§ MR. STAPLETONasked the Vice President of the Council, Whether it be true that two cases of cholera occurred on board ships which arrived in the Thames on Saturday; that no detention or disinfection took place at Gravesend; and that the clothes of the deceased sailors were landed?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERI am glad, Sir, to have an opportunity of bringing the facts before the House, as there appears to be some misapprehension respecting them. Two ships arrived in the Thames on Saturday from Cronstadt, and in each of them a man had died of cholera; but so far as I can learn from inquiries made on board they both died at Cronstadt, whether on board ship or not I do not know. The clothes of one of them were landed, and were almost immediately destroyed, at the Board of Works offices. The clothes of the other man were burnt on board the ship. It may be as well that I should state the different Orders which have been issued with regard to cholera by the Privy Council. On the 29th of July an Order was printed, and on the 1st of August issued, empowering the nuisance authorities to remove to a hospital all persons suffering from cholera, and to cause the clothing and bedding of such persons to be disinfected, and if necessary destroyed, and also to cause the ship to be disinfected. On the 3rd of August a similar Order was issued for Scotland. An Order was issued on the same day enabling Custom House officers to prevent the entry into any part of England and Scotland of any vessel coming from a place where cholera existed until the local authorities had had an opportunity of using the powers confided to them by the Order I have mentioned. In this case I found that the nuisance authorities did not act as promptly as we should have expected. Having received the information, we issued an Order about 11 o'clock the same evening, prohibiting the admission into port of any vessel on board of which cholera had occurred till the clothing and bedding of the persons or person affected had been destroyed.
§ MR. STAPLETONdesired to be informed whether the ships themselves had been disinfected?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERpromised to make inquiries on that point; but it was the duty of the nuisance authorities to carry out the Orders.