The Empress. Dowager accused him of treachery in trying to entrap her into the Allies' power.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND reward of $1 for every living case of plague reported.
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The letter from the Government forwarding the extract from the letter of the Chamber of Commerce, and asking what had been done iu the matter, was submitted to Dr. Clark, who' minuted':---
Shanghai, 28th June, 7:30 p.m. Mounted brigands and disbanded soldiers are harrying Manchuria from Moukden to "1. The handling of the sick.-There is a the Corean frontier. The Russian forces staff, consisting of three European officers, eight Portuguese foremen, three Chinese fore- are unequal to the task of restoring order.
men, and 48 coolies, who are available for the There are repeated reports to the effect
removal of patients and the disinfection of pre- that Tung Fuhsinng and Prince Tun are mises vacated by them. A launch is also marching on Taiyuan-fu and Peking re-employed conveying patients from Wanchai to spectively..
THE
PHILIPPINES.
Manila, 22nd June, 6.10 p.m., A Washington cable states that after the 4th July next, until it is otherwise ordered, Judge Taft will exercise authority in civil affairs in the Philippines under conformity with the instructions given to the Commis- sion in April, 1900, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
The Military Governor continues to exercise his authority in hostile districts.
General Caillés is to surrender with 600 riflemen at Santa Cruz on Mouday, the event being converted into a grand fiesta.
MANILA, 24th June, 11.30 a.m. General Cailles surrendered to-day, with four hundred rifles, at Santa Cruz. The oath of allegiance to the United States Government was administered to all, who were then released.
HONGKONG SANITARY BOARD.
The
A meeting of the Sanitary Board was held on the 27th ult. at the Board room. President (Hon. W. Chatham, Acting Director of Public Works) occupied the chair, and there were also present the Vice-President (Hon. F. H. May, C.M G., Captain Superintendent of Police), Dr. Bell (Acting Principal Civil Medical Officer), Lieut. Col. Hughes, R.A.M.C, Mr. A. Brewin (Registrar-General), Mr. E. Osborne, Dr. Clark (Medical Officer of Health), Mr. Fang Wa Chuen, and Mr. G. A. Woodcock (Secretary).
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE PLAGUE.
The Chamber of Commerce recently addressed to the Government a letter dealing with the plague epidemic in the colony. Appended is au extract from that letter: It is unfortunately true that medical science has not yet discovered any means of successfully grappling with the plague, but that fact should not stand in the way of measures being taken to arrest its spread, or of the adoption of such precautions in the handling of the sick, the cleansing of drains and houses, and the inspection of slums, Bs might tend to curtail the ravages of this scourge within certain limits."
In forwarding the extract to the Sanitary Board, Mr. T. Sercombe Smith, Acting Colonial Secretary, on behalf of the Government, asked to be furnished with a statement as to what had been done by the sanitary officers in respect of the three matters alluded to by the Chamber of Commerce. The attention of the Sanitary Board was further drawn to the fact that II. E. the Governor had sanctioned all but one of the suggestions put forward by the MO. H. in a letter dated 28th January, 1901, for anticipating an outbreak of bubonic plague this year.
The suggestions were published fully in these columns at the time. I hey recommended house to-house inspection by European constables, the swearing-in, of soldiers as special constables to prevent the depositing of dead bodies in the streets at night, the re-enaction of the light regulations as contained in Sec- tion B1 of Ordinance 13 of 1881 in that por tion of the city west of Eastern Street (this was a suggestion disapproved of by H.E. the Governor), the cleansing of all hou es in lanes where dead bodies were found, the offering of a reward of $5 for information leading to the convic tion of any person depositing a dead body in the street, and, lastly, the offering of a
Kennedytown, while police pinnaces are used to tow a boat in which patients from Kowloon were brought over, until the Kowloon Hospital was opened.
"2. The cleansing of d ains and houses.- The above-named staff is also employed on this, work. The drains of all infected houses are flushed with disinfectants, and since the 15th inst, the sewers in the lower level have been flushed with sea-water by means of the fire- engines
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"3. Inspection of slums. The ordinary work of the district inspectors has not been interfered with by the occurrence of the epidemic-that is to say, their number has not been depleted, extra men being engaged for the extra duties. There are now thirteen inspectors engaged on inspection work in the city and two in Kowloon, in addition to one European constable and seven sappers engaged on special plague visiting duty,"
On the motion of the PRESIDENT the minute of the Medical Officer of Health was forwarded to the Government in reply to the letter.
BATH HOUSES FOR CHINESE WOMEN.
At a recent meeting of the Sanitary Board a resolution was passed requesting the Govern ment to increase the number of coolie bath houses. H. E. the Governor, to whom the resolution was submitted, asked for information from the Board as to what additional accom. modation was necessary.
