518
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
really so unreasonable as to prevent the fulfil ment of the good purpose of the Sanitary Board to protect the people. They are therefore compelled to unite in respectfully approaching your Honour and humbly requesting that the wishes of the people may meet with a favourable reception, and they pray that this petition may be forwarded to his Excellency the Governor that he may order that a reasonable time shall be allowed for the removal (of illegal structures) and for cleansing (of houses) and that
persons suffering from
any disease of whatever description may be permitted to return to their country for medical treatment.
evidence whatever that the man died of plague? If so, I am in favour of recommending to HI.E. the Governor the desirability of granting to the widow a compassionate allowance.
The Acting Colonial Surgeon-Where did the man
die?
The Captain Superintendent of Police-1 concur with Secretary's suggestion.
The Director of Public Works-This is not a matter for the Board to deal with. The application should have been addressed to the Colonial Secretary, who, I presume, would take the necessary steps to enquire into the matter. Please send these papers to the Colonial Secretary.
[June 24, 1896.
saloon deck and then we counted the crew forward. The vessel was bound for Saigon and was getting under weigh when I first went on board; she was then weighing the port anchor. On boarding at three o'clock the port anchor was at the bows and the starboard"anchor was down.
Should their prayer be granted, the merchants Colonial Secretary intimating that His Ex. know how many there were.. I got all the pas-
and the whole community of Hongkong will be infinitely grateful for the great favour of the Government.
To the Hon. the Registrar-General.
(Here follow 419 chops.)
The following minutes were appended: The Medical Officer of Health-As the time occu- pied in cleansing any one house or row of houses depended entirely upon its sanitary condition, it was found quite impossible to say at what particular hour a house some forty or fifty yards further down would be reached by the gang. Hence it was not possible to give definite notice at an earlier date than was done. A vague notice that the gang would deal with a certain house "some time this week" or some time next week" would have been worse than useless to the tenants, and therefore the twenty-four hours' notice which they received was to their ad- vantage, as they were thus made aware of the exact hour at which they might expect the gang. The Board will not, I am sure, countenance the removal of plague patients from the colony, unless they are first made acquainted with the locality of the pre mises occupied by such patients, so that the infected dwellings may be adequately disinfected.
The President-I wonder when the persons who are so good at proclaiming a grumble are going to adopt a reasonable curse and state definitely the dates and premises referred to.
The PRESIDENT-I propose to reply to this that the Board concur in the opinion expressed by the Medical Officer of Health in his minute.
The ACTING COLONIAL SURGEON seconded. Carried.
PLAGUE AT AMOY,
A letter was submitted from the British Consulate at Amoy. dated 6th June, enclosing the following extract from the Port Doctor's report -
I hear the plague has been keeping on about the same during the past week. It is not easy to get thoroughly reliable information as to the number of deaths; but from all I can find out I think they number from 15 to 20 per diem in the city
3:
CHOLERA AT SINGAPORE,
A statement by the Colonial Secretary of Singapore was submitted showing that cholera was on the decrease at that part.
THE GOVERNMENT VETERINARY SURGEON. · Intimation was made that Mr. C. V. Ladds, Government Veterinary Surgeon, had been granted extension of leave for six months- from 17th June-with half salary.
A CASE FOR PRACTICAL HELP.
A subsequent letter was received from cellency regretted that after careful considera- tion of the circumstances he was unable to grant a gratuity.
Mr. MACCALLUM stated that he proposed to get up a subscription among the members of the staff for this poor woman.
THE WIDTH OF BRIDGES.
Correspondence was submitted relating to the width of passage ways or bridges between cook houses, and tenements in Queen's Road., and Arsenal Street. The point at issue was whether the Board should order a reduction in the width of those bridges to the regulation width of 3 ft. 6 in. or whether the bridges should be allowed to remain until an alteration is required in the property.
It was resolved not to object to the mainte- nance of the existing bridges so long as they did not obstruct more than one-third of a yard.
MORTALITY STATISTICS,
The Secretary reported that the death rate per 1,000 per annum for the week ended 6th June was 27.4 as compared with '18.7 in the cor- For the week responding week of last year. ended 13th June the death rate was 17.7 as compared with 19.1 in the corresponding week
last
year. During the latter week there were only 25 deaths from, plague as against 48 in the previous week and 81 a fortnight ago.
VICTORIA AND YAUMATI CLEANSED.
A report was read from the Medical Officer of Health on the work done by the cleansing gang since the last meeting of the Board. The whole of the houses in Yaumati had been cleansed during the past fortnight, and also nineteen houses in the village of Taikoksui; in addition fifty-six houses, comprising 144 floors, were cleansed in the city. This completed the cleansing of Chinese, houses in Victoria. The visiting gangs had during the past fortnight inspected 5,047 houses, comprising 14,858 floors.
ADJOURNMENT.
The Board adjourned until next Thursday
week.
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PASSENGERS IN EXCESS.
