PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
SlmniT CDlltll DF THI WSSiSSlPIlVULET 
AT ITS 
Fifth Annual Meeting, Jackson, Miss., April 3 and 4, 1883. PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
SANITARY COUNCIL OF THE MISSISSIPPI YALLEY 
AT ITS 
Fifth Annual Meeting, Jackson, Miss., April 3 and 4,1883. 
In accordance with the discretionary power conferred upon the Ex- 
ecutive Committee at the last annual meeting, to call together The 
Sanitary Council of the Mississippi Valley “at such time and 
place as may seem necessary,” the fifth annual meeting of the Council 
was held at Jackson, Mississippi, beginning on Tuesday, April 3, 1883. 
In addition to the regular members of the Council, representatives 
of the leading commercial, transportation and industrial interests of the 
Valley were invited, by the following circular letter, to he present: 
Springfield, Ills, March 13,1883. 
Dear Sir : 
The suspension of some of the most important functions of the National Board of Health— 
especially its Sanitary Inspection Services ; the attitude of the Louisiana State Board of Health 
toward the New Orleans Auxiliary Sanitary Association, and toward other State Boards of 
Health in the Valley ; the continuance of Asiatic cholera in threatening proximity to lines of 
travel, and the prolonged existence of a fatal form of cholera nostra in some parts of Mexico 
together with other considerations touching the public health, combine to renew the interest 
which originally attached to the Sanitary Council of the Mississippi Valley. 
It now seems probable that it will only be by such co-operative action as can be secured 
through the Council that commerce and travel in the Valley will escape, during the coining 
summer, the interferences from conflicting and irresponsible local quarantines, which obtained 
prior to the inauguration of the Inspection Service of the National Board of Health. 
At the forthcoming session of the Council, to be held at Jackson, Miss., April 3, proximo, 
these matters will be discussed, and an attempt be made to secure such uniformity of action, in 
necessary measures for the protection of the public health, by local and State boards, as shall be 
least onerous to commercial intercourse, travel and traffic. 
You are earnestly invited to be present in person at this meeting of the Council, and to 
secure the attendance of other representatives of commercial, transportation and industrial 
interests. 
By order of the Executive Committee : 
Uustavus Devron, M.D., 
President. 
D. B. Hillis, M.D., 
Vice-President. 
John JI. Rauch, M.D., 
Secretary. 4 
In response to this invitation, and to the regular notification, the fol- 
lowing-named representatives and delegates assembled in the hall of the 
House of Representatives, in the Capitol at Jackson, Mississippi, on the 
morning of April 3: 
Arkansas : Dr. J. A. Dibbrell, jr., Little Rock. Secretary State Board of Health. 
Illinois : Drs. W. A. Haskell, Alton, member, and John H. Ranch (Secretary o£ The Council) 
Secretary, State Board of Health ; J. M. Hall, Chicago, Health Department; Jas. G. Kier- 
nan, Chicago ; It. J. Curtiss, Joliet; B. M. Grifllth and J. L. Million, Springfield ; A. Schler- 
nitzauer, Belleville; P. H. Barton, Danville; H. LeCaron, Braidwood; W. A. Doak, Mar- 
tinsville; Heber Robarts, Carbondale. 
Indiana : Dr. H. G. Jones, Evansville, Health Department. 
Iowa : Dr. W. H. Dickinson, Des Moines, member State Board of Health. 
Louisiana : Drs. Gustav Devron and L. F. Salomon, and Messrs. Edward Fenner and W. B. 
Schmidt, New Orleans Auxiliary Sanitary Association; Drs. D. C. Holliday and J. M. Wat- 
kins, New Orleans Medical and Surgical Association ; Dr. W. G. Austin, Orleans Parish 
Medical Society ; Col. J. C. Clarke, Vice-President Illinois Central R. R., So. Div.; Messrs. 
