File 2908/1907 Pt 3 ‘Persian Gulf:- Quarantine; German complaint’ [‎40r] (79/250)

certificates to that effect would suffice to justify the grant of pratique to any
ship. When however Bahrein or any other port is known to have been recently
infected, the mere certificate that no case of plague or other infectious disease
occurred on the day of issue is not sufficient to justify the declaration that the
port is “ free ” under the Paris convention. In snch cases the Quarantine Officer
is bound by Article 9 of the said Convention It was a pure accident that the
ship in this case happened to be a German vessel; exactly the same treatment
would have been meted out to a ship of any other nationality.
3. “ He (Captain Williams) told Mirza Abdul Hussein that he had asked
His Britannic Majesty’s Acting Consul-General, whether the “ Savoia ” ought to
be given pratique and received a negative reply.”
This is altogether untrue. It is apparently a perversion of the remark made
by Captain Williams that he would need to see an authoritative statement issued
by the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. and Consulate-General to the effect that Bahrein had
been free from plague for 5 days before he could make any report to the Sani
tary Council recommending the raising of quarantine.
The British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. and Consulate-General is the natural source from
which the Quarantine Administration would obtain authoritative information of
this nature either through the Governor of Bushire cr direct to save time.
Supplementary note received from Bushire regarding two fresh grounds of
complaint now adduced in the complaint received through the German
Legation.
Pilots .—The statement as made is entirely untrue—
(a) The only exemption accorded in the case of pilots is that allowed to
regular pilots who have been inoculated ; these are permuted to
board ships at the outer anchorage at Bushire, pilot them into the
inner anchorage and leave them there without undergoing quaran
tine, provided they board the ships in company with the quarantine
guards, proceed straight to the bridge and leave direct from the
bridge to their own boats without holding communication with
passengers or crew. The presence of the quarantine guards on
board ensures compliance with this regulation. No pilot who
makes any voyage in any ship is exempt from, quarantine. .This
system has been in force from a period anterior to the incident
under report.
(b) “ Mr. Rrumpeter's boatmen.—\X. is difficult, to understand the grounds
^ of'this objection. Mr. Krumpeter was in quarantine. He left, the
ship in his own boat entirely by his own choice. Had he waited,
the quarantine boat would have taken him to quarantine. In point
of fact he took his own boat and obliged the men to proceed to
the Customs wharf, in spite of the opposition of the
quarantine guard who was on board. He was not therefore pro
ceeding to quarantine, but was endeavouring forcibly to evade it.
The reason for quarantining his boatmen was the valid sanitary
reason that they had been in contact with him and Mrs. Krum
peter who were in quarantine. T he reason for not quarantining
the ordinary quarantine boatmen is surely fairly obvious, and would
have been brought home to Mr. Krumpeter if the measure had
been enforced during his stay on the island by the simple fact that
he would have had no food or drink. Even in the strictest possible
svstem someone must be allowed to communicate with the quaran
tine station, but under a strict system, as enforced here, the number
cf such persons is restricted to the smallest possible,. the same
men are regularly employed on this, service, they are inoculated,
kept under close medical observation, and on return from any
service which may necessitate such a measure they are disinfected
together with the boat.