Correction

An Incident In Samoa

IT was stated in this journal in July that Mr. W. O. Fry, Manager in Western Samoa of the Union Steam ship Co., was charged with having broken certain quarantine (infantile paralysis) regulations when he went aboard the motor-ship “Matua” with his wife in Apia one evening for dinner. Our report said that Mr, Fry was arrested, placed in quarantine for two days, and faced a prosecution with a possibility of severe punishment. We also stated that Mr. and Mrs. Fry were very resentful of the action that had been taken against them —especially as many people regarded the Poliomyelitis quarantine restrictions as farcical.

We now have been formally advised that three statements in the article are untrue. It is stated that Mrs. Fry did not accompany her husband aboard the “Matua” on that occasion; Mr. Fry did not go on board ship for dinner; and Mr. Fry was not arrested. It is a fact that Mr. Fry was prosecuted for going aboard the “Matua” in breach of the quarantine regulations; but the charges brought against him were dismissed by the High Court in Samoa. It was proved to the satisfaction of the Court that Mr, Fry was in the ship on business with the Master, and was acting under the general authority of the Samoan medical auth orities.

The report was published by us in good faith; and, to the degree that it was in accurate, we express unqualified regret.

Mr. Fry’s reputation as an official of the Union Steamship Co., Ltd., however, stands so high that it could not be damaged by an incident of this kind, even if he had committed a breach of quaran tine restrictions in Samoa. Samoa’s quarantine restrictions, as a matter of fact, are already the subject of jokes throughout the South Pacific.