Adolph Schreiber and John Clialtee, New Orleans, Cotton Exchange ; George Purvis, Lum- 
ber Exchange ; W. M. Smallwood, Produce Exchange, and G. H. Ryan and Win. Grayner, 
members of City Council. 
*MibSissippi: Drs. F. W. Dancy, President; Wirt Johnston, Secretary, and S. V. D. Hill, W. 
F. Hyer, Robert Kells, B F. Kittrell, C. A Rice, J. M. Taylor and J. Wright, members 
State Board of Health ; Messrs. A. M. Paxton and A. Shelton, Vicksburg. 
Michigan : Dr. K. C. Kedzie, Lansing, representing State Board of Health. 
Missouri : Drs. Joseph Spiegelhalter and Robert Luedeking, St. Louis Board of Health ; 
Dr. W. B. Outten, representing the M. P. & S. W. railway system. 
Ohio : Dr. L. C. Carr, Cincinnati. 
Tennessee: Dr. G. B. Thornton Memphis, member State Board of Health; Hon. David P. 
Hadden, Memphis, President Legislative Council; Messrs. S. L. Barinds, Memphis Cotton 
Exchange, and John K. Speed, Memphis Merchants’ Exchange. 
Wisconsin : Prof. W. W. Daniells, Madison, member State Board of Health. 
The Council was called to order by the President, Dr. Devron, of 
Louisiana, and the session was opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. John 
Hunter; after which his Excellency, Governor Lowry, welcomed the 
delegates and representatives to the capital of his State, and expressed 
the belief that their deliberations would be characterized by such concert 
of action as would inspire confidence among the people that every proper 
measure would he employed to prevent the introduction and spread of 
infectious disease. He entirely appreciated the importance of the delib- 
erations of such a body, composed alike of those vested with authority in 
matters of quarantine and other subjects connected with the preservation 
of the public health, and of representatives of the great material interests 
of the West and South—interests so quickly and profoundly affected by 
quarantine restrictions, not less than by the rumors, often baseless and 
unfounded, but which served, nevertheless, to throw communities into 
panic and alarm. Mississippi is fully alive to the dangers arising from 
the neglect of proper precautions; from want of concert of action between 
neighboring States and communities; and from the absence of authori- 
tative and trustworthy information from exposed points. With implicit 
*The Mississippi State Board of Health was also in session in Jackson at the same time, and 
attended the meeting of the Council in a body. 5 
confidence in the wisdom, integrity and ability of the State Board of 
Health, which is clothed with ample power and supplied with abund- 
ant means, he felt warranted in pledging the State of Mississippi to 
earnest and cordial co-operation in the objects of the Council, to which 
it was unnecessary to add assurances of his own personal and official 
sympathy and support. 
On behalf of the citizens of Jackson and of the State, the Clarion edi- 
torially addressed the Council in the following terms, given in this con- 
nection as clearly outlining the situation and the problems to be discussed : 
No more important body has ever met in the Mississippi Valley, than the'grave and delibera- 
tive assembly known as the Sanitary Council ok the Mississippi Valley, now in session in 
this city. It is composed of citizens of the highest and most responsible occupations and stations 
in society. Members of the learned profession of Medicine, which stands first in its sublime 
works of benevolence —men of commerce, and practical humanitarians, whose life-long labor of 
love is the good of their fellowmen. These representatives are bound together by the ties of a 
common country, a common hope for its prosperity, and that touch of generous human nature 
which makes the whole world kin. 
