October 16, 1895.1
The ACTING COLONIAL SURGEON, that the recommendations made sident be carried out.
The ACTING CAPTAIN SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE seconded.
Mr. EDE was in favour of the Board having Medical Officer, and he would like his minute communicated to the Government.
The PRESIDENT-You think these are cases which the Government medical officers should
called upon to attend.
Mr. EDE-They will not be called upon very often. It is very difficult for a resident who thinks his servant is suffering from plague to take upon himself the responsibility of bringing that servant out of the house. It is very desir- able that the Superintendent should be able to write to some one who could see what was really the matter.
J The ACTING COLONIAL SURGEON-If these by-laws that I have recommended be carried out these diseases will be notified by the medical officer attending that house. There is no cause for suspecting plague at the Peak. There is any amount of ordinary fever about, and I certainly do not think that Government medical officers should be called upon to assist when such a request as the present one is made.
Mr. EDE proposed as an amendment that a medical officer be attached to the Board so that the Superintendent could ask him to visit such
cases.
The PRESIDENT-In order to give Dr. Atkinson an opportunity of making a state- ment I second the amendment. But I think it is a very difficult matter indeed to say where the limit is to be made. If a medical officer is attached to this Board and it is understood that private individuals have a right to call upon that officer to attend all cases of suspicion, I am afraid the work would far exceed the capabilities of one man.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
that the returns from this district, were unre- liable. Deaths had been recorded as having occurred from fever when they were really from diarrhoea, consumption, or something else. The patients had been attended by Chinese doctors. He (Dr. Atkinson) certainly thought some im- provement might be made in the method of compiling the mortality statistics. The sub ject required careful consideration, and there- fore he did not propose to make any recom- mendation, at present.
THE CENTRAL MARKET.
A petition was received from stall-holders in the Central Market asking for part of the market to be opened until nine o'clock each night.
The PRESIDENT said that members were gen- erally agreed that this request should not he granted, as it came from only a minority of the stall-holders. He therefore moved that the Colonial Secretary be informed accordingly.
Carried.
ADJOURNMENT.
The Board adjojrned until Thursday week.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF A NORWEGIAN SEAMAN.
|
heartwa
wounde other
entirely decom vere indi
by
ounds were tor
wounds might have been inflic pointed weapon. The wound shoulder joint could have been fatal an incised wound, but I am say whether the main artery wa mucous membrane of the stomach gested. The kidneys were also and this was an indication that the been addicted to alcoholic drinking, sleeve of the coat and shirt which the was wearing was missing. The sleeves hai- torn off irregularly.
The first witness was then recalled,” and there were traces of blood on the clothes he found the dody.
Carl Andersen, barman, said-I BA on Sunday night, the 6th inst. He was drunk and was wearing a watch and chain. for three drinks at the "Man at the Wheel his last dollar, receiving 55 cents change.
The inquiry was adjourned.
THE BRITISH ULTIMATUM AND"
THE DEGRADATION OF LIU
*
Shanghai, 7th October.
At the Magistracy yesterday Hon. H. Ei Wodehouse held an inquiry concerning the death of Johann Gundersen, a seaman on the We may remark in reference to the American barque George F Manson, whose body statements that have been made in some was found outside the harbour on the 9th inst. that the French Minister to Peking, M. Gérard, Tom Stevenson, officer in charge of the Chi-procured the degradation of the ex-Viceroy of the 10th inst. I was in the launch about one nese revenue launch Capsui Tsai, said-On Szechnen, Liu Ping-chang, that while we cannot
tell what promises may have been made to M mile to the north west of Wain-chan, when I Gérard, no Imperial Edict to that effect was saw the body of deceased in the water. The issued previously to the one extorted by body was fully clothed. I took the body to
the British Minister, Sir Nicholas O'Conor, on Chung Chau, put it on the beach, and commu. Sunday, the 29th ult. While it is true that Laru nicated with Captain Palmer.
Ping-chang had been already impeached and several onts about the head and body.
removed from office, the value of the Edict of button of the trousers was fastened.
the 29th ult: is, that in it Liu Ping-chang is specially punished for having neglected to protect the missionaries in Szechnen.
There were
Only one
The ACTING COLONIAL SURGEON-I would point out, as I said before, that there is no ground for supposing that plague was existing at the Peak. I certainly think that if the by-laws are carried out and they will practically enforce the Notification of Diseases Act at home-no such cases will occur again. Of course if the medical officer was at the dis- posal of the public it would be impossible foring, the 6th inst. I cannot say exactly what any one man to do the work.
The ACTING CAPTAIN SUPERINTENDENT OF
POLICE-I think Mr. Ede's idea is that the Gov: ernment officer should go and see, the case and not attend it. If it was really a case of plague the patient would have to go to the hospital. A very great risk would be run-if there was no medical officer, and no one would willingly
send for the Government medical officer unless it
was honestly believed it was a case of plague. I agree with the amendment.
