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Apparently, however, to mark their sense of the gravity of the offence, they
refused to grant the master his costs, thereby, indirectly, inflicting a fairly
heavy fine.
These Regulations were drawn up by the City Solicitor, but the penalty
was added by the Local Government Board, which is clearly responsible.
The City Solicitor, to whom the matter was referred, reported that, without
question, if the decision was appealed against, it would be upset, but that the
only result of this would be to still further punish the master, who had freely
admitted his mistake, without any corresponding advantage to the Authority,
and that the simplest plan would be to at once correct the fault in the
Regulations and have them again confirmed by the Local Government Board,
as required by the Act.
Your Worshipful Committee adopted this suggestion, and the Regulations
have, accordingly, been amended.
The only alteration, besides the amount of penalty, is the omission of
cholera from the list. As this disease is specially provided for in the
" Cholera " Order of 1883, its presence in the Regulations is unnecessary.
On the 29th April, a case of measles was admitted into the Port Sanitary
Hospital from the s.s. " Massillia."
She left Bombay on the 4th. On the 28th, after leaving Plymouth, a child
was taken ill. A previous case had occurred twelve days after leaving
Bombay, and had been landed at Brindisi on the 18th.
From this patient the infection had been derived.
On the 7th May, the s.s. " Nepaul," on arrival, reported having had fifteen
cases of measles on the homeward voyage, the first being taken ill three days
after leaving Calcutta. Three cases were taken into the Port Sanitary
Hospital with their effects, and the vessel fumigated.
On the 23rd, the s.s. "City of Khios" came in, having had four cases of
measles on the homeward voyage.
The patients were all seamen, and were convalescent on arrival.
The first was taken ill on the 5th May, and the other three on the 15th.
There was no isolation hospital on board, and to this may be attributed
the failure to check the infection at the first case.
The only reason for the absence of such accommodation being a desire to
economise canal dues, I wrote the owners urging upon them the advisability
of erecting so necessary a structure on deck.