As the means of rapid intercommunication between our own and foreign countries have 
increased, the dangers of the introduction of yellow fever and other pestilential diseases have 
grown proportionately. Experience has demonstrated that State and local sanitary organiza- 
tions, though useful in their way, are not sufficient protection against such-visitations, and it was 
found necessary to establish a National Health system which would be uniform, simultaneous 
and vigorous in its operation. Inspired bv this .knowledge, Congress, on the ;id of March, 1879, 
passed an act “to prevent the introduction of infectious or contagious disease into the United 
States, and to establish a National Board of Health.” The whole country applauded its wisdom ; 
and on the 2d of June, 1879, thus encouraged, it passed a more general act enlarging the powers 
of the National Board of Health and placing a sufficient sum of money at its disposal for the 
performance of the important trusts devolved upon it. How well the Board acquitted itself of 
its obligations, and subserved the objects of tiiis beneficent legislation, has become history 
Unfortunately the last Congress, owing to petty jealousies of one kind and another not necessary 
to be mentioned here, crippled its power and deprived it of the means absolutely needed for the 
successful execution of its functions. At its first session one hundred thousand dollars were 
placed at the disposal of the President,instead of the Board ; it was diverted into other hands for 
disbursement, with what unsatisfactory results the country is but too well informed. At the late 
session the blunder was repeated, and no action was taken to continue in force the law of June, 
1879, which will expire in June next—four year from the date of its approval. 
In this grave emergency, the Sanitay Council has met, to devise measures for supplying 
the omissions of the National legislature, so far as in it lies, and to suggest a method for concerted 
action by State and local organizations. Also to appeal to the President to select the National 
Health Board as the agent for the disbursement of the money appropriated by Congress, over 
which he has discretionary control. The object is commendable. The danger is imminent- 
The power and the duty of the Notional authority to expend money according to the sum need- 
ed to ward off pestilential diseases, cannot be questioned. If the power to “regulate commerce.” 
confers authority to clean out harbors and improve the navigation of streams, it certainly exists 
to divest commerce of the horrors of disease which carries death to thousands, and spreads deso- 
lation and destruction. If the government has power.to appropriate money for the relief of suf- 
ferers by Providential dispensations like flood and famine, who will question its duty to stand 
sentinel at the outposts to protect the country from the ravages ofitlie horrible diseases which 
on repeated occasions, have ravaged communities ? We bid Godspeed to the Sanitary Coun- 
cil, and, in the name of Mississippi, pledge an earnest co-operation in whatever measures it 
may adopt to accomplish the objects of its assembling. 
Under the regular order of business, at the conclusion of Governor 
Lowry’s address, the roll of members was called. The minutes of the 
fourth annual session, held at Cairo, Illinois, April 19-20, 1882, and of a 
special meeting held at Indianapolis, Indiana, October 19, 1882, during the session of the American Public Health Association in that city, were 
then read and approved. 
On motion of Dr. Rauch, of Illinois, the delegates in posse, whose 
names had been signed as in attendance and had presented proper cre- 
dentials, were elected to membership. 
On behalf of the Executive Committee, the President, as Chairman 
of the Committee ex officio, addressed The Council as follows: 
Gentlemen : 
Those members who have been previously present at sessions offthe Sanitary Council of 
the Mississippi Valley may recognize in the presence of the present delegationfrepresenta- 
tives irom the commercial and other interests not heretofore represented, they having been in- 
vited by the Executive Committee, who in tendering such invitation deemed the present con- 
vention of vital importance to all. 
The main and sole object of this body is the protection of human life from imported and 
contagious diseases from any point, and this object is to be attained with the least possible re- 
striction to travel and commerce. New Orleans has been considered the source of pestilence, 
producing yellow fever, and non-residents as well as residents sustained this view. Non-resi- 
dents are also under the impression that the city is the source and cause of danger, while the 
citizens, or a part of them, recognized no necessity for quarantine. 
Experience has taught the public at large, as well as the medical profession, that yellow 
fever does not originate in New Orleans, nor will it ever propagate there to any excessive and 
dangerous extent if that city is kept clean. The experience and labors of the Sanitary Associa- 
tion, in preserving the gutters, canals and streets in complete and good condition, have proven 
the above assertion beyond a doubt; and as the merchants of New Orleans are fully aware that 
the city can never be a large and prosperous commercial metropolis so long as it is supposed to 
be a center for the distribution of yellow fever, they will contribute freely and with open hands 
funds to the Sanitary Association, and thus continue the good work .of keeping the city clean 
and free from imported disease. Again, though the Hoard of Health of Louisiana is not repre- 
sented in this convention, that body has given the visiting delegates from New Orleans very 
positive assurance that a strict and rigid quarantine shall be established and maintained, from 
May 1, at, all ports of entry in the State of Louisiana. 
if any case of yellow fever or suspicious case should occur in the city of New Orleans, they 
have pledged themselves to give immediate, accurate, complete and truthful information of the 
same to the health officers of this Valley. 
