CHOLERA— THE SAFEGUAR S OF AMERICA. 155 



affecting the Railway Commission which are hkely to be contested. At present 

 they seem to exasperate both parties. This is because they parcel off a piece of 

 disputed ground where each party formerly claimed the whole. The railroad 

 men held that there was really no occasion for the Commissioners; the shippers 

 held that they ought to be allowed to settle pretty much everything. Therefore 

 the railroad men are dissatisfied to see the Commission made permanent and 

 given independent power ; while the shippers are dissatisfied to see that power 

 limited by the right of appeal, or -the allowance of station terminals. 



There can be no doubt that the bill offers some great advantages. It settles 

 many points which have hitherto been at loose ends. It substitutes definite and 

 efficient powers for vague ones. The one serious danger is that it may lead to a 

 determined attempt on the part of the Commissioners to base rates upon cost of 

 service instead of value of service. They have tried to do so in many cases 

 which have come before them in the past. There is some reason to fear that 

 they may, with their increased powers, pursue the same policy on a larger scale 

 in the future. 



CHOLERA— THE SAFEGUARDS OF AMERICA. 



Dr. John B. Hamilton, Surgeon-General of the Marine Hospital Service, ex- 

 presses the following opinion as to the possible danger of the introduction of 

 Asiatic cholera into the United States, and of the means taken to keep it away. 



He said that the United States kept up three quarantine stations. Of these, 

 one is at Ship Island, near the mouth of the Mississippi, which is for all points 

 on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The steamer Day Dream, which formerly 

 belonged to the National Board of Health, is attached to this station, and there 

 is also a steam launch for boarding vessels and removing sick to hospital. Sur- 

 geon Robert D. Murray, who has become noted in connection with the yellow 

 fever epidemics, is in charge. 



The second station is at Sapelo Sound, on the coast of Georgia, and is the 

 quarantine for all ports between Key West and North Carolina. Acting Assist- 

 ant Surgeon George H. Stone is in charge, having the sloop Gypsy as a tender 

 and boarding vessel, and has an assistant at the hospital on the island. 



The third station is the Cape Charles quarantine grounds, situated on Fish- 

 erman's Island, just inside of Cape Charles, and is the quarantine for Norfolk, 

 Newport News, Richmond, Fort Monroe, Fredricksburg, Alexandria, and Wash- 

 ington, and all other ports on the Chesapeake or its tributaries, except Baltimore, 

 which is in charge of the health officials there. The boarding vessel there is the 

 steamer John M. Woodworth, and there are two steam launches. The officer in 

 charge is Passed Assistant Surgeon Fairfax Irwin, and Dr. Hubbard remains at 

 the island, where a temporary hospital building seventy feet in length has recently 

 been completed. 



The large seaports — Philadelphia, New York, and Boston — are attended to 