Mr. EDE-The medical officer would not be at the beck and call of every individual, as every application would have to go through the Superintendent.
:
The amendment was carried; the Acting Colonial Surgeon voted against it.
MORTALITY STATISTICS, For the week ended. 28th September the death rate was 21.7 per 1,000 per annum, and at the corresponding period last year it was 19:1.
The following minutes were appended— The Secretary-The only features of special im- portance in this return are the number of deaths (seven) recorded as occurring from fever in the Shaukiwan district.
+
Mr. Ede-Is it certain that the seven deaths at Shaukiwan are from fever? I think enquiry might The Acting Colonial Surgeon-An enquiry is being made by Dr. Clarke.
be made.
For the week ended the 5th inst. the death rate was 31.2, as compared with 19.9 at the cor- responding period last year.
The following minutes were attached- The Secretary-The number of deaths recorded from fever in the Shaukiwan district is high this week again. There is no other feature of special importance in this return."
"Mr.N: J Ede-Is any special cause attributed to the high mortality at Shaukiwan?
The Acting Colonial Surgeon-These statistics, I fear, are anything but satisfactory. I intend reporting on these deaths at next meeting.
The ACTING COLONIAL SURGEON said Dr. Clarke, the Medical Officer of Health, was-ré- quested to go to Shaukiwan, and he reported
August Johannsen, seaman on the George F. Manson, said I knew the deceased. He was a Norwegian, and was over 30 years of age. He joined the ship in Hongkong on the 4th October. I last saw deceased some time on Sunday even- Lauritz Aaro, an unemployed seaman, said
time it was. He came out of the '** Man at the Wheel" with the intention of going to the Sailors' Home, but he was too drunk to get there. He went as far as Queen Street and then turned down towards the Praya. That was the last time I saw him alive. He said he
barque. He then had no wounds upon him. was going to take a sampan to go aboard the Cheung Foo, & private watchman, said-On Sunday, the 6th inst., between 10.45 and 11 .m. I saw the deceased, who was very drunk, trying to get into a fourth class rowing boat. He made several attempts, missed his footing, nearly fell into the water, and at length got into the boat. That was just off Bonham Strand West. A boatman on shore called the boat for the deceased. The only people I saw on the bbat were a man and a woman. The Chinese on shore told the people on the boat to take the man to a three-masted ship at Yaumati, and also said that the man "might be the chief officer."
Dr. J. M. Atkinson, Acting Colonial Surgeon, said-On the 12th inst. I made a post-mortem examination of the body, which was in an advanced state of putrefaction. I found a number of wounds on the head and face. There was one on the right occiput five inches long; there was another on the right cheek.six inches in length extending to the peck and reaching to the bone; there was also a wound extending from the left angle of the mouth to the middle of the chin, and this also exposed the bone. In addition to these wounds there were also numerous incised and punctured wounds over the rest of the scalp and face. The right arm was slashed about from the elbow to the shoulder and was almost amputated from the body, the bone and shoulder joints being exposed. There was also an incised wound five inches long in front of the right shoulder joint. The cause of death was probably hemorrhage occasioned by these wounds. There were no signs of drown ing; but it is impossible to say positively whe- ther drowning was the cause of death, owing to the advanced state of decomposition. The
Nanking and Wachang were to have been taken and held by the British naval forces if the Peking Government had held out, in its refusal to adequately punish the ex-Viceroy o Szechuen. Liu Ping-chang. The Government, however, gave way, as usual, at the eleventh hour, and the Viceroy Chang Chih-tung has shown his chagrin by his refusal to receive Ad. miral Buller, who only proposed to make friendly call on him, as foreign Admirals always do when they make a trip of observation up the Yangtaze. Perhaps, considering the Viceroy's frame of mind under the circumstances, he hav- ing been unavoidably made the scapegoat for s policy which he neither advised nor directed, it is just as well that he did not meet Admiral Buller; though it is stated that he was per- sonally prepared to acquiesce in any demands that England might make. He at any rate knows the futility of attempting to oppose Great Britain when the mistress of the seas is in earnest.-N. C. Daily News."
Peking, 1st October. The greatest victory for the cause of righteous. ness seen or heard of for some time has just been secured through the determination, persistency, and just demands of the British Minister. In my previous letter of a week ago, I mentioned that the demands made for the banishment of the ex-Viceroy of Szechuen, Liu Ping-chang, had been refused by the Tsungli Yamen. The new and active member of that body, the Im- perial Tutor, Wang Tangho, had telegraphed both to London and Washington complaining against the annoyance and interference of the British and American Ministers. The British Government seems to have recognized the work of its representative by promoting him to a more desirable and honourable post. While amid these acts of international unpleasan mesa the rights of missionaries in Szechnen seemed further away than ever. Such was the limit of unsatisfactoriness.
Then came a sudden rush of satisfaction culminating in the greatest victory for decades. The British Minister request interview at the yamen, where Princ should be present. It implied Tangho was not wanted. The granted as requested. The British sisted that as the Chinese mode of m