(3)
341
**
Surely the first duty of the Health Officer of the Port should be to ascertain whether any vessels are in the quarantine anchorage, attending first on any mail steamer which may be there; a glance from any part of the Harbour would be sufficient to show whether any vessels were in quarantine. Why Dr. Swan should request the Colonial Secretary to call H.E. the Governor's attention to the fact that he was cruising about the Harbour in his official capacity for nearly three hours without noticing that the English Mail was in quarantine passes understanding. He did not board the "Coromandel" until 10:06 a.m. and it may be supposed that he proceeded to the vessel immediately after made the discovery, otherwise it makes matters much worse.
Dr. Swan further states "but as there was no special signal to indicate that there was sickness on board, nor any notice sent to me, as is usually done by the different companies".
Dr. Swan must know, or ought to know, that under existing Port Regulations there is no provision for signalling that a ship is "infected" at the Kowloon Station; the only special signal that could be made to show there was sickness on board was the yellow flag on the steamer; the vessel anchoring in quarantine ground was another indication.
That the Health Officer of a Port of this rank and importance should expect notice to be given to him when a ship arrives in quarantine is of course absurd. The complaint of Shipping Companies is the difficulty...