734
These houses, over 191 in number, are still in the hands of the Committee, cleaned, disinfected, and ready to hand over to their owners whenever the Committee are informed if their suggestions meet with approval generally, and if, in anticipation of an Ordinance on the subject, they may impose on the owners the conditions referred to in their letter.
Every day's delay in dealing with these houses may entail heavy claims for damages on the Government.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
The Honourable
THE ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY,
F.
No. 1,269.
SIR,
&c.
&c.
JNO. J. FRANCIS, Chairman.
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
HONGKONG, 13th July, 1894.
In reply to your letter of the 12th instant, I am directed by the Governor to state for the information of the Permanent Committee that the suggestions are still under consideration, and I am to enquire whether, in the meantime, such of the 191 houses referred to as are unfit for temporary occupation without being subject to previous elaborate improvements and without being dangerous to health can be handed over to the owners in a clean condition, to be occupied by the number of individuals which they can accommodate without infringing the law in regard to overcrowding.
In handing over the houses, a stipulation could be made that such improvements, as might be specified in a law or regulations to be hereafter framed in connection with the plague, must be carried out.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, Acting Colonial Secretary.
No. 2.
SIR,
COMMITTEE ON HOUSING THE CHINESE, HONGKONG, 19th July, 1894.
The Committee on Housing the Chinese have now the honour to address you in connection with the report of the Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board on the method to be adopted in dealing with the recently vacated portion of Tai-ping-shan, forwarded to them for their remarks.
2. In the present letter, only the action to be taken in the immediate future is dealt with. The laying out of the area, the style of house to be erected thereon, and the system of house drainage to be adopted being left for subsequent correspondence.
3. The Housing Committee have been favoured with the advice of the Colonial Surgeon, the Principal Medical Officer, A.M.D., and Dr. HARTIGAN, who attended the meeting of the Committee by request. A copy of their evidence, as also of a letter addressed to the Chairman by Surgeon-Major JAMES, in reply to one from him, is attached. The Deputy Inspector General, who was invited to attend, was unfortunately unable to do so.
4. After careful consideration of the medical evidence tendered, the Committee unanimously agreed that the proper course to be pursued with regard to the 384 houses in the walled-in portion of Tai-ping-shan is their demolition (preferably by fire), that being the only course open if the district is to be made permanently sanitary. Certain houses probably might be made fairly fit for habitation, but the faulty laying out of the ground and construction of the houses, as well as the saturation of the soil with poisonous matter, render the reconstruction of the entire quarter imperative.
5. As regards the surface of the ground, the Committee advise that the soil, after the demolition of the houses by fire, and after being disinfected, be removed to a depth of at least one foot, and that the surface, when again built upon, be covered with impervious material of approved thickness, any house-drains discovered during these operations being entirely removed.
6. The Committee are of opinion that the removal of the surface soil, after burning by fire and after disinfection, will not be attended with any grave danger, but they would suggest that, if His Excellency still entertains apprehensions on this point, the opinion of Monsieur YERSIN and Mr. KITASATO might be requested.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
N. G. MITCHELL-INNES, Chairman.
The Chairman of the
PERMANENT COMMITTEE.
The Honourable J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, Acting Colonial Secretary, &c., &c.
SIR,
PERMANENT COMMITTEE, SANITARY BOARD, HONGKONG, 14th July, 1894.
In reply to your letter No. 1,269 of yesterday's date with reference to the houses now closed in non-infected districts, the Permanent Committee think they will be able to act on your suggestions as to a considerable number of them, and they will proceed to do so as speedily as possible.
The Honourable
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
JNO. J. FRANCIS, Chairman.
THE ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY.
Enclosure I.
Letter from Surgeon-Major James, A.M.S.
DEAR MR. MITCHELL-INNES,
I apologize for not having answered your note earlier, but it requires some thought.
I am in favour of digging up and casting away the soil in Tai-ping-shan after burning the houses for the following reasons:
1. That the imperfect floors and the probable contamination of the soil by plague germs would be in all probability the means of rendering any new houses built upon the undisturbed soil unhealthy and possibly a starting point for a future outbreak.
The soil should be dug out to a depth of four feet as a preliminary to concreting.