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Kowloon and the pigs brought to markets when required.
No house in the town should be permitted to have floors constructed so that they cannot be properly cleaned. In the case of wooden floors, the boards should be well fitted so that they can be washed, and all ground floors should be well tiled for the same reason. No house floors should be allowed to remain unwashed, and every house should be whitewashed at least once a year.
Landlords should be held responsible for this and for the drains being in proper order that belong to the house. However, proper drainage cannot be managed as there is no proper drainage to the nullah or gully. In future, no houses should be built without sufficient garden space at the back, and in no case should they be built back to back.
With such a state of things as I have reported, no one will dispute, I think, that there is good reason for my prognostications as regards Typhus and Typhoid fever, and it is not to be wondered at that they are frequent. I have seen three cases this week. A cholera epidemic here would be something too horrible to think about, and Smallpox is by no means to be thought lightly of.
The city of Hongkong, which will then be kept in order, is a corrupt state.
Hongkong, 19th January 1877
I have the honor to forward the following report on the Sanitary condition of the Brothels of Hongkong. I have made over twelve inspections, varying from three to five hours each, and have not yet succeeded in making the round but have quite sufficient data to express an opinion.
With regard to the form headed "Contagious Diseases Ordinance" enclosed in the Register General's Letter No. 39 dated 5th August 1873, it is my opinion that it is useless to lay down a certain number as a rate for the accommodation of each individual. Other things being equal, but other things are in no case equal; situation is different, ventilation is different, the forms of the houses are different, and so are the heights of the rooms.
A room in one house (say 16 feet square) may sufficiently accommodate four persons, but a room in another of exactly the same dimensions may be totally unfit for the accommodation of so many.
The Inspector of Brothels cannot be expected to be judges of the sanitation of houses entirely unaided, as they are, in my opinion. No brothel should be sanctioned without a certificate from the Medical Officer that it is a fit place for sanitation and the accommodation of so many.
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