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inmates of the Hospital, one of whom, a wardsman ,· died, whereupon the ,
majority of the patients were moved to another building and the wards
thoroughly dis infected . 1 1
In his 11Heal th Report'1 for November , Ha 11
declared that the people could thank favourab le climatic conditions at
the time for counteracting the spread of the disease, certainly not the
precautionary wisdom of the ruling authorities and their medical advisers .
It was not unt il February 1858, however, when Eckford and the last of the
inunigrants ·left Impression Bay, that the Persian Affair came to an end.
Undoubtedly, the authorities had learnt a hard lesson;
when
the immigrant vessel 11Trade Winds 11 arrived in Storm Bay on February 22
with three hundred people on board and typhus fever and whooping cough
prevai ling , the Executive with conunendab le promptitude sent the vessel
to the Quarantine Station at Impres sion Bay without permitting it to
come into harbour . 1 2
.Hall's open, unrestrained, scathing attacks on Bedford ,
Milligan, Henty and the Executive, and some of his fellow professionals
during the stirring, anxious days of the typhus fever crisis had cast
him in a new ro le.
Ang ered by the hostile indifference to his views in
the Royal Society, and yet more than ever convinced of their correctness ,
he declared open warfare on all who opposed him.
Above all, he was
determined to establish the truth .
On December 1, 1857, he wrote:
My faith is so firm in the omnipotent power of truth where
there is free discussions and pub licity that I am quite
confident to whichever side it lies that it wil l ultimately
prevai l irrespective of personal or other prejudices . 13
During the next twelve months his pen was untiring in its efforts,
winning for him the title 11the eternal scribbler, the eccentric Dr HalP' .
Such name-calling did not concern him;
his style was confident and
authoritative, displaying the statistician's insistence on the absolute
accuracy of every detai l.
It was "woe betide'1 anyone reckless enough
to challenge him, or foolish enough to publish incorrect data, for the
inevitab le result was an instant torrent of precisely detailed facts and
figures to confound him.
However galling it was to those who disliked
him, Hall, nonetheless , constituted himself the city's guide and mentor.
No other man in Hobarton at that time displayed less care for adverse
(_
11
1 2
1 3
Daily News , Novemb er 25 & 26 , 1857 .
For a summary of the Persian Affair see CSD 1/162/4327 .
Daily News , December 1, 1857 .