CO129-270 - Public Offices & Others - 1895 — Page 409

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The routine of the cleansing work was as follows:--

The previous night notice was given by the Police to all occupiers of houses the cleansing of which was to take place on the following day, and they were warned to remove their furniture and effects into the street.

On the following day the cleansing parties (who were met at their respective centres by their gangs of coolies with tools, lime-wash, and disinfectants) would proceed to the houses to which they were told off.

The floors of the houses were first sprinkled with a disinfecting fluid and chlorinated lime, and all old paper was torn off the walls and partitions, and the dirt and rubbish removed by means of shovels and brooms.

The walls and partitions were then lime-washed and the floors washed down with disinfectants. When the woodwork of the partitions and mezzanine floors was found to be old and filthy, they were removed and burnt.

All furniture and clothing outside the houses was overhauled, the old and worthless clothing was burnt, and a few buckets of lime-wash were thrown over the furniture to ensure its being washed.

In the earlier days of the operations the inflammable rubbish from the houses was sent to be burnt at special fires lighted at convenient spots in each district, but afterwards fires were lighted in the public streets outside the houses where the gangs were working and the rubbish burnt as soon as it came out of the houses.

Mr. BAMSEY rendered good service in the Western District in directing the gangs to the houses where they were to work and in interpreting for them.

Until the closing of Taipingshan Mr. CARROLL assisted in that District in supervising the gangs of coolies and seeing that each was supplied with its proper complement of utensils for the work, and also in examining the old clothes and furniture outside the houses.

During the day Surgeon-Major JAMES was in attendance at the Tung Wa Hospital. On his arrival in the morning he inspected the observation ward in which plague patients admitted during the night were placed, and all the other wards of the Hospital, forwarding any patients suffering from plague to the Plague Hospitals. He also inspected the dead in the Mortuary separating those that had died of plague. He examined all patients admitted during the day, passing such as had plague on to the Plague Hospitals, and he was always at hand to visit and diagnose a doubtful case of plague found in the City by the search parties.

Subsequently when other duties were assigned to Surgeon-Major JAMES, the work described above was performed by Dr. WITTENBERG, and after his departure by Dr. W. E. C. Lowson.

A second register of infected houses was kept in which the cases occurring in the houses were entered daily from the registers kept at the Tung Wa Hospital with necessary additions taken from the reports for the Western, Eastern, and Out Districts and from the Hospital returns.

As soon as it was found that a house had three cutries against it the occupants were removed and the house closed.

15. On the 25th of May six Chinese doctors supplied by the Tung Wa Hospital were attached to the search parties in the Central District in deference to the wishes of the native agitators against each and every step taken to mitigate the plague.

These doctors accompanied the searchers in their daily work for three months, and during that period there occurred several cases in which they pronounced suspected plague cases not to be plague. In each case subsequent reference was made to one of the European doctors engaged in the plague, and in each case his decision was that the Chinese doctor was wrong. In one instance one of these doctors pronounced a case to be plague which the Chinese receiving doctor at the Tung Wa Hospital correctly diagnosed as fever.

16. On the 1st of June in consequence of the delay in removing dead bodies from the Tung Wa Flospital Mortuary caused by the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient and constant supply of coolies, a large wagon was purchased and two pairs of ponies

hired to draw it.

Four men of the Shropshire Light Infantry in two shifts of two each under- took to drive it, as no Chinese could be induced to do so. The wagon hell from 8 to 12 coffius at a load and proved most useful. It was continued in use until the 30th of June.

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17. On the 31st of May additional bye-laws were made by the Sanitary Board and under them notices were issued to householders in the Central District of the City of Victoria and at Kowloon calling upon them to cleanse their houses.

Up to date 1,805 notices have been issued in the City, and in obedience to them 1,303 houses have been cleaned under the supervision of Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the Royal Engineers.

Thanks to the exertions of Sergeant HALL it was found possible to in luce householders in a large portion of the Eastern District to clean their houses without having recourse to the serving of notices whereby much time was saved. The entire villages of Yaumati anl Hanghom have been cleaned in the same manner under the supervision of two mou of the Royal Engineers.

18. On the 2nd of June the men of the Shropshire Light Infantry having become thoroughly familiar with the work, the Royal Engineers were withdrawn from the duty of supervising the cleaning parties and were detailed for the work of collecting infected clothing which had hitherto been performed by men of the Shropshire Light Infantry.

For this work three parties were now detailed for work from 7.30 A.M, to 10.30 A.M., 2 parties from 1.30 p M. to 4.30 P.M., and 1 party from the latter hour till 7.30 P.M.

Mr. MITCHELL-INNES rendered valuable service for some time assisting the afternoon party.

The first batch of Civilian Volunteers for house-to-house visitation work entered upon their duties at this time. Two of them, Messrs. C. DUNCAN and B. F. LAMMERT, were attached to the regular partics working in Taipingshan in the mornings, and rendered very efficient service.

19. On the same date the work of emptying the houses in Taipingshan of their inhabitants was begun. The filthiest lanes and alleys were taken in hand first, and the removal of the inhabitants, 600 in number, to houses leased for the purpose in Upper and Lower Butter Streets was carried out without any difficulty by a party of Chinese Police assisted by two squads of Shropshire Light Infantry borrowed from the cleansing parties.

During the next three days Market Street was attacked, and an endeavour made with the same staff to remove the inhabitants to Kennedytown. Owing to the distance of the latter place grint difficulty was experienced and nearly the whole of the inhabitants (some 1,500 in number) left the Colony in perference to going there.

20. Accordingly before proceeding with any more evictions a large increase of staff was requisitioned, and on the 8th of June 50 extra men from the Shropshire Light Infantry under two Colour Sergeants were detailed for this special work, while 50 men were borrowed from the cleansing parties to assist.

With this staff all the remaining streets and lanes were clearel of their inhabitants within a week, 3,500 people being removed to houses lesel by the Permanent Committee in New Street, Praya West, Centre Street, Western Street, and Queen's Road West.

The work was conducted as follows:--A street having been selected for evacuation the inhabitants were roughly counted the day before that for which the removal was fixed, and sufficient accommodation selected for them in the houses leased for the purpose.

The inhabitants were then warned early on the morning of the day of the removal, and the poorer families were given a ticket cach entitling then to a sum of $2 towards their rent for one month in their new quarters.

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A few hours afterwards the eviction parties would arrive on the scene. portion of the men were then stationed at the side streets levling off the main route to the place to which the removal was to be made to prevent the people straying to other parts of the town.

A second part was told off' to prevent the removal from the houses of rags and rubbish and old woodwork such as that forming cubicles, cocklofts, etc.

A third party, consisting of 6 Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the Royal Engineers specially detailed for the purpose (with carpenters and coolies to help them), attended to the nailing up of the houses as they were emptied.

A fourth party was stationed at the houses about to be occupied to see that the new tenants were properly accommodated on their arrival, that no overcrowding took place and that no rubbish and rags were imported.