Cows
M 19
Live stock in the Colony on 31st December, 1938.
Goats
Horses
Swine-number unknown.
Table VI.
Urban Council Area New Territories Total Cows 2,173 1,400 3,573 Goats 161 200 361 Horses 416 220 636(vi) Seasonal prevalence of diseases.
85. The bar diagrams given elsewhere in this report show clearly the seasonal incidence of the various diseases recorded in the Colony in 1938.
Unlike 1937, 1938 showed no very marked increase in mortality after the third and greatest influx of refugees in November. The mortality was highest in March, the month when smallpox was at its height.
86. It will be noted from the bar diagrams that smallpox, diphtheria and meningococcal meningitis are mainly winter diseases, cholera is a summer disease, and the dysenteries and typhoid have their highest incidence in late summer and autumn.
(II) General Measures of Sanitation.
(a) Sewage disposal.
87. The unsatisfactory system of sewage disposal for the bulk of the premises in Hong Kong and Kowloon was described in the Report for 1937 to which reference may be made. An eye-witness of the final stages in the disposal of nightsoil from Sanitary Department lighters in Gin Drinkers Bay wrote: "Here, amid scenes which would defy the brush of Hieronymus van Bosch or the pen of de Sade, the faecal matter is baled by human beings into other junks owned by contractors."
88. It is very much to be hoped that this reflection on the sanitary administration of Hong Kong will not be of much longer duration.
89. Direct disposal through sewers into the sea where practicable and safe from the public health standpoint or by way of sewage works (based on the activated sludge and aeration bed principle) is clearly desirable.
(b) Refuse disposal.
90. Details of the system of refuse disposal were given in the Report for 1937 and need not be repeated here.
91. An average of 505 tons of material are collected daily, and a portion of this refuse is carried through the streets by coolies in open baskets. The danger of spread of fly-borne infection to which this system lends itself is apparent, and is a very real one during the summer months. The greater part of the refuse is collected by covered lorries belonging to the Sanitary Department. Seventeen of these lorries work in Hong Kong, eight in Kowloon.
92. There is only one public incinerator on the Island. It is situated at Kennedy Town and is used mainly for burning dirty dressings from hospitals and slaughter house waste. The extension of incineration as a means of disposal is highly desirable. It is the cleanliest of methods and the incombustible material could be usefully employed in filling up reclaimable areas.