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CORRESPONDENCE.
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
THE PLAGUE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS," SIR,-Another Parsee has fallen a victim to the plague.
Mr. Vania, who lives in Gage Street, was removed on Wednesday, not to the Plague Hospital, nor was he isolated in his house, but to the Parsee Club in Elgin Street. This course has been adopted probably because the leaders of the Parsee community have at last awakened to a sense of the duty which they owe to their co-religionists. But I would question, Mr. Editor, whether this is fair to the numerous families living in the vicinity of the Parsee Clab. Lower Elgin Street is not particularly wide and is much frequented, and the houses there are all three stories high and pretly crowded, but so far it has been free from plague, which is highly gratifying; now a case which occurred in Gage Street is taken up there, for what reason I am at a loss to know. Is this not very unfair to all those living in Elgin Street?
Mr. Collins was not removed to Kennedy Town Plague Hospital, but he was isolated in his own house. Why, I question, was Mr. Vania not treated alike, instead of being removed to another street, which perhaps is just as crowded as where he was living at? The Parsee Club is also a church, but, as a resident in the vicinity of Elgin Stroet, I sincerely hope that the leaders of that community are not going to make it also a hospital for infectious and con- tagious diseases. Yours, etc.,
ELGIN STREET.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY PRESS.
8th June. SIE,-I regret very much to notice in your yesterday's issue that Mr. R. D. Vanis, a Parsee broker has contracted plague and was removed from his residence in Gage Street to the Parsee Club in Elgin Street for treatment, and I sincerely hope he will have a speedy recovery; bat I, for one cannot allow this sort of thing to pass without saying a few words against this unfairness.
I quite agree with the Parsee community that they should have their own plague hospital, attended by their own doctor and nurse, for they can well afford to do so, but surely Elgin Street is not a site for making a plague hospital. It is reasonable that Mr. Vania should wish to be treated by his own doctor and attended by his own people, but why did Mr. Vania remain in his own house and request the other not imnates of the house to shift to another place; surely it is easy enought for them to do so. Of course they would have to be put up to some inconveniences, but what are these when com- pared with the scare, uneasiness and discomfort that is caused to the people residing in Elgin Street in having a plague case so near to them?
The Sanitary Board surely ought not to allow the removing of a plague patient to a Club, situated in a street so thickly populated, and I hope this nuisance will not be repeated again.
A
Thanking you for the insertion of this letter. and enclosing my card,Yours, etc.,
AN ELGINITE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PEESS.”
9th June.
SIB, No wonder so many Chinese have been frightened away! What else can be the result of such behaviour on the part of the emissaries of our Sanitary Board as in the following instances ?
On Friday last a Chinaman carrying some fish was quietly walking along in the neigh- bourhood of the Hongkong Telegraph office, when he was hailed by a European dressed in white. The Chinaman did not understand what he said, "and for his ignorance “John' paid pretty dearly, for the agent of the law (if he was one) gave him a nice treat with his stick. Another European looking out from 8 window olose by and observing the occurrence shouted out for the man
to stop his tyrannical treatment of poor "John.". "What has that got frightened
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
to do with you? I am a doctor," replied the dignitary, and he made the man remove the little bit of plaster on his neck and put out his tongue, no doubt to see if he was carrying plague about. After humbugging the man to his satisfaction, he repeated the treat, and the other European again interfered. This time the reply was that if he would not hold his tongue, a summons would be taken out against him.
"John
was then trotted away, goodness knows were-to the Central Palace or the Kennedy Castle.
"}
Another instance is this:-A house-cleansing party was returning to town, and when passing by the Man Cheung Yuan firm, Bonham Strand West, the "Tommies" forming the party saw a man lying down in a couch in the hall of the firm. The man was perfectly well, though he looked somewhat pale. The Tommies went in, unceremoniously pulling him out and subjecting him to a careful examination. Still not satisfied, they made the man strip his clothing and felt his person all No excuse might have been found to send the fri htened fellow on a pleasure trip to Kennedy Castle, for on leaving the premises with the firm the party left instructions that the man should be kept in the place, as they meant to call again the next morning for some more fan. But on the following morning the "Tommies" failed to turn up and the man thanked his stars that, even did they call again, he was far away and safe from further molestation.-Yours, etc.,
over.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
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DISGUSTED.
DAILY PRESS.
11th June.
SIR, Since the plague epidemic in 1894, this Colony has unfortunately been annually visited by this dire disease. Now that we have had seven years of bitter experience, it is to be hoped that the Sanitary Board, or the powers that be, will endeavour to discontiune such measures as have been proved useless, or have seemed to be a failure, and devote their attention to improvements which would most likely prevent the recrudescence of the plague. I therefore humbly submit, pro bono publico, the following suggestions, viz:-
(a.) That the drains should be thoroughly cleansed and flushed by sea-water regularly and as often as possible.
