Part 24

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.

In Bremen, according to the consul, all disinfection of vessels and their cargoes was done with sulphur dioxide by means of a Clayton apparatus, and vessels equipped with this apparatus, and those having physicians aboard, had the advantage of being able to start disinfection twenty-four hours before arrival at port, this process having been recognized as sufficient compliance with the quarantine laws of Germany.

MEASURES AGAINST RATS AT THE PORT OF ROTTERDAM.

In the report from Consul-General S. Listoe it was stated that the extermination of rats had not been officially undertaken by the authorities of Rotterdam, either in the port or aboard incoming ships. The question had been investigated, however, and the harbor master had strongly advised the installation of a fumigating machine, which would be installed on one of the numerous river police boats. Ship owners had, for their own protection, caused their ships to be occasionally fumigated, and two of the well-known lines had fitted out some of their steamers with fumigating apparatus.

DESTRUCTION OF RATS AT ANTWERP, BELGIUM.

Consul-General H. W. Diedrich stated that no official action had been taken in the port of Antwerp for the extermination of rats, but that every vessel entering the port had to pass the sanitary station at Doel, and there was authority to hold up any suspected vessel and to insist on fumigation for the destruction of rats.

DESTRUCTION OF RATS IN DENMARK.

As a result of the agitation started in 1898, the following law was passed and signed by the King of Denmark on March 22, 1907:

1. When an association constituted for the purpose of effecting the systematic destruction of rats has proved to the satisfaction of the minister of the interior that it is in a position to expend on the furtherance of its objects, within a period of three years, a sum of not less than 10,000 kroner per annum, it shall become incumbent upon each local authority to make suitable arrangements at the expense of the local funds, and commencing with a date to be made known hereafter by the minister of the interior, for the reception and the destruction of all rats killed within the district of such authority and delivered up to such authority.

For each rat delivered up each local authority shall pay a premium, for the payment of which an annual grant shall be made out of the local funds, which shall be not less than three kroner per each hundred inhabitants within the district of each local authority, according to the then last general census.

The State shall make for a period of three years an annual grant of 30,000 kroner, of which one-third may be expended on scientific experiments with preparations for the extermination of rats, under the control of, and in consultation with, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College, while the remainder shall be expended on purchasing preparations for the extermination of rats, which shall be either employed on or in public lands or buildings, or out of which remainder grants may be made to associations toward the purchase of such preparations, in a manner to be defined hereafter by the minister of the interior.

2. Each local authority shall fix the amount of the premium (sec. 1) which shall not, however, be more than 10 oere or less than 5 oere.

Instructions for the collection and destruction of the rats killed will be issued by the minister of the interior.

3. The association cited in section 1 shall submit for the sanction by the minister of the interior at the beginning of each year a plan showing the proposed expenditure, and at the end of each year an account of the money expended by it, together with statistics obtained by it showing the expenditure on premiums made by each local authority.