407
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The man had gone into the house in mistake for the one next door which he had been told to fumigate, and had thus incurred the resentiment of the inmates. Colour Sergeant WYLDE saw the man enter and leave the house (pursued by the maledictions of the inmates) one minute later. He had only had time to mount and descend the stairs.
The other was one of a theft of $50 made against an R. E. on disinfection work. The man found $30 among the effects of a plague patient who had been removed to Hospital. He handed the money over to Mr. CROOK.
Enquiries were made and the husband of the woman (who died soon after admission to Hospital) found, who for some time refused to accept the money saying that $80 or thereabouts was the amount lost. Ile could produce no evidence in support of his contention and he finally took the $30.
After the Shropshire cleaning parties were reduced in number and a larger number of coolies employed, several rumours became current that the men of the Shropshire Light Infantry were extorting money from inhabitants of the houses they were told to clean.
Suspicion naturally fell on the Chinese foremen and coolies and a watch was kept on them by the Police.
The result was that a case was found in which a foreman and his assistant had in fact demanded and obtained money (on behalf of the soldiers as they said) from the inmates of a house which was to be cleaned.
The foreman absconded, but his assistant was arrested, prosecuted and sen-
tenced to 2 months' imprisonment.
This conviction had the desired effect and the rumours ceased.
35. On the 1st August the special Constables on duty in the Eastern District were dispensed with.
36. On the 8th August the Royal Engineers were reduced in number to 8 and 1 man was told off to supervise the laying of concrete floors in houses which had been closed by the Permanent Committee and handed over to the owners ou con- dition of their carrying out this and other improvements.
37. On the 24th August the inspection of junks and steamers was discontinued. 38. On the 15th September the house-to-house visitation was discontinued.
A table is attached shewing the number of cases found by the search parties in the various Districts while they were at work.
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neers are employed in supervising the execution of the conditions upon which certain houses closed by the Permanent Committee are being handed over to thei: owners and in superintending the cleaning and white-washing of houses in accord- ance with notices served on the householders calling on them to do so.
All the cocklofts in the Eastern and Western Districts and almost all in Yau- In the Eastern District mati have been brought into conformity with the law there were 270 illegal cocklofts and these were either altered to the proper dimensions or entirely removed.
In the Western District 861 and in Yaumati 50 illegal cocklofts have been similarly dealt with, while in the Central District over 2,500 illegal cocklofts have
to date been made to conform to the law.
up
All wells situated inside houses in the Eastern District have been closed (with 3 exceptious) and very good progress has been made in the same direction in the Central and Western Districts.
40. We have thought it of interest to prepare the enclosed plans* showing the progress of the plague in the two districts of the City-Taipingshan and a portion of the Western District-which were most severely affected with the epidemic.
The plans show the houses and streets in each of the two districts in which the disease first made its appearance and where it subsequently spread to.
We have distinguished between houses that have been re-drained under the Public Health Ordinance and those that have not, and we would invite attention to the fact that (a) in each district the houses that have not been re-drained were attacked first, and that (b) the proportion of infected houses amongst those re- drained under the Public Health Ordinance has been in all instances less than among those which have not been so drained.
The following tables are a summary of the figures given on the tracing attacher:-
TAIPINGSHAN DISTRICT.
PLAGUE. HOUSES.
TOTALS.
No.
May.
June.
Plague. Per cent.
In
Houses re-drained in accord- auce with Public Health Ordinance,
186
62
57 83%
80%
47%
During the entire time the parties were at work there were no complaints against any of them in the Eastern and Western Districts or at Yaumati.
There were only three complaints against them in the Central District. two of them it was found that the persons complaining had refused admission to the Officers which led to altercations.
In the third instance the fault rested with the Chinese doctor attached to the search party.
A case of suspected plagne was discovered and the doctor pronouncing it to be plague the patient was removed to the Tung Wa Hospital where the receiving doctor pronounced it not a case of plague.
About a week after the search was first instituted some opposition was shewn to the searchers one afternoon in Taipingshan. A crowd collected in the streets and bricks were thrown, Inspector GERMAIN receiving a bruise on the leg. A strong body of armed Police were soon on the spot. 5 arrests were made and the disturb- ance quelled.
Only once after that was any opposition to the search shewn. It was soon after the people began to return from Canton.
A brick was thrown from an upper window at a party passing along the street, and Sergeant McIVER narrowly escaped being struck on the head.
With these exceptions no opposition was shewn to the searchers and the people even showed an appreciation of the efforts made in their behalf although they would not co-operate in discovering the sick or give the searchers any assistance in that direction.
39. Inspector GERMAIN and three Police Officers formerly on house-to-house visitation duty are still engaged in measuring all cocklofts and inducing tenants to remove or curtail illegal ones and discovering wells situated within inhabited houses and causing such as are insanitary to be filled in; while three Royal Engi-
Houses not so re-drained.
239
87
36%
85
36%
120
50%
Houses re-drained in accord-
No.
WESTERN DISTRICT.
JUNE.
ance with Public Health Ordinance,
217
Houses not so re-drained,
Plague.
22
MAY
Per
centi.
Plagne.
l'er
ecnt.
Plague.
JULY.
TOTALS.
Per
cout.
Plague.
Per
cent.
10%
38 ! 17 %
4
2%
58
27 %
617 80 13 %
159
26 %
21
34%
220 36%
The above tables shew that the insanitary condition of the drainage arrange ments in these houses has been one contributing factor in the spread of the epidemic.
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