(b) That whenever it is admissible, plague patients should be allowed to be treated in their own houses, nursed by two or three of their relatives only, whilst the rest of the family should quit the house. By this means, it would remove from the unfortunate patient's mind the idea that he is going to die when taken to the Kennedy Town Hospital, and the per- centage of recoveries would nndoubtedly be greater, to say nothing of the general objection to the removal of the patient from one end of the town to the other, in some cases under most trying circumstances.
(c.) That no matter whether the Colony is free from plague or not, all houses in the city should be scrupulously cleansed once in every month by their occupants, to the satisfaction of a competent officer of the Sanitary Board.
[June 17, 1901
Money ought to spent freely and judicionsly There should be a plague hospital at Kowloon and one on the hillside above Wanchai, and separate doctors and staff engaged for each.
Dr. Bell stated that the "amount of harm done by carrying patients through the streets was practically non-existent, or at least nothing compared to the benefits derived from treatment in the hospital"; but is this plausible statement a fact? One of our local doctors informed me that one patient whose temperature was 100 degrees when put into the ambulance was 1044 when taken out of it; from which think it is very reasonable to draw the inference that a two or three mile ride in an ambulance is injurious, and that the greater the distance the greater the danger to the patient, and that they should not be compelled to travel so far, as a Wanchai or East Point patient has to do at present.
If the plague continues year after year, the effect on the trade of this colony will be most pernicious, and no short-sighted policy or official cheese-paring should prevent everything being done which might or ought to be done. The departure of 70,000 inhabitants is a serious dislocation to the trade of the colony-it is not so much the coolies who are leaving, but the trading classes and their employees.
Besides having three plague hospitals, we a considerable addition of ought to have scientific and trained doctors added to the medical staff of this colony, and they should be well paid not underpaid as they are at present. Good pay is required to attract good men-it is penny-wise and pound-foolish to be penurious in fighting death and disease.
Yours, etc.,
G. W. F. P.
THE PUBLIC GARDENS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
"
DAILY PRESS
7th June. SIE, In reference to the correspondence on the above subject published in the China Moil of the 5th inst., I concur with the writer in so much as that the nuisance complained of should be suppressed. But for him to suggest that the Chinese community should establish, at their own cost, a garden for themselves, as they are so fond of such a resort, it is preposterous. He might have paid for the gardens, or the gardens might have been built extensively for the benefit of his family, otherwise he wou d not have put forward such a foolish suggestion. Need he be reminded that the gardens are for the public, and the public of Hongkong includes the Chinese ?
Whether educated or uneducated, a Chinaman has as much right to go there as himself. I am afraid, as lon r as he remains in Hongkong, his son and daughter, no matter when they go, cannot avoid the risk of contamination by the Chinese.
Thanking you for the insertion of this, and enclosing my card.-Yours, etc
,
A FRIEND OF THE CHINESE.
MISSIONARIES IN ANHWEI AND KIANGSU,
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TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS,
9th June. SIR,-It was stated in a note of your Wednes- day's issue, that a number of missionaries were returning to Anhwei and Kiangsu, which would seem to imply that all or many of them had been away." Such, however, is not the case, as far as Roman Catholic missionaries are con-
Great importance is being attached to fumigation and disinfection, on the theory that once a house has been thoroughly fumigated and disinfected, no more cases of plague will occur thereat. Then by all means let every house be fumigated and disinfected. But it appears to be more than doubtful that this process serves any useful purpose, as it has been fully demon-cerned. It is known that the old Viceroy of strated that cases have happened in honses which have been disinfected only a few days previously. Thanking you in anticipation for the insertion of this letter.-Yours, etc.,
LO CHEUNGSHIU.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS."
14th June.
SIR-I have very considerable sympathy with Mr. Osborne's first motion at the Sanitary Board, because it was an honest endeavour to work in with the Chinese, under proper precau- tions, for the better regulation of plague cases. At present with seven years' experience of plague we are no further forward than in 1894, and the Government still imagine that this colony is as impecunious as Jamaica.
Nanking managed to keep pretty good order in the provinces under him, during last year's trouble, and there was no need for the mission. aries to leave their posts, though, of course, for married missionaries, the simplest common- sense must have suggested taking their families to places of absolute security, rather than expose them to even the remote danger of the sad fate which overtook so many women and children in the northern provinces.
It is also stated in the note just referred to, that the Roman Catholic mission is at Wa-ho. hien in the north-east of Anhwei. This is also a misleading statement, as it ignores and seems to exclude the well-known Roman Catholic missionary establishments at Wuhu, Anking, Ningkwo, Yuchow in the extreme north-west,
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