Street had been duly recorded, a Committee appointed by my predecessor called his attention to the vitiated state of the air and the stench in the Hongkong Gaol, and on further enquiry, I ascertained that the dry earth system was not in use, that every morning night-soil was emptied down a drain in the middle of the gaol yard.
102. As the gaol stands on the slope of a hill in the middle of the Town, I was not surprised to learn that the residents in some of the streets between the gaol and the Harbour had the same complaint to make as the Gaol Committee of 1876.
103. An enquiry ordered in July 1877, also exposed the fact that the majority of the European houses built on the drainage valley of the reservoir that supplied the town with drinking water, had no proper sanitary system, and that the upper sources of the water supply were constantly polluted.
104. No real difficulty was, however, experienced in getting the instructions of the Secretary of State enforced, and in 1878 a Medical Committee, consisting of the Principal Naval Officer on the station and a leading civil practitioner sent me a report, in which they said: "The sanitary arrangements of the gaol are good; the dry earth system recently introduced works well."
105. Whatever the cause may be, the public health of the Colony has undoubtedly improved of late years. Whilst some of the provisions of Ordinance 8 of 1856 may not have done much good, other parts of that Ordinance have been enforced with advantage to the public.
106. As an illustration of this, I may mention that an application came before me in January 1879 from a firm of European Architects, suggesting that I should allow certain houses which were to be built for a Chinese Bank and a Goldsmith's Shop to be constructed without kitchens or cooking places. As I usually do in such matters, I desired to see the opinions of the leading Chinese on the question before I finally decided it; and I venture to draw Your Lordship's attention to the sensible views these gentlemen expressed :-
They are of opinion that in Section VIII of Ordinance 8 of 1856 we have a very good and "useful rule, viz., that in all buildings which are used or liable to be used, either partly or entirely, as "dwelling houses, there should be safe cooking places. With reference to the arguments adduced in Messrs. Wilson and Salway's letter, they are of opinion that, although the owner of the premises "may wish his tenants or employés to obtain their food from cook-shops, there is no certainty that they would always do so. On the contrary, they are of opinion that the employés on the premises "would be certain to boil, at any rate, their tea on the premises, and boil water every evening for bathing, "the consequence of which would be that the smoke would become a nuisance to the other tenants, "and that the lighting of fires in unsafe places would endanger the whole house and the surrounding "houses too."
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107. The statement of the native merchants that the Chinese tenants and employés would have to boil water every evening for bathing purposes, would not surprise any one really acquainted with the habits of even the poorest Chinese. No doubt, certain Europeans in Hongkong, as well as in California and Australia, denounce the Chinese as a dirty race, who never bathe; but the fact is that, in this important sanitary practice, they are a clean people, and, even in the lower classes, set a good example, which our soldiers and sailors here would do well to follow.
108. Dr. Stout, of the State Board of Health of San Francisco, and one of the oldest physicians in California, refers to this in his evidence laid three years ago before Congress. Having stated that he lived in the midst of the Chinese quarter, to which, no doubt, many of the residents had come from Hongkong, he was asked:--
Question. During your residence there have you known of any disease, any pestilence, originating and spreading in there, or spreading from there?-Answer. No, sir; none.
Q. The Chinese live in that quarter very closely, do they not?-A. Quite closely, sometimes.
"Q. How is it that you account for the fact, that under these circumstances they are apparently so healthy?-A. Their frugal life gives them more immunity from disease. They eat only what is necessary to live upon. They eat to live and do not live to eat. They are clean in their habits, and they drink no whisky. I have never seen a drunken Chinaman in my life. They consequently "obtain a better resisting power to the attack of disease.
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"Q. What is their habit in regard to ablutions?-A. They constantly wash themselves.
"Q. The whole person, or only the face and hands?-A. My observation of the men is that they keep themselves clean. Their clothes are clean. As mechanics or workmen they keep themselves very clean.
"Q. What is the comparative mortality among the Chinese and the whites of this city-the death-rate?-A-The death-rate is greater among the whites than among the Chinese.
"Q. What is the comparative mortality among adult Chinamen and adult white people?-A. The amount is greater with adult white people.