In order that this statement may not be taken as the opinion of a member of that Board, a 
special session will take place this very day, if it was not held'within the past twenty-four hours, 
and resolutions will be passed to this effect, and will be transmitted to this Convention before 
adjournment. 
Moreover, if any question or request from this Council be transmitted by telegram to the 
President or Conference Committee of the Board of Health of Louisiana, a special meeting will 
he held and the answer thereto immediately returned ; thereby securing a better understanding 
than can result from the assertion of any delegate from that body, who cannot bind the Board 
of Health by his representation or acts. The National Board of Health, through its Secretary, 
has informed those interested in its objects, that it yet continues its work of inspection and co- 
operation with the State and local authorities ; but .as its time of existence is limited to some 
tune in June, the successor to this organization must be created by the Council in order that 
the old shotgun and other unnecessary quarantines be not repeated as they existed previous to 
the creation of the National Board of Health, and this is a subject of importance for the dis- 
cussion, consideration and decision of the Sanitary Council of the Mississippi Valley. 
NUnder the call for reports from special committees, Dr. Rauch, the 
Chairman of the Committee on Immigrant Inspection, with reference to 
small-pox importation, reported that the inspection service of the National 
Board of Health, endorsed and recommended by the Council at its 
Cairo meeting, was begun on the first of June last, and continued, sub- 
stantially, up to the close of December. Its value had been amply dem- onstrated alike in the protection of our own people from imported con- 
tagion over a vast area of country, especially in the interior, extending 
from Minnesota to Texas; in protecting the immigrant from the results 
of his own neglect; and in relieving common carriers from the menace of 
local and State quarantines of exclusion. The committee was unani- 
mous as to the desirability of a continuance of the service, of which, how- 
ever, there was little prospect in the present crippled condition of the 
National Board of Health. 
Dr. Hyer, of Mississippi, moved that the report of the committee be 
adopted. Carried. 
Dr. Salomon, of Louisiana, from the Committee on the Effects of the 
Mississippi Overflows on the Public Health, made a verbal report of pro- 
gress, and referred to an elaborate paper of Dr. Stanford E. Chaille, of 
New Orleans, on this subject, in which the data of seventeen inundatious 
of New Orleans, between 1718 and 1881, are studied. The conclusion 
arrived at by Dr. Chaille, from the facts and views cited in his paper is 
that they “fail to indicate that the partial inundations of New Orleans have 
ever influenced unfavorably its mortality, whether by yellow fever, by 
cholera, by malarial fevers or diseases generally.” 
On motion of Dr. Jones, of Indiana, the report was received and the 
committee granted further time. 
The report of the Treasurer was received and referred to the Audit- 
ing Committee, consisting of Messrs. Chaffee, Hadden and Fenner. 
On motion of Dr. Kedzie, of Michigan, a committee of one from each 
State represented in the Council, was authorized to formulate the new 
business for the meeting. The committee was composed as follows: 
J. A. Dibbrell, Jr., Arkansas, 
B. M. Griffith, Illinois, 
II. G. Jones, Indiana, 
W. H. Dickinson, Iowa, 
D. C. Holliday, Louisiana, 
W. F. Hyer, Mississippi 
Jos SPIEGELHALTER, MlSSOUri, 
L. C. Carr, Ohio, 
G. B. Thornton, Tennessee, 
W. W. Daniki/ls, Wisconsin. 
To this committee was referred the President’s address, reports of 
various committees and the following communication, furnished by Dr. 
