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PLAGUE PRECAUTIONS.
(Daily Press, 8th February.) We publish in another column a Memo- randum for Householders, just issued by Dr. FRANCIS CLARK, the Medical Officer of Health, containing a list of precautions necessary against plague, etc. This we trust will be carefully read by all house- holders in the Colony and its recommenda- tions carried out to the fullest possible extent. It is, of course, unfortunate that precaution 4 in the Memorandum should at the present moment be impossible for some people, except at an expense which they cannot afford, and difficult for a very large number to take. It is indeed an unhappy coincidence that, in the first year in which we are making earnest endeavours to pre- vent, rather than have to cure, an epidemic of plague, that most important safeguard of public health, a plentiful fresh water suppy should be lacking. The improvidence of our predecessors is troubling us sorely, and the warring which is furnished for our own guidance in the matter of water supply is one which cannot be neglected. But, to return to the subject of the Memorandum as a whole, we hope that it is to be circulated in Chinese as well as in English, for though the Chinese are notoriously linrd people to convince in matters of sanitation, no ende:- Your can be dispensed with to set them on the right patli to a healthier manner of life. We need not go into the details of the Memorandum, as its full text is published by us elsewhere, but we may point out how strongly it insists on the danger of vermin in the house, or coming in from other buildings, conveying the infection, The remarks at the Sanitary Board meeting on Thursday with regard to the suscepti- bility of cats to plague will come as a shock to most people, we imagine. Nevertheless, it may be supposed that, while plague is not actually in the Colony, cats serve an useful end by keeping down the more susceptible rats and mice. Traps audioison, however, are the methods advocated by the Medical Officer of Health for destroying the vermin. The other main precautions necessary are attention to the rooms and drains, the plentiful admittance of air and light, and personal cleanliness. Such measures natur- ally suggest themselves to all Europeans who are accustomed to live decently, but still a reminder of their paramount import- ance is in no way superfluous. The final recommendation is on the subject of inocula tion, which is urged on those who live in infected houses or districts. To facilitate this the prophylactic is kept at the Govern- ment Civil Hospital and the Sanitary Board office, where inoculation will be performed, presumably, free of charge; or those that desire it may be treated by their own
medical adviser.
This Memorandum deserves the utmost attention. It is to be hoped that with the aid of its advice, even if we are so unfor- tunate as to be visited by plague this year, narrow bounds may be set to the infection. It should inspire confidence in the residents of Hongkong to see a strong and vigorous policy at last adopted by the authorities.
▲ German despatch received in Seoul on the 30th ult. stated that over ten persons were arrested that day on a charge of being impli- cated with the Corean political refugees in threatened with arrest. The Governor of the Japan. The local Governor of Gensan was also province is an obstinate hater of civilisation, and the arrest is understool to have been made in order to obtain the good-will of the court. It is also stated that the arrested parties are all wealthy, and rests were carried out in order to seize properties.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
THE WATER FAMINE.
(Daily Press, 14th February.) The intermittent system of water supply for the Cityand Hill District was introduced on the 11th of November, so that Wednes- day marked the cominencement of the fourth month of short rations. When the Director of Public Works took the step of curtailing the supply, it was calculated that there was then sufficient water in the reservoirs to give twenty-six weeks' half- supply, there being on that basis enough to last until about the middle of May next, "by which time next year's rains may safely be relied upon." At a meeting of the Sanitary Board on the 23rd ultimo, Mr. EDWARD OSBORNE drew attention to the shortage and asked whether any steps were likely to be taken for supplying water as had been done some years ago, when we had a similar drought and when lighters were employed in bringing water from the Canton River, pointing out that down in the East Point direction Chinese were not able to get water at all from the hydrants and that dwellers on the Caine Roal level complained of being unable to get a supply except by fighting for it over the hydrants. In reply to this question, the Director of Public Works stated that it was hoped that it would not be necessary to resort to the method suggested by Mr. OSBORNE, as they had (on the 20th) fully nine weeks' supply in hand, and arrangements had been made, besides, to curtail still further the service by disconnecting the shipping and building supplies and cutting off the amount previously devoted the disinfecting operations; but, he added, if experience showed it to be necessary to have recourse to the method proposed, it would be adopted.
to
re-
[February 15, 1902. having come from a safe source as, for instance, from Lalchikok, as recommended by correspondents in this paper yesterday and to-day.
