“The U. S. Steamer Plymouth, Captain Hanning, which left Boston
March 15th, for a cruise to the West Indies, returned to Vineyard
Sound on account of two cases of yellow fever occurring on board
when about 80 miles south-east of Bermuda Islands.
“The ship had been in Boston during the winter, and as she had come
from the West Indies last autumn with yellow fever on board she had
been frozen out and fumigated. As she had not called into any port
since leaving Boston, this development showed that the germs of
yellow fever still existed in her, and she was headed north, being
deemed, under the circumstances, unfit for cruising in the tropics.
On the 31st of March, Peter Eagan, the boatswain’s mate, was buried,
having died from yellow fever on the previous day.”—_Wilmington
Sun’s_ associated press telegram.
The above dispatch has since been verified and the minute details will
no doubt be investigated most thoroughly. Notwithstanding this case is
not without a parallel, it comes in uncomfortable collision with the
theories we cherish of the killing power of low temperature on the
yellow fever poison.
In the most dismal times of a ravaging epidemic the heart turned with
anxious longings for the arrival of frost! This was the line of
demarcation between the pestilence and recovery from it! But in this
case we are informed that the Plymouth spent the winter in Boston harbor
with open hatches, the cold being intense enough to freeze the water in
the boilers. Every means for thorough disinfection had been applied that
could suggest itself to the minds of the well educated medical officers
in the service of a government lavish in its supplies. With all this, a
short cruise develops the fever in a form intense enough to cause the
death of one of the two seized with the disease.
We will await the detailed accounts of the investigation which is to
follow with peculiar interest. It is a starting point for the National
Board of Health, and a difficult one.
We append the following from the Surgeon-General of the Navy, received
through the Bulletin of the Public Health, from Surgeon General
Hamilton, U. S. M. H. S.:
“The Surgeon-General of the U. S. Navy has furnished the following facts
in regard to the recent outbreak of yellow fever on the U. S. Steamer
‘Plymouth:’ On November 7th last, four cases of yellow fever occurred on
board the vessel while lying in the harbor of Santa Cruz; these were
removed to hospital on shore and the ship sailed for Norfolk. Three mild
cases occurred during the voyage and the ‘Plymouth’ was ordered to
Portsmouth, N. H., thence to Boston. At the latter port everything was
removed from the ship and all parts of the interior freely exposed to a
temperature which frequently fell below zero, the exposure continuing
for more than a month. During this time the water in the tanks, bilges,
and in vessels placed in the store rooms was frozen, 100 pounds of
sulphur was burned below decks, this fumigation continuing for two days,
and the berth-decks, holds and store rooms were thoroughly whitewashed.
On March 15th, the ship sailed from Boston southward; on the 19th,
during a severe gale, the hatches had to be battened down, and the berth
deck became very close and damp. On the 23d two men showed decided
symptoms of yellow fever, and on the recommendation of the Surgeon, the
vessel headed northward. The sick men were isolated, and measures
adopted for improving the hygienic condition of the vessel and crew. The
surgeon reported that he believed the infection to be confined to the
hull of the ship, especially to the unsound wood about the berth deck,
all the cases but one having occurred within a limited area, and that
while the ‘Plymouth’ is in good sanitary condition for service in
temperate climates, should she be sent to a tropical station, probably
no precautionary measures whatever, would avail to prevent an outbreak
of yellow fever.”
* * * * *
_Charcoal for Burns._—A retired foundryman claims that powdered pine
charcoal thickly dusted over a burn is a never-failing and speedy
remedy.