7 June 1899

File — Box: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: This collection consists of triennial reports submitted to the President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Richard A. Cleemann, representative of the President on the State Quarantine Board of Pennsylvania. The reports, 1893 to 1911, document the activities of the Board. The reports discuss the formulation of the rules and regulations of the Board, the selection of the location for the new quarantine station, and the expenses involved in the project. Also included are figures on the number of ships inspected, delayed, or disinfected, and the number of patients examined, treated, or detained during each year. Cleemann discusses the prevalence of certain diseases, such as cholera, smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, and beri-beri and describes individual cases of interest. Included among the appendices of Cleemann’s 1896 report is a supplement to the Quarantine Act of 1893 and "Eight cases of beri-beri" (1893 Dec. 5), a report from the Quarantine Physician, Henry C. Boenning. Also of note is Cleemann’s report of 1911 in which he describes an incident at the wharf on Snyder Avenue in Philadelphia. The steamship "Verona", recently arrived from Italy, was delayed at the wharf while its passengers were vaccinated. Impatient friends and family members waiting on the dock pressed forward, pushing some people into the river. Cleemann described the incident as an "ugly state of affairs along the [Delaware] River".