+
June 22, 1901.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT,
is the fact in this instance) in any ordinarily | of plague contacts, house-to-house visitation, decently governed community at home, a searching enquiry by the Local Government Board would ensue, and those responsible would suffer, and not in reputation only Yours, etc., ONE WHO BELIEVES IN ACTION.
THE PLAGUE.
15
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “ DAILY PRESS,
19th June. SIE, The quantity that has of late been said and written about the plague has apparently bean of little or no beneft to this colony, and the reason, I believe, is that it is too late in the season for any measures which may be taken to cope with the evil to produce any immediate beneficial results. We must now look forward to the future, and, if our Sanitary Authorities wish to atone for their past culpable negligence, there will be a golden opportunity for them to do so.
"
511
6. Besides very many specifics and panaceas But that prepared by a Hindu, Professor Gujjar, were announced by medical men and others,
expert in matters scientific, is reported to have an M.A. of the Bombay University and an achieved the greatest success. He has a private laboratory of his own, and it was he who won the Government of Bombay reward of Rs. 5,000 for cleaning and restoring to its original beauty the statue of Her late Majesty the Queen which had been disfigured by some fanatics by painting rendering it beyond recognition, so that it had the head over by a thick layer of tar and
scientist. to be kept covered up until renovated by this.
8. As the result of the house-to-housa which might otherwise have remained concealed visitation many cases were brought to light from the authorities. At first soldiers were employed, but it caused friction and irritatiou and only resulted in deplorable riots in which two British soldiers were killed and many others Soldiers were dispensed with, and volunteers more or less seriously wounded or injured. were employed with better and more pacifying cases were found and which were unfit as results. During these inspections, houses where residences were marked by the authorities U. H. H. (unfit for human habitation) and such to destruction. houses were closed and barricaded and doomed
option of treatment by hospital doctors or private practitioners; and General Gataore was successful. accepted his proposals, appointed what was Government almost bodily called The Plague Committee," with the General himself as Chairman, the Municipality had its authority temporarily suspended and transferred to this Committee, and the Health Officer himself was placed under the orders of the Committee. In this connection it must certainly be acknowledged that Bombay was favoured with professional assistance and advice all the way from Hongkong, the parent, as popular fancy puts it, of this plague of the 19th century, and Dr. Lowson and others were specially deputed to help and advise the camping-out, people were allowed to treat plague 7. Side by side with segregation, inoculation, authorities there from their previous experience. cases in their own houses and by their own But as will be scen later on, instead of Hong-doctors, provided, of course, the house answered kong guiding and advising Bombay in plague all the sanitary conditions laid down by the matters, it is Bombay that does that turn to authorities. Eomeone has said (I believe it was Dr. Clark) cessful in restoring public confidence and Hongkong, General Gatacre was very suc- that the plague is endemic with us. That may tranquility and winning over all opposition, or may not be the case, but certainly that is no and during his administration a number of reason why we should not do all that is in our private hospitals for the treatment of plague power to dismiss the plague from on midst, patients were opened in various localities, In my humble opinion, if we were to do away,
treatment by the hospital doctor or private during the winter season, with the present practitioner was made optional, inmates of system of drainage and sewerage, &c., and sub-infected places were segregated in large camps stitute therefore a better system, or elso revert in the various suburbs of the city, and, more to the old one, and if we were furthermore to than that, even people in whose houses no declare an uninterrupted war of extermination plague had taken place were given every facility against all rodents, there will be in the near to go and reside in segregation camps. The future less cases of plague here and perhaps Gatacre Committee thus helped the Municipa- none at all after the lapse of a few years. Care City and Government, and served the public to must, of course, be taken against importing the extent of restoring peace and tranquility; plague cases, but this can easily be averted (to but still all were groping in the dark, as at this a certain extaint at least.) by enforcing medical moment eveu, and none knew what the dread inspection against all passengers coming from scourge was, where it came from, what were infected ports. As matters now stand, the its results obtained are not at all satisfactory, and
and convincing symptoms, what was the remedy, either curative or preventa-done with as much persuasion as possible. do not compensate in the least for the time and tive, what was its duration, what season money expended in improving the present Was most favourable insanitary condition of this British colony.
to the virulence or otherwise of the disease, and so forth. The one If the above suggestion be carried out, one point and the main point scored by the Gatacre result is certain, we shall have less mosquitoes, Committee was that people voluntarily went and that should prove in itself a blessing all to their respective private hospitals and to the round. I believe mosquitoes were no ver more plentiful here than this year, and for this we
segregation camps and voluntarily gave their houses up for fumigation, disinfection, etc. must also thank those responsible for the present Among the numerous private hospitals thus system of drainage and sewerage.—Yours, etc., opened in Bombay, the Parsees had one of their own. It was placed under the absolute control and supervision of the late Dr. K. N. Bahadurji, a Parsee M.D. of Loudon, who was acknowledged by the profession to be a talented man.