In reply, Dr. Clark made the following suggestions for the sites of ten new bath houses:-(t) Over foreshore opposite Stone Nullah Lane (2), on Reclamation between Jubilee Street and Tung Man Lane (3), two in the Taipingshan district (4), one in Water Lane (between East Street and West Street) (5), one in Possession Street (r), one in Suther land Street (7), one opposite 534, Queen's Road West (8), corner of Second Street and Sai Ying Poon Nallah (9), junction of Third Street and Western Street. The sites were indicated on a plan of the city.
[July 1, 1901.
Such was the nuanimous opinion of the Board, and it was agreed to notify the Govern ment accordingly.
ADDITIONAL SENIOR INSPECTORS. The PRESIDENT intimated that provision for two additional senior inspectors had been male in the Estimates for 1902.
NEW APPROACH PATH TO KENNEDYTOWN PLAGUE HOSPITAL.
The Government has approved the resolution passed at last meeting of the Sanitary Board for the construction of a now approach path to Kennedytown Plague Hopital.
The cost has been estimated not to exceed $200, and will be charged to the plague vote in the 1902 estimates.
APPOINTMENT (F INSPECTORS.
The PRESIDENT said that the appointment of two temporary inspectors for disinfection had been approved.
PLANTING OF TREES AT KENNEDYTOWN PLAGUE CEMETERY.
It was intimated that the Government had adopted the resolution passed at the last meeting of the Board recommending that trees be planted between the graves at the Kennedy- town Plagne Cemetery.
The cost, which is roughly estimated at $10 per 1,000 trees, will be charged in the estimates against the vote for tree planting.
The PRESIDENT- The planting will be done at once.
THE INSPECTOR'S QUARTERS AT
KENNEDYTOWN.
! A resolution having been forwarded to the Government from the Board recommending that provision for the addition of a wing to Inspector Watson's quarters at Kennedytown be made in the 1902 Estimates, it was intimated that the resolution had been approved by H. E. the Governor, and that the estimated cost, $1.70', would be placed provisionally in the Estimates for 1902.
In forwarding the suggestions and plan to the Acting Colonial Secretary, the Hon. W. Chatham (President) pointed out that, at the same rate as those already erected, the cost of providing the new bath-houses would be about $4,000, and the daily cost $85, or $2,550 per
month.
In giving his consent to the orection of the new bath-houses, H.E. the Governor asked : "Is there any accommodation for females ?" The reply being in the negative, His Excellency again minuted:-" Can the Sanitary Board: suggest any place where females could be ac- commodated?
Dr. Clark minuted :- "I think the Regis trar-General might give the Board the benefit of his opinion on this subject."
Mr. BREWIN-I have left it to Mr. Fung Wa Chuen.
Mr. FUNG WA CHUEN-I don't think it is necessary to have bath-houses for women. They would be used only by women of a very low class.
The PRESIDENT-It is low-class women we want to get at. The coolie women you see carrying to the Peak look as though they wanted a bath.
Mr. BREWIN-You might try the experiment at West Point and Third Street. If the women there don't use the bath-houses, no one else will. Mr. OSBORNE-Try a simple matshed. It won't do any harm.
Lient. Col. HUGHES-Keep two policemen on duty-one at each door.
The PRESIDENT-Is it the opinion that we notify the Government that it would be useless to make such provision for Chinese women, as we feel that they would not avail themselves of the bathhouses P
to
The following minutes were appended :- Lieut. Col. Hughes-"I opposed any addition the house until it was seen after a fair trial (to end of year at least) if the stops taken had rendered the site non-malarious. Neither did I join in the recommendation that provision be made in next year's estimates of the service."
Registrar-General-"Before I voted for the resolution the Chairman assured me that a provision to the following effect would be embodied-' But that the work be not under-
unless at the end taken
of the year the Board is satisfied that the site is non- malarious.'
1 The President-"The letter to Government clearly stated that the Board recommend that the work be not proceeded with if the present immunity from malaria is not maintained."
i
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Mr. OSBORNE, pursuant to notice, was to have moved-
me. Osborne's MOTION.
That the Board recommend the Government to enact:-
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That every domestic building hereafter erected, of a greater depth than forty feet (as measured in accordance with sub-section (e) of, section 56 of the Public Health Ordinance of 1901), shall be provided by the owner with a glazed skylight in the roof, of a total area of not less than one-twenty fifth of the total floor area of such domestic building, and every upper floor shall be provided with a well-hole, corres- pouding, in position and area, to such akylight.
Provided that no such provision shall be required in the case of domestic buildings which are, in the opinion of the Sanitary Board, adequately lit by means of windows opening into a side street or other open space of a width of not less than fifteen feet, in addition to being lit from the front."
Mr. OSBORNE in withdrawing the motion, said—The motion was brought about by the Chinese houses I had seen in the direction of the reclamation between Douglas Wharf and Wing Lok Street. Anyone who has seen these houses must have been struck by the want of ventilation that must occur when the whole of this reclamation has been built upon. They have no back lanes and there is no provision for light or air. Owners of buildings such as these should be asked to erect a class of buildings which would, while not increasing the coat, prevent the present hotbeds of disease in the future. The Vice-President, the Medical
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