Thornton, of Tennessee: 
National Board of Health, 
Washington, March 2G, 1883. 
R. G. Kedzie, Michigan, Chairman. 
Dr. J. H. Purnell, Secretary Board of Health, Memphis, Term.: 
Dear Sir—Inquiries having been received at this office..concerning |the action to be taken 
by the National Board of Health during the yellow-fever season, I have been instructed to com- 
municate to you the intentions of the Board, so far as they can be formed with certainty under 
present conditions. 
The law of 1879, under which the Board maintains its refuge stations at Ship island, Miss., 
Sapelo Sound, Ga., and Elizabeth river, Virginia, and its inspection service at New Orleans and 
on the Mississippi river, will expire on June 2d next. 
There has, however, been appropriated by the sundry civil appropriation bill of March 3d 
last, the sum of $100,(XX), to be used by the President in case of an actual or threatened epidemic 
in aid of State and local boards or otherwise, in his discretion, for preventing or suppressing the 
disease, and maintaining quarantine at points of danger. 8 
As the Board has the authority and the meansjto open its stations in aid ol State and local 
boards for the prevention of the introduction and spread of yellow fever, it proposes to do so 
some time in May next, to co-operate with the looffl authorities as heretofore, and to continue 
the work until its authority shall have expired. If, in the meantime, the President should come 
to the assistance of the Board with the epidemic appropriation placed at his disposal, the work 
can be continued until the close of the season of danger ; but should the Board be disappointed 
in this, its power to aid will cease, and State and local authorities will have to take such action 
in the case as may seem good to them. 
I am, Sir, with much respect, C. H. Smart, 
Major and Surgeon U. S. A., and Secretary National Board of Health. 
On motion the Council then adjourned until 2 o’clock p. m 
AFTERNOON SESSION APRIL 3. 
At half past two p. m. the President called the Council to order. 
The Secretary read a number of communications, among them regrets 
at unavoidable absence and expressions of approval of the Council and 
its objects and methods from Dr. J. J. Speed, Secretary of the Kentucky 
State Board of Health; Dr. R. B. S. Hargis, of the Pensacola, Fla., 
Board of Health; Dr. Hillary Ryan, Caldwell, Texas; Dr. A. W. Cant- 
well, Health Officer, Davenport, la.; Dr. Pinckney Thompson, of Hen- 
derson, Ky., member State Board of Health; the St. Louis Cotton Ex- 
change, railway officers and steamboatmen of St. Louis and Memphis, 
and other individuals and organizations. He also announced that Col. 
Clarke had tendered free transportation to members of the Council for 
a visit to New Orleans. 
Pending the report of the Business Committee, Col. Clarke was in- 
vited to address the members on the relations of sanitation to commerce, 
and responded in a terse, vigorous and eminently common-sense speech. 
He dealt especially with the relations of sanitary work to railroads, and 
of the pecuniary value of such work to all classes of common carriers, 
whether by rail or river. Its importance to the Nation was dwelt upon, 
and the hope expressed that a National Health Department would be 
some day established. He briefly alluded to the relations of the Coun- 
cil to the Louisiana State Board of Health, and trusted that any exist- 
ing differences might be speedily removed and harmony between all 
health organizations and officials prevail. Dr. Outten, for the Missouri, 
Pacific and Southwestern railway system, followed in the same general 
strain, and expressed the interest felt by the general transportation 
officials of St. Louis in the work of the Council. 
The Hon. Edward Fenner, First Vice-President of the New Orleans 
Auxiliary Sanitary Association, detailed the objects of that organization 
and what it had accomplished for New Orleans. Mr. T. W. Ryan, of 
the New Orleans City Council, spoke briefly on behalf of the municipal 
authorities of that city, and expressed their sympathy with the objects of 
the Sanitary Council. The Hon. D. P. Hadden, President of the 
Legislative Council of ihe Taxing District, gave an account of the work- 
ing of the Waring drainage and sewerage system of Memphis, and 9 
stated that the sanitary'condition of the city was much improved by this 
and by the other work recommended by the National Board of Health 
Commission. 
