CO129-305 - Governor Sir Blake - 1901 [5-7] — Page 471

godtuuris 4, 5 4h

99, 1900 tegar

466

counted out to the spector, lest their prime should

by their fellows. Yet none of these,

men bows contracted the disenae. Again the plaque

chart show an invariably rapid fall from the maximum

plague rate to normal” the epidemic always ceasing in

from three to four weeks. I attach a chart of the

gue cases in the years 1889, 1900 and 1901 that

will show how constant is this condition of rapid

recovery. This rather favours the theory that the

Epidemic is due to atmospheric conditions. I have no

reason to believe that the Sanitary Staff are not

doing their duty faithfully, and if they are, then

with the large powers given to the Medical Officer of

Health there should not be in Hongkong a house unfit

for habitation, nor should any house be permitted to

continue in an insanitary state. At present there seems

to be a preponderance of opinion among the Community

that the Plague is attributable to overcrowding,

insanitary dwellings, and a bad system of drainage.

But while all or any of these conditions may contribute

to the perpetuation of the disease, the fact remains

that one of the worst districts in the Colony this

year is at Hingham, a newly built quarter on

peninsula