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The City of Victoria is divided into ten Health Districts, and the first of these to be declared infected with Bubonic Fever were Districts 2, 4, 5, and 6, on March 24th; the remaining districts of the City were subsequently declared infected as were also the districts in the Kowloon peninsula, comprising the villages of Yaumati, Taikoktsui, Mongkoktsui and Hunghom.
With a view to combating the epidemic the following officers were appointed by His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, in accordance with bye-law 25 made under section 13 of Ordinance 15 of 1894, to assist the Medical Officer of Health in inspecting and reporting upon dirty or insanitary premises :--
Honourable F. H. MAY, C.M.G., Captain Superintendent of Police;
Mr. FRANK BROWNE, Acting Government Analyst;
Mr. JOSEPH J. BRYAN, Assistant Sanitary Surveyor.
And the following additional staff was placed at our disposal:-
13 European Police Officers.
1 Naval chief petty officer.
24 Sappers and Privates.
16 Chinese Constables.
About 300 coolies.
The various duties performed by these officers and men, in association with the Board's perma- nent staff, were as follows:-
1. Removal of the sick and of dead bodies.
2. Detention of persons who had been in contact with the sick, pending the disinfection
of their clothing.
3. Disinfection of infected clothing.
4. Disinfection of infected premises.
5. Temporary accommodation of persons displaced during the disinfection of infected
premises.
6. House to house visitation, and inspection.
7. House to house cleansing and lime-washing.
8. Disinfection of Public Latrines.
9. Extra flushing of sewers.
(1.) The removal of sick persons and of dead bodies was undertaken by the Inspectors of Nuisances in charge of the several districts, information of the existence of such cases being conveyed to them by messages sent from the Police Stations nearest to their residences; after May 5th, however, it was found more convenient for these removals to be effected by the Police, and this was arranged accord- ingly. Ambulances and dead boxes are kept at the Board's matshed shelters at Praya East, Taiping- shan and Praya West, at Hunghom and Yaumati, and also at the Tung Wah Hospital. Patients were taken direct to Kennedy Town Hospital and placed in observation wards there until seen by the Medical Officer in charge, until the Native Plague Hospital was opened on May 2nd, (vide infra) after which date all Chinese patients were taken to the Tung Wah Hospital and there examined by Dr. CHUNG, whence those certified to be suffering from Bubonic Fever were drafted to the Native Hospital, or to the European Hospital, as they desired.
Dead bodies were all taken direct to the Public Mortuary at West Point, and were there examined by the Medical Officer in charge, and such as had died of Bubonic Fever were removed to the Plague Cementery at Kennedy Town under the superintendence of a private of the Royal Engineers, and interred there, chloride of lime or carbolized sawdust being placed in the coffins.
(2.) The detention of persons who had been in contact with the sick, pending the disinfection of their clothing and bedding, was effected by Chinese lukongs obtained from the nearest Police Stations by the Inspector of Nuisances of the district in which the infected premises were situated.
(3.) The Inspector furnished the occupants so detained in their own dwellings with suitable clothing, obtained from one of the aforesaid matshed shelters or from the disinfecting station in High Street, and sent the clothing of the persons so detained in baskets, accompanied by a list of the articles sent, to the disinfecting station in charge of a Chinese or Portuguese foreman, who waited at the station while the clothing was disinfected and then returned with it to the house; the period of deten- tion thus did not exceed some two or three hours.
(4.) This clothing was then returned to the owners who were then required to vacate the house for a few hours while the Inspector disinfected, and