The Secretary read a communication from the Secretary of the Lou- 
isiana State Board of Health, transmitting the preamble and resolutions 
adopted by that body as the result ol a recpiest of the State, parish and 
New Orleans medical societies, “ that the State Board of Health appoint 
immediately a committee to confer with committees from said societies, 
and with a third committee, to be appointed by the New Orleans Auxil- 
iary Sanitary Association, for the purpose of discussing in joint meeting 
such subjects as are likely to come up before the meeting of the Sani- 
tary Council of the Mississippi Valley, which is to take place on 
Tuesday, April 3, in Jackson, Miss.” 
The preamble and resolutions of the Louisiana Board are as follows: 
Whereas, At a conference meeting of the several delegations of the medical, commercial 
and sanitary organizations of New Orleans, held on the thirty-first ultimo, it was resolved that 
the State Board of Health of Louisiana reaffirm and set forth its previous declarations in relation 
to matters connected with the prevention of the introduction of contagious diseases through the 
maintenance of a rigid quarantine through the summer months ; be it, therefore, 
Resolved, That the State Board of Health of Louisiana hereby declares as follows : 
1. That it will maintain during the summer months a system of rigid maritime quarantine 
for the exclusion of contagious diseases, in accordance with the proclamation of the Governor 
just issued. 
2. That it will give to the boards of health of surrounding States prompt information of the 
appearance of yellow' fever in New Orleans, and in no manner (in the future, as in the past,) will 
it tolerate any attempt to conceal or suppress the knowledge of the existence of any cases or 
suspicious cases of that disease. 
3. That it will permit its health records to be examined by any citizen of Louisiana or by 
any citizen of any other State, located in New Orleans, properly delegated by any kindred 
organization for the performance of that duty. 
4. That the resources of the State Board of Health for quarantine purposes are fully ade- 
quate to enable it to guarantee that there will be no interruption to the same. 
On motion of Dr. Austin, of Louisiana, the communication was 
received, and, after some discussion, the preamble and resolutions were 
referred to the Business Committee. 
On motion, the Council adjourned to Wednesday morning, at 9 
o’clock. 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 
The Council was called to order by the President at 9.30 a. m,, and 
immediately proceeded to the consideration of the following report, sub- 
mitted by Dr, Kedzie, Chairman of the Business Committee, and which, 
after discussion and amendment, was adopted: 
Mr. President: 
The committee, consisting of one member from each State represented in the Sanitary 
Council of the Mississippi Valley, to formulate a project of business for the considera- 
tion of the Council, presents, as its report, the following preamble and resolutions, and recom- 
mends their adoption : 
Whereas, It is the sense of the Sanitary Council of the Mississippi Valley that 10 
the National Board of Health possesses to the fullest extent the confidence of the States of the 
Valley ; it is, therefore, 
Resolved, That a committee be appointed by the president of this Council to petition the 
President of the United States to place the $100,000 epidemic fund in the hands of the National 
Board of Health for disbursement in case its use is demanded. 
Resolved, That in case the National Board of Health is deprived of the power of making in- 
spections of persons and freight when demanded by the local boards of health, certificates is- 
sued under the supervision of a representative or representatives of the Sanitary Council of 
the Mississippi Valley shall be accepted as valid by the boards of health of the Mississippi 
Valley, provided that said inspections be carried on under the rules and regulations heretofore 
prescribed by the National Board of Health. 
Resolved, That the Sanitary Council recommends that the states of the Valley make volun- 
tary contributions, to be’expended under the direction of the Executive Committee of this coun- 
cil, to.continue river and rail inspections in the event that no funds are placed in the hands of 
the National Board of Health for that purpose. 
Resolved, That the Sanitary Council recommends for the guidance of the Health Organ- 
izations of this Valley, the system of inspection, isolation, disinfection and quarantine hereto- 
fore prescribed by the National Board of Health. 
