the conditions approved by the sanitary authority.
Ports possessing one of these machines are alone open to vessels
coming from countries considered as being contaminated by plague.
The operations are effected under the permanent supervision of the
sanitary authority and with the least possible delay.
ART. 7.—The expenses of deratization are borne by the owners, in
conformity with the provisions of article 94 (last paragraph) of the
decree of January 4, 1896. No sanitary tax is due, in consequence,
for the operation.
ART. 8.—The expenses considered in article 7 are based on the gross
tonnage of the ship, if the deratization comprises all its parts,
and on the cubic capacity of the parts deratized, if the operation
is partial. The cubic capacity is determined by and from the plans
of the ship, without allowing for the space actually occupied by
merchandise.
ART. 9.—A certificate setting forth the conditions under which the
operation has been effected is delivered to the captain or owners by
the sanitary authority.
ART. 10.—Ships which are not necessarily subject to the requirements
of deratization may, upon their request, be subjected to this
operation upon their departure, as on their arrival, either with
full or empty holds, and obtain, in consequence, the delivery of the
certificate mentioned in article 9. Every facility should be
accorded them for this purpose.
ART. 11.—Violations of the provisions of the present decree are
punishable by the penalties set forth in article 14 of the law of
March 3, 1822, independently of the measures taken for the isolation
or other measures to which ships are subjected by reason of their
origin or the sanitary condition on board at the time of arrival.
ART. 12.—Are annulled, the decree of September 21, 1903, and the
provisions of the decree of September 23, 1900, which would be at
variance with the second paragraph of article 6 above cited.
ART. 13.—The minister of the interior is charged with the execution
of the present decree, which shall be published in the Official
Journal, inserted in the Bulletin of Laws, and posted in the ports.
DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN GERMAN PORTS.
In Hamburg, according to Consul-General R. P. Skinner, stationed at
that port, persistent efforts were being made to exterminate rats not
only on board ship but in the city itself, and he reported the
following method of procedure:
Upon the arrival of every vessel an inspecting officer employed by
the board of health boards the same to inquire whether, during the
voyage, rats have died in exceptionally large numbers. While in port
the vessel is visited almost daily by inspectors, who search for
dead rats, particularly in the holds. On vessels from such ports
whence plague-infected rats have been brought to Hamburg repeatedly
an officer of the board of health is posted on board constantly to
watch the discharging of the cargo. All dead rats found are
immediately delivered to the Hygienic Institute; and if the latter’s
bacteriological examinations give reason to suspect plague, the
discharging is immediately discontinued and communication with the
shore interrupted. The vessel’s crew and discharging gangs are
placed under medical observation for a period of five days, the
cargo compartments are treated with generator gas, so as to
exterminate all rats, and, after the quarantine has been
discontinued and the cargo discharged, all compartments are
carefully disinfected. For the purpose of treating infected ships by
means of generator gas the Hamburg government owns a special
disinfection ship, called the _Desinfektor_, which will be described
later.
In order to exterminate rats on ships frequenting the port of
Hamburg the master of every vessel arriving here receives the
following instructions from a representative of the health officer
of the port:
He shall cause rat poison to be laid and fumigate holds by means of
sulphur and charcoal as soon as the cargo has been discharged, not
less than 10 kilos (22 pounds) of sulphur and 20 kilos (44 pounds)
of charcoal to be used for a room of 1,000 cubic meters (1,308 cubic
yards). Such rooms must be kept closed at least ten hours. On ships
arriving from ports infected with plague, rat poison is laid, free
of charge, immediately upon arrival, by an employee of the municipal
disinfection establishment, at all places within reach. On all other
ships the laying of rat poison is done by private persons whose
charges are payable by the vessel’s master or owner.
The disinfectors employed by the State of Hamburg use principally a
rat poison called “Rattengiftspeise,” consisting chiefly of
phosphorus and squills. Private rat killers may choose any other
material, but from time to time samples of such poisons as are laid
out on ships are taken by order of the harbor surgeon, and rats kept
in the public laboratories are fed with them, to enable a control as
to the effectiveness of the poison.
Under special circumstances the harbor surgeon is authorized to
waive the requirement of fumigation.
Killed rats are not permitted to be thrown overboard, but must be
delivered to the nearest police station, which causes their
cremation.
On river barges rat poison is laid by official disinfectors every
three months.
Finally there is rat poison laid, from time to time, in warehouses,
cargo sheds, and trade establishments in the harbor, partly by
official disinfectors and partly by private rat killers, which is
regularly controlled by the harbor surgeon, a special officer of his
department being engaged for such purpose.
The ship called the _Desinfektor_, owned by the government of
Hamburg for the purpose of disinfecting ships arriving from infected
ports and for the extermination of plague infected rats, is a
steamer equipped with a generator gas apparatus and other
disinfecting facilities. The method of using generator gas has been
chosen for reasons which are described in a booklet issued some time
ago by the local board of health on this subject.
In respect to the extermination of rats in Hamburg, aside from the
system adopted for ships and in the harbor, the consul-general states
that efforts to this end are being successfully carried out by
official disinfectors by order of the board of health, and he refers
to the procedures as follows:
If it becomes known to the board of health that in any locality or
group of buildings there are rats in large quantities, rat poison is
immediately laid. For such purpose the above-mentioned
Jungclaussen’s preparation is almost exclusively used. The several
local citizens’ associations (Bürgervereine), at the meetings of
which all topics of interest are discussed, contribute largely to
the bringing to the knowledge of the proper authorities of all
matters a remedy of which is, in public interest, considered
necessary, among them rat and mice nuisances in the several
districts of the city. Of late the board of health has also begun to
lay rat poison in houses in the old parts of the city, employing the
house-to-house method, and rat poison is laid, from time to time in
sewers and other underground canals where rats usually congregate in
large numbers.
As the laying of rat poison at or in the vicinity of places where
domestic animals are kept is dangerous to the latter, the Hamburg
board of health has only shortly ago caused a small gas generator to
be constructed, similar to that on the _Desinfektor_. The apparatus
can easily be removed from one place to another, and is chiefly to
be used on yards or unimproved lots, public parks, zoölogical
gardens, etc., where rats live under the ground. In fumigating such
a rat nest, all holes leading out of it are closed with earth,
except two. The hose of the gas apparatus is introduced into one of
the holes and gas insufflated. The majority of rats in the hole are
dead before being able to reach the fresh air. Those succeeding in
doing so, by getting out of the one open hole, are so dizzy that
they can easily be killed with a club. Only a few experiments have
so far been made with this apparatus, but the same promises good
success.