In these circumstances, it is hardly con- ceivable that the Government can longer resist the general, desire – not to call it a demand-for a more ample water supply. It is of little use to attempt to satisfy with the shalow a public who are clamouring for the substance; to expect the consumer to rest content with a simple repetition of the figures showing that there still remains so much in the reservoirs when he is de- barred the use of their contents except in homeopathic doses. To the thoughtful observer, it must have appeared all along that the crippling of the disinfecting opera- tions by cutting off the supply previously devoted. to that purpose was in itself an all-sufficient reason for the adoption by the Government of the simple and common- sense temporary remedy which has proved efficacious in the past, and which will be thrust upon them continually in years to come if the evil be not attacked at the root and finally destroyed.
THE CRISIS: TELEGRAMS.
(FROM OUR CORRE-PONDENT.]
SHANGHAI, 12th February, 5.56 p.m. Intense di-gust has been aroused at the audience given by the Empress Dowager to the Legation ladies at Peking, including the doyenne's aldress and the repulsive episode of the chief eunuch's familiarity with the visitors.
Great satisfaction is generally expressed here at the announcement_of an "Anglo- Japanese agreement on Far Eastern affairs, including the questions of the integrity of China and Corea.
A reliable Peking report states that the Yangtsze Viceroys are discussing the pro- posed removal of the capital of China from Peking, Chang Chib-tung advising the choice of siang-yang as the new capital and Lin Kung-yi Nanking.
SIR ERNEST SATOW'S AUDRESS TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.
The Shanghai Mercury publishes the follow- ing address delivered by Sir Ernest Salow, His Britannic Maj-sty's Plenipotentiary, to the Emperor of China at the time he presented his credentials, and the Emperor's reply thereto,
which are as follows:-
Surely it is time that the authorities did adopt the proposal-a proposal, be it re membered, which is not new and untried but which has previously been carried into effect with satisfactory results. The water returns published in our yesterday's issue show that there were in the Island's servoirs on the 1st of February, 91,486,000 gallons as compared with 255,643,000 gallons at the corresponding period of last year. At the estimated rate of consumption cf ten gallons per head per day by a popula- tion numbering approximately 221,300, this supply should suffice for forty-one days, or, roughly, six weeks from 1st February and four weeks from to-morrow, whereas ac- cording to Mr. CHATHAM's statement at the Sanitary Board we should have five weeks' supply in haud from to-morrow. There is
Peking. 2nd January, 1902. thus a whole week's supply unaccounted for. Sire. My August Sovereign, King of Great It is notorious that there is throughout the Britain and Ireland and of the British Domi- local system a considerable leakage, which uions beyond the seas, Defender of the Faith, must of necessity assume greater volume as Emperor of India, having been graciously 'the ground becomes more parched. Ulti-pleased to appoint me to be His Majesty's mately this escape of water will have to be overcome, cost what it may, and we under- stand that already operations of a curative character are in progress; but in the mean- time a temporary remody is required and it lies at the hands of the authorities in the shape of Mr. OSBORNE's proposal. In addi- tion to the chronic grievance regarding shortage, there are now in many quarters-- especially on the higher levels-complaints that the water being obtained from taps is highly coloured and obviously impure; and this in despite of the Analyst's periodic reports to the contrary. Water is already
cured from all sorts of crannies being sold on the higher levels-water pro- and rivulets, which, notwithstanding, house- holders are glad to get. It would be in- finitely preferable to them to be able to buy water which had been obtained from the mainland and could be depended upon as
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- tentiary to Your Majesty in the place of Bir Claude MacDonald, I have solicited an audience of Your Majesty in order to deliver my letter of
credence.
It is with a deep sense of responsibility that I enter upon the discharge of the important daties which have been confided to me, and I trust that I may rely on the cooperation of Your Majesty's Ministers in their performance so that the relations of friendship which happily exist between Great Britain and China may be strengthened and placed upon a durable basis.
My August Sovereign has charged me to express to Your Majesty his sincere desire to see the independence and integrity of the Chinese Empire maintained intact, and that the prosperity and happiness of the Chinese people may be fostered by the removal of obstacles to sion of manu:actures, and by the utilisation of the free exchange of commodities, by the exten- the resources of the soil.
'The wonderful improvements which have taken place in the means of communication