Resolved, That the communication of the Louisiana State Board of Health be received in 
the spirit in which it is tendered, and that its co-operation with the sanitary'Council of 
the Mississippi Valley, in protecting the valley from epidemic diseases, will be cordially ap- 
proved and acknowledged. 
All of which is respectfully submitted. 
K. C. Kedzie, Chairman. 
R. M. Griffith. 
W. II. Dickinson. 
Jos. Spiegelhalter. 
G. B Thornton. 
J. A. Dibbrell, Jr. 
H. G. Jones. 
W. T. Hyer. 
L. C. Ca hr. 
W. W. Daniells. 
I). C. Holliday, Secretary. 
The practicability of carrying out the third resolution was discussed 
by Drs. Dibbrell, Thornton, Outten, Spiegelhalter and Holliday, and by 
Messrs. Hadden and Schmidt. Dr. Rauch, in reply to a question from 
Dr. Holliday, said he was satisfied that the money could be raised for 
such a purpose; that the Illinois State Board of Health would do its 
share; that he knew of the existence of one corporation that would not 
hesitate to assume the support of at least one inspector in New Orleans, 
and called attention to the following passage from the letter of Mr. Thos. 
H. West, President of the St. Louis Cotton Exchange, as an earnest of 
the sentiment of commercial organizations and business men: 
We believe such measures are not only necessary to guard the public health, but of vast 
importance to the commercial interest; and this Exchange will gladly use its influence in aiding 
the Council in carrying out any practical system of quarantine for the general good of the 
Mississippi Valley. 
Colonel Clarke decried the parsimony of the General Government 
in withholding the few thousand dollars necessary for the protection of 
the health and business welfare of thirty millions of people, and pledged 
himself to further the purpose of the resolution in every way possible. 
The President announced the following- as the committee to prepare 
the memorial provided by the first resolution: 
J. A. Dibbrell, Jr., M.D., Arkansas. 
W. A. Haskell, M.D., Illinois. 
H. G. Jones, M.D., Indiana. 
W. H. Dickinson, M.D., Iowa. 
Jas. J. Speed, M.D., Kentucky. 
Hon. Edward Fenner, Louisiana. 
JR. C. Kedzie, M.D., Michigan. 
F. W. Dancy, M J)., Mississippi, 
Jos. Spiegelhalter, M.D., Missouri. 
L. C. Carr, M.D. Ohio. 
Hon. D. P. Hadden, Tennessee. 
Prof. W. W. Dan i ells, Wisconsin. 11 
The committee was instructed to secure the endorsement of the Gov- 
ernors of their respective States for the memorial, and to induce them to 
use their full influence in its favor. 
On motion, the Council took a recess for dinner. 
AFTERNOON SESSION APRIL 
On convening, at 2 o’clock p. m., Dr. Rauch moved that the next 
annual meeting of the Council be held on the third Wednesday in 
March, 1884, unless circumstances arise to justify the Executive Com- 
mittee in calling it for an earlier date. Adopted. 
He also called attention to a suspicious cholera-like affection prevail- 
ng in some portions of Mexico, and suggested the necessity of vigilance 
on the part of the Gulf and Rio Grande authorities concerning its 
spread. 
The election of officers being next in order, Dr. Wirt Johnston, 
of Jackson, Miss., was nominated for President, and elected by a ballot 
cast by the Secretary at the request of the Council. The Hon. D. P. 
Hadden, of Memphis, was duly elected Vice President. 
The following votes of thanks were tendered with the usual remarks: 
To the retiring President, Dr. Devron, for the dignity and ability 
shown by him as presiding officer. 
To Colonel J. C. Clarke, for the courtesies shown by him to the 
Council. 
To the press, for its careful and exact reports and the aid furnished by 
it in the furtherance of the objects of the Council. 
To the citizens and authorities of Jackson, Miss., for their cordial re- 
ception and many hospitalities. 