At the Police Court on the 19th June, before Hon. Commander W. C. H. Hastings, Captain Schoel, of the German steamship Petrarch, was summoned for attempting to leave the waters of
The following letter was received from the the colony with 130 passengers in excess of the
Rev. G. Reusch:
Basel Mission House, Hongkong, 18th May, 1896. Dear Sir,-The widow of the late Sham Tin. yan, interpreter to the Sanitary Board at Yaumati, has asked me to receive for her from the Government the salary due to her deceased husband. She also asked me to put her case before the Government with a view to receive if possible from the Government a gratuity in addition to the salary due to her husband. Sham Tin-yau died of plague on the 2nd May, after being in the service of the Government He caught the disease in the execution of his duty and leaves now a widow with three children without any means of support. I am well acquainted with the family and can testify that the widow really desérves some help from the Government.-I have, &c.,
for about seven years.
G. Reusch.
The Secretary, Sanitary Board.
The following minutes were attached :— Mr. N. J. Ede-As the Secretary is of opinion that the man caught the plague in the excecution of his duty, I am in favour of recommending the case to the liberality of His Excellency.
The Medical Officer of Health-Have we any
number allowed by his clearance, contrary to
section 6 of Ordinance 26 of 1891.
Mr. C. Ewens appeared for the defence. F. de Cruz, sixth clerk in the Harbour Master's office, said that on the 27th May last the defendant, of the German steamship Petrarch, cleared the ship with twelve pas sengers. She had no passenger certificate. The ship had been cleared eight or nine times this year in Hongkong.
.
P. C. Ashmore said-At 1.45 a.m. on the 28th May I boarded the steamship Petrarch with Acting Sergeant 404. She was moored at the north side of the fairway. I saw the captain, who was asleep aft. I woke him up and said I wanted to count the passengers. I looked down the fore hold and saw he had more than twelve passengers on board. Some of the passengers came up and I examined some of the tickets,.of" which there were two kinds; one was a long slip and the other was a short white ticket. I did not count the passengers, but went to the Water Police Station, and Inspector Hanson At 3 a.m. we counted the returned with me. passengers in the presence of the defendant. There were on board 124 adults, ten boys, and eight children in arms, a total of 142. We put all the passengers on the
|
Inspector Hanson said-About three a.m. on the 28th May last I boarded the German steamer Petrarch in company with the last witness and saw the captain. I told him he had too many passengers and I wanted to count them. He said the compradore told him there were sixty on board, but he himself did not sengers up out of No. 2 hold and made them walk in single file aft while I counted them in the presence of the defendant. I counted 124 adults, ten lads, whose ages varied from ten to fifteen, and eight children in arms. The steamer had got steam up; the port anchor was up and the starboard anchor down. She was at the northern part of the fairway, about opposite the Government Civil Hospital. The defendant was impatient to get away and asked
me what he should do. I told him that in the common cause of humanity he should not go to sea with those passengers, but that it was not my place to advise him. I do not know whe- ther the passengers were landed. There were twelve white tickets and the remainder were different. The compradore told me his name was Nam Hoi.
Chun Kai Ming, said—I am second clerk at the Magistracy and Court translator. The ticket produced was issued by the Kwong Yuen shop on the lucky day of the fourth moon. The chop "Hongkong, Wo Kee Com- bears the words. pany, correspondence chop."
This concluded the evidence for the prosecu-
tion.
Mr. Ewens said the first objection that would be made was that section 6 of Ordinance 26 of 1891 could not be said to apply to the Petrarch at all, because it referred to a master of any ship carrying over twelve passengers, and the evidence in this case was that the ship had no certificate and therefore could not carry more than twelve passengers. The whole Ordinance distinguished between ships carrying more than twelve passengers and ships not carrying more. It was a mistake no doubt in the Ordinance, but prosecutions could only be commenced against his carrying more than twelve passen- gers. Unless the defendant was a master of a ship carrying more than twelve passengers the whole thing fell to the ground. The mistake in the Ordinance could not be got over. The second point he raised was on the question of leaving or attempting to leave. Of course,
under the Ordinance as originally drawn prosecutions could not be instituted at all unless the ship had actually left. This was nonsense, and so an amending Ordinance was passed mak- ing it an offence to leave or attempt to leave with an excess of passengers. What was an at- tempt to leave? An attempt to leave was very little different from actually leaving; but it must be proved that the vessel was crossing or facing her head in such a position that she must be actually attempting to leave. Counsel then quoted a case in support of his contention. A man was charged with attempting to shoot a person.
The prisoner bad his finger on the trigger, but it was held that he could not be convicted of attempting to shoot. What counsel submitted was that'a man could not be convicted of attempting to leave the waters of the colony unless he was actually in motion. On the two points he had mentioned the case for the prosecution must fail. If his Worship was against him on those points counsel intended to call evidence as to the actual facts of the case. There was no doubt of an intention on the part of the compradore to effect a little swindle on his own account. The Wo Kee firm had issued twelve tickets, which were white tickets of the ordinary form. But the compradore had access to the correspondence chop, which was looked upon as being very little different from the ordinary chop. Having access to the chop he made use of it to sell outside tickets. When the captain was informed that coveral coolies in excess of the proper number were boarding the steamer he told the second officer to send : for the compradore, but, the compradore could not be found. The captain went to sleep and waited for the compradore and he had no-