SMALLPOX CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 29, 4 February 1935, Page 5

SMALLPOX CASE.

AORANGI AT SYDNEY. QUARANTINE EXPERIENCE. ARRANGEMENTS «PERFECT." (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, January 30. When the Aorangi arrived from Vancouver last Thursday night, January ?4, one of the stewards was found to be suffering from smallpox. The steamer was at once ordered to quarantine, and the work of transferring the passengers and crew to their new quarters at North

Head was promptly carried out. There were 13!) "through" passengers, 181 from New Zealand, and a crew of about 300, and the removal of all these people, with | their belongings presented many diffi- > culties. However the crew and staff worked most energetically, the organisation evoking high praise from several experienced travellers, and in a comparatively short time the work was done. The Aorangi having been fumigated, proceeded up the harbour to her berth. But crew and passengers, for the most part, remained behind. Indian Passengers Stranded. Under such circumstances quarantine j treatment follows a regnla- routine. Those suspects who have not been I vaccinated within the past seven years are treated immediately, and they are generally kept in custody for about 14 days to make certain that the infection j has "taken." In this instance 277 of j the passengers required to bo vaccin- j ated; and of the others 43 who were! to show that they could not have come in contact with the infection on j board were released after two daj T s. j Some of these hoped to catch the Mon- | golia, which left on Saturday morning, j but the Mongolia declined to take them ' lest it should bo held up at some other port later on. A party of Indians, all previously vaccinated, who were also released, are now stranded in Sydney awaiting a boat to take them back home from Fiji. But the balance of the passengers and crew —about 500— remained "in custody," and proceeded to make the best of it. • By all accounts most of them have found their stay in quarantine quite a pleasant adventure. Several tourists regard their visit to North Head as rather a diverting break in the voyage. Of course, the quarantine station is always well staffed and fully provided with all necessary requisites. The food is said to be excellent, and though the cook and some of the waiters struck for higher wages on account of heavy additional work, the difficulty was soon settled, and the men on the whole eeerucd to have the. sympathy of their

"guests." Of course, all expenses have to be borne by the Union Company, and this sudden interruption in the Aorangi's voyage is costing it — at the rate of 10/ per head—about £300 a day. However, the company is evidently doing everything in its power to provide for the comfort and amusement of its charges. Telephones Kept Busy. The Union Company officials installed a "wireless" at the station and sent over large quantities of papers and magazines; and there were facilities for tennis and swimming, as well as for bridgeplaying, and telephoning to friends and relatives —which last appeared to be a constant occupation of some of the paseenseiii. Mr. George Sorlie, a London theatrical manager, who happened to be on board, helped to organise enter- | tainment and to promote good humour, and the "prisoners" generally seem to have regarded their enforced seclusion in the light of an extra holiday. A retired director of Dunlop Rubber, Mr. du Cros, praised highly the efficiency of all the arrangements, both afloat and , -nshore, and especially commended the | politeness of the officers and crew and the unremitting attention of the officials to their duties. No Fear of Spread. Dr. A. E. Platt, of Cambridge, who is on his way to Adelaide to direct the laboratory of bacteriological research, described all the arrangements as "perfect," and stated that in his opinion the strict supervision insisted upon by the port authorities is thoroughly justified.j The Federal Director-General of Health,] Dr. J. H. Compston, has issued a state- 1 ment to the effect that there is not the slightest reason in this instance to fear the spread of the disease. li is just three years since the last shi ■ that brought smallpox to these shored reached Australia. Rut though! i these visitations are now happily rare, ..experience lias shown that the public safety demands the maintenance of rigorous precautions, and that in regard to immunity from infectious disease, a< from many other evils, unceasing vigil-j ance is tlic price of freedom. ]