THE HEALTH OF ST. THOMAS.

Press, Volume XI, Issue 1385, 16 April 1867, Page 3

THE HEALTH OF ST. THOMAS.

» The St. Thomas "Tidende" pub--1 lishes a statement of A. Magens. ■ King's physician, regarding the existence of cholera, yellow fever, &c, on that island. Erom this report the " Panama Star" observes that the statement copied from the public protocal gives the deaths and their causes occurring from January, 1840, to December, 1666, which shows a total for the twenty-seven years as follows:—Yellow fever, 1524; cholera, 2435; smallpox, 355; all other diseases, 12,193; total, 16,507. No cholera, says Dr. Magens, was ever in St. Thomas before the yeaT 1853, when 1534 persons died of it—in 1856 it showed itself for a very short time, carrying off only 191 persons — and it did not show itself again for ten years, say 1866, when 710 persons died up to the 31st ult. The deaths from cholera are confined almost entirely to the black aud colored people, and we are of opinion that if we had been as severe as other places in the West Indies with regard to the quarantine regulations we might have been free from this scourge. As regards yellow fever, the tabular statement proves that although it showed itself in seventeen years out of the last twenty-seven years, in some of the years when it did show itself the following deaths only resulted :—ln 1842, only 5 deaths ; in 1843, only 11 deaths; in 1844, only 3 deaths; in 1854, only 11 deaths; in 1861, only 9 deaths ; in 1863, only 4 deaths ; and one period of seven years elapsed, viz., 1845 to 1851 inclusive, without one single death either afloat or on shore from yellow fever. The average annual deaths therefore from yellow fever, during the last twenty-seven years in question, amount only to about 019 per cent, of the floating population, (namely, the strangers) , estimated to number 2500 per month, or 30,000 per annum, excluding altogether the residents who number about 12,500. The report goes on to say:— " The Eoyal Mail Company has a large fleet of intercolonial steamers which constantly visit this harbor, where they make frequent stoppages of from a fortnight to two months each, for repairs; and although their officers, engineers, stewards, and the majority of their crews are white men, they suffer very little from yellow fever." A statement of the company's superintendent furnished to Dr. M. shows the deaths on board nine of these steamers during the year to be eleven out of four hundred and fifty Europeans employed, being only about2£per ceut. mortality by the yellow fever during the whole of the last year, even though the fever was epidemic for three or four months of that period— a loss so small that it will surprise many, even of those persons who give out their opinions so freely about St. Thomas, without knowing anything whatever of the facts of the case. Dr. Magens thinks the disease might to a great extent be avoided by the steamers visiting the island, had the company been more cautious in the selection of crews. It is true (he says) that during the last three or four months yellow fever has shown itself here in an epidemic form, causing much mortality among the crews of the Transatlantic mail steamers, much of which I think might have been avoided if the large mail company in question had acted somewhat as follows during the epidemic :— 1. Instead of discharging their old hands on arrival home to have retained them at an extra cost of wages and victualling, as it is certain they would have suffered less thau new hands. The old crew, being well fed and clothed, also having been somewhat seasoned to this climate, would have been almost as safe from fever as the crews of the little intercolonial ships. Look at the fact that scarcely any of the company's old officers, engineers, or men were attacked by the disease on board the Atrata, Seine, or Tasmanian. A case or two may have taken place, which no doubt could be accounted for ; and lam inclined to think that many of the socalled cases of yellow fever which turned out right were no yellow fever cases at all, simply feverish symptoms brought on by sheer fright and ex- ; citement. It should also be par-

ticularly noticed that passengers are seldom or ever attacked with yellow fever on board the mail packets. This shows that there need not have been any of the late fuss about infected ships, &c, at Southampton. It has been noticed that lately the crews of the British Atlantic mail steamers are very different from the hands this large company used to send out to the West Indies. Now the majority of the deck-men appear not to be seamen of some years standing and experience, but youngsters with red cheeks and very scanty wardrobes, looking more as if they had been caught at the last moment in the fields or lanes near Southampton—in fact, they seem to have been ill-fed and illclad raw bands, therefore they are ready food for fever when it is epidemic throughout the West Indies. 2. When epidemic fever prevails, I think the moment a man is taken with the slightest symptom of fever he should at once be removed from the ship, and placed in a sick house on shore, properly arranged for the purpose. 3. After the Atlantic ships have transferred their passengers and cargo from England to the intercolonial ships, to steam outside the harbor and remain at anchor for a couple of days, to rest the crew and purify the ship with fresh air after so many passengers being on board ; then to coal as quickly as possible at the wharf, without any coal vessels alongside to stop the free breeze ; to steam away from the wharf each afternoon at five o'clock, to anchor outside, and steam back to the coal wharf at seven o'clock next morning, which, although giving some little extra trouble to masters and men, and costing the company something extra in coals, would, I believe, keep the ships almost, if not perfectly, free of fever at times of epidemic; at other times they could act as they pleased with impunity. It is a matter of history the ravages of yellow fever, both at Antigua and Barbadoes, therefore I need only add that the said fever now and then shows itself in every part of the West Indies, where there are frequent arrivals of vessels from Europe, and as St. Thomas is the greatest port of call of the whole it follows that there is now and then more fever. Could you expect to hear much of yellow fever in a place like Port Castries, St. Lucia, where a brig ora barqueis not seen much oftener than every quarter of a year? In St. Thomas you may see twenty of the largest ships in the world arrive in one day. If the said twenty ships went to St. Lucia, or any other AYest India port instead of St. Thomas, there would no doubt as often be the same ravages of fever. On referring to the Custom-house returns it is found that (excluding all man-of-war ships, and they are numerous, their deaths moreover being included in the mortality list already given), the average number of ships which annually visit St. Thomas is 2184—tonnage 451,600 —and as the deaths from yellow fever during the last twenty-seven years only average 56% per annum, they are little more than one per week during a floating population of about 2500, which changes on the average, it may be said, every month, giving a total of 30,000 strangers visiting St. Thomas annually —or only one death per annum on board every thirty-nine ships visiting this harbor. Even without taking into consideration the fact that our floating population changes about every month, but supposing it to be stationary at 2500 persons, the rate of mortality would still only be 2\ per cent, per annum from yellow fever, or only 22£ per 1000. In conclusion, there is another point to be taken into serious consideration, viz.: the fact that many cases of the recorded deaths by yellow fever in the foregoing statement are imported ones from other places, with which St. Thomas is in communication by means «-p <,« i;~„„ „? „*.„„~.