The Auditing Committee reported that the accounts of the Treasurer 
had been examined and found correct. 
The following draft of the memorial to the President of the United 
States, authorized at the morning session, was submitted by the Com- 
mittee : 
To the President: 
We, a committee appointed by the Sanitary Council, op the Mississippi Valley, at 
its fifth annual meeting, in the city of Jackson, Miss, April 3-4,1883, do humbly but sincerely 
petition that the fund of $100,000, to be used, with your approval, in the event of an outbreak of 
yellow fever or other epidemic disease on the coasts of our country, be placed at the disposal of 
the National Board of Health. 
That body can give confidence to the people of the Valley as to the necessary precautions 
and safeguards yearly demanded by the exposure of our Southern ports tc the ravages of yel- 
low fever. Their inspection stations and the mode their officers have adoped in isolation and 
disinfection, establishing quarantine only when emergency or occasion demands it, have earned 
for the National Board a degree of confidence that, of itself alone, is worth millions of dollars to 
the commerce of the country. 
To supplant this body or withhold from it the necessary funds to maintain inspection sta- 
tions at all exposed points will, in our humble judgment, clog the wheels of commerce by bring- 
ing about a feeling of distrust on the first alarm, be it true or false, .and cause recourse to the shot-gun policy of quarantine, which can but prove destructive to the commercial interests of 
the Mississippi Valley, which in a measure affect those of the entire Union. 
With these views, submitted with full faith in your judgment, and appreciation of the 
solicitude you must feel for the welfare of the public health, we herewith subscribe ourselves, 
your most humble petitioners. 
On motion the draft of the memorial was approved, and it was or- 
dered to be engrossed and signed by the delegates from the States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, Michigan, 
Wisconsin, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, and to be forwarded to 
the President at Washington. 
The following preamble and resolution were introduced and unan- 
imously adopted: 
Whereas, The commendable interest of the Auxiliary Sanitary Association of New Or- 
leans, as manifested by its local work, in practical sanitation and its efioits to maintain a high 
standard of public health in that city, since its organization in 1879, as well as to restore confi- 
dence in communities outside of New Orleans having commercial intercourse with it by the 
prompt publication of reliable information pertaining to the public health of that city, entitle 
it to the confidence and moral support of this Council, and the whole Mississippi Valley ; there- 
fore, 
Resolved, That this Council rightly appreciating the objects and efforts of the Auxiliary 
Sanitary Association in the delicate and responsible duties it has assumed, to preserve the public 
health and at the same time maintain the integrity of the business interests of New Orleans and 
those having commercial relations with it, we hereby pledge our moral support to the Auxiliary 
Association as its just due, and heartily commend it to the confidence of all having commercial 
relations with New Orleans. 
At the request of the President, the Secretary read the following 
letter from Dr. Hargis, of Pensacola, the paper therein referred to—On 
the Sanitary Management of Yellow Fever—being received too late for 
action in the regular order: 
Pensacola, Fla., April 2.1882. 
My Dear Dr. Devron : 
I intended to leave this city for Jackson, Miss., this morning, but am prevented by a fortuit- 
ous circumstance, 1 deeply regret it. and the more because I had no premonition until a moment 
ago, and now have not time to say what 1 would like to say to the members of the Council on 
the occasion of the present meeting and its importance to future sanitation in the South, and 
especially the great Valley of the Mississippi. 
T herewith transmit you a paper which I proposed to read to the Council and will thank you 
to read or have it read for me before that distinguished body. 
As the mail closes in a few minutes 1 have scarcely time to add, that although I am debarred 
the pleasure and gratification of greeting the Council and participating in its deliberations in 
propria persona, it is gratifying to have the privilege to write that it has my warmest sympathies 
and sincere wishes for a pleasant and fruitful conference. I remain, dear Dr., yours truly, 
K. 15. S. Hargis. 
On motion, the fifth annual meeting of the Council was declared 
adjourned sine die.