It was he who first resorted to the "Ice-sheet remedy." This learned Doctor treated his patients in his own way, and kept plague patients wholly wrapt in ice-cold linen sheets, and he claimed a certain amount of success, as he showed by figures anp statistics from time to time. But still all the medical skill of Bombay could not find out any specific remedy.
X.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS,
20th June.
Sir,-H. E. the Governor in his reply to the latest representation of the local Chamber of Commerce said that unfortunately the remedies adopted to fight plague haro failed hereas in India." So far H. E. and his Government are quite right, as every reader of Indian papers knows. But India, and especially Bombay, has still much to teach Hongkong in the matter of plague measures.
Let us confine ourselves to Bombay ciy alone, which has been the greatest sufferer.
1. On the very first appearance of plague iu Bombay, in 1896, the Government, or rather the Municipality of Bombay, made the fatal mistike of not acknowledging its oxistence, and persisted in calling it by all sorts of names other than plague proper.
saro
To summarise
House-to-honse visitation with aid of rolunteers.
Removal of plague cases to hospitals to be
Patients to have the option of private treat- ment at private residences by private doctors, provided, of course, the place was fit for the purpose.
sible spot available, and to provide people with Camps to be erected in any and every pos- travelling facilities to reside in those camps in outlying places and come to Victoria to transact business.
Inoculation be resorted to and made popular, proceeding very cautiously and discrimimately, because inoculation is not infallible, final, or of universal benefit.
and water supply which deserve careful atten- There are the two large questions of the gutters tion and study and, as here, there is an concensus of opinion that the gutters, as the rats, are the sources of this dire disosse, but it is puroly a technical matter and the shoemaker should a ick to his last. Professor Gujjar, the Hindu scientist above mentioned, attributes ail these plagte troubles to these “blooming" M. gutters.
At
4. Then there was the inoculation. Haffkine, afterwards created a C.I.E. by the Government of India, a Russian scientist, proclaimed a prophylactic which he had been preparing, testing, improving, and trying on patients, and he succeeded somewhat. But as the public and the Press firmly believed and boldly asserted, it was a sin that he was a Russian. The Government, and especially the medical profes- 2. When conviction was brought home to
sion as represented by the I.M.S., refused to take them that it was bubonic plague pure and any notice of the serum or to give any fair trial. simple, and nothing else, they actually lost their But the Press is powerful in these days, and it heads, and established a reign of terror by sum.
asserted itself.The_Times of India of all marily dragging people to the only hospital papers took the lead in severely rating the for infectious diseases; and the result was Government for neglecting this serum. that the measures adopted by the Municipality length Government was awakened to a sense of at the first outbreak of the plague were not appreciation. Thoy placed a laboratory at the only fruitless but succeeded only in striking disposal of M Haffkine, they gave him all terror into the people's minds and actually driv. facilities to work qui-tly and assiduously, and ing them mad. So much so that an exodus on ultimately inoculation was resorted to by people, a tremendous scalo took place, houses, roads, and at first timidly and then cheerfully. The streets were deserted and desolate, the goods Government and the Press combined in making traffic on the railways came to a standstill, work | inoculation popular, but still there was no at the docks stopped and shipping was thereby popular outburst in its favour, although as time adversely affected. But the Municipal authorities went on inoculation found more favour, and the heeded these not, and kept up their reign of | inoculation statistics are very much worth terror. People openly resisted removal of plague | study by the authorities, and expecially by the patients to the hospital, and their resistance was only subdued by the help of a strong polies,
3. General Gataere was commam ling the troops located in Bombay at the time. He approached Government with a scheme of his own. He proposed opening several plague hospitals in different localities, sɔgregatio..
profesion.
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Let the local Government communicate with the Bombay Government, or depute an expert or experts, and they will gather a mass of use- greatly help them out of the tight position in ful and instructive information which will which they unfortunately find themselves now, because, it cannot be gainmid, that Hongkong cannot command the professional skill and re- sources that Bombay can as regards the nature and extent of experience of plague, plagua origin, plague measures, plague remedies, either preventive or enrative.
A BOMBAYITE.
THE INACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS.
16th June. Sın,-May I respectfully ask whether the Governor and the chiefs of departments, has Government, as represented by H.E. the lost its head entirely, or is it hopelessly in- competent ?
Are Europeans to contract plague daily and die from it without anything being done now in the way of remedial measures, than were done six months ago?
5. Then there was the Yersin serum, which claimed curative properties. The Government | and the Municipality gave it a trial, but it has not been so great as to enable one to come to levels, and yet the flushing of sewers and The plague districts are all on the lower any definite conclusions as in the case of the | washing of streets are still left to Providence, Haffkine serum.
in the shape of a very Ocensional shower of