457
17. The question as to whether the owner or occupier should be held responsible for complying with the law was also fully considered. In many cases the cocklofts are the property of the tenants; in others they belong to the owner. The Committee therefore decided to adopt the plan that had been found to work so well in the case of the illegal occupation of basements, viz., of serving the notice on both the owner and occupier. The notice on the occupier specified in schedule C to our last report was therefore discontinued and a new form, after meeting with the approval of the Attorney General, adopted (appendix C).
18. The conditions drawn up by the Committee on the subject of cocklofts in buildings erected before and after the passing of The Closed Houses and Insanitary Dwellings Ordinance (15 of 1894) which, after submission to and approval by the full Board, were published in the Government Gazette and in the English and Chinese newspapers, will be found embodied in the notifications included in appendix D.
19. Up to date, notices with copies of the Board's conditions attached, to comply with the provisions of sub-section 1 of section 7 and sub-section b of section 8, have been served on the owners and occupiers in the case of 433 cocklofts and cubicles. So far this change of tactics has met with the best results, and it is confidently hoped that within six months all illegal cocklofts will have been removed.
IG
BASEMENTS.
20. A complete list of the basements illegally occupied on the 1st of April, and on the owners and occupiers of which notices have been served, will be found in appendix E The return does not include the very large number of basements in No. 7 District which were closed during the epidemic of plague last year and which are among the worst in the whole City. Great credit is due to Acting Inspector MACEWEN for the energy he has displayed in preventing their re-occupation as dwellings.
21. Under our joint personal supervision the whole of the basements in districts Nos. 4, 5 and 6, have been inspected at night. In all 244 inspections have been made before, and 140 after, midnight.
The District Inspectors, Messrs. BURNETT, REIDIE and HORE, are doing their utmost to prevent their now illegal occupation.
PERMITS FOR COCKLOFTS AND BASEMENTS.
22. In a memo. dated the 9th of July (appendix F) the Committee referred for the consideration of the full Board the question as to whether permits for the retention of cocklofts, under section 7 and for the occupation of basements under section 6, should be granted to the owner or occupier. We are of opinion that the fullest publicity should be given to the fact that the Board has unanimously decided to grant such permits to the landlord only.
GENERAL REMARKS.
23. Although it may appear somewhat hazardous in the case of a disease like the bubonic plague, as to the origin and spread of which so little is known, we think it probable that the Colony has now seen the last of the disease in 1895. The widespread fear that the outbreak in Heung Lane was but the beginning of a formidable epidemic has happily not been realised. Twenty-six cases are known to have occurred; all died. If the particulars specified in appendix B are closely examined it will be found that among the later cases the disease showed no signs of abatement in point of virulence. The experience of this year would seem to demonstrate that the disease was nipped in the bud, and an epidemic averted by the prompt removal and segregation of the inmates and the disinfection and cleansing of the infected premises. The drastic measures it was deemed necessary to adopt were fully justified by the nature of, and the circumstances attending the outbreak.
24. The question here very naturally arises what are the prospects of a recurrence of the disease in the early spring of next year? A vast improvement in the sanitary condition of the Colony has unquestionably been effected during the last 12 months, but much still remains to be done. In our opinion no measure of sanitary reform calls for more prompt and vigorous action than that of clearing away the obstructions in back-yards and in the back parts of premises so as to provide a suitable and adequate area for the admission of light and air. This has been done already in many houses in the City. In Heung Lane the sanitary character of the houses, in which cases of plague originated, has been completely changed by this simple and by no means costly structural alteration. We submit that 10 consideration of Departmental economy should be allowed to interfere with the early carrying out of this most desirable réform.
We have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servants,
WM. C. H. HASTINGS, Acting Captain Superintendent of Police.
W. EDWARD CROW, Assistant Secretary and Superintendent.