132
when he was tired out or feeling angry and frustrated. However, he made some annotations at a later date, 1933, on some of the entries and these were written in very clear, tidy, and easily legible handwriting. He was then sixty-seven, two years before he died. The diary must have meant a lot to him that he should review it forty years after the events. Maybe it was then that he decided to bequeath it to posterity with the hope that it might see the light of day, one day. Lowson began his diary in January 1894 and stopped writing after July. It was in the three-month period from May to July that he recorded the day-to-day happenings in connection with the Epidemic. He put down some statistical and clinical data in the first few days but, afterwards, he wrote mainly about the development of the situation, the measures taken to handle it, and of even greater interest, his clashes with the authorities. By editing the diary's contents, it is possible to write a coherent account of the early phase of the Epidemic, and this is what I have attempted to do. Lowson had also kept several pages of the Hong Kong Weekly Press dated May, June, and July 1894, on which weekly summaries of the events related to the Epidemic were reported. Besides, I am most grateful to Dr. John Nicholls of the Department of Pathology, Hong Kong University, for giving me a copy of a Report Lowson submitted to the Governor dated May 16th. Incidentally, the handwriting in this Report was as good and clear as the annotations. From these other sources, I have been able to obtain further data and information to elaborate on some of the entries I have chosen to present.
To us, the diary came to life on May 4th. Lowson wrote that he went to Canton by night boat and mentioned seven names. It would seem that they were going there to play some match, for the next day, the 5th, he wrote 'Murray and Potts licked hollow.' However, in his Report to the Governor, he stated that his main purpose was to see for himself the state of affairs as there had been reports that bubonic plague had broken out there.
May 6th
Went into town to see plague and saw a large number of cases
May 7th
Back to Hong Kong. In Club 6 pm. Rumour of plague. Saw Ram who said not so and described what had occurred
Ram was E.A. Ram, who was acting sanitary superintendent, and
132
when he was tired out or feeling angry and frustrated. However, he made some annotations at a later date, 1933, on some of the entries and these were written in very clear, tidy and easily legible handwriting. He was then sixty-seven, two years before he died. The diary must have meant a lot to him that he should review it forty years after the events. Maybe it was then that he decided to bequeath it to posterity with the hope that it might see the light of day, one day. Lowson began his diary in January 1894 and stopped writing after July. It was in the three-month period. from May to July that he recorded the day-to-day happenings in connection with the Epidemic He put down some statistical and clinical data in the first few days but, afterwards, he wrote mainly about the development of the situation, the measures taken to handle it and of even greater interest, his clashes with the authorities. By editing the diary's contents it is possible to write a coherent account of the early phase of the Epidemic and this is what I have attempted to do. Lowson had also kept several pages of the Hong Kong Weekly Press dated May, June and July 1894, on which weekly summaries of the events related to the Epidemic were reported. Besides, I am most grateful to Dr. John Nicholls of the Department of Pathology, Hong Kong University, for giving me a copy of a Report Lowson submitted to the Governor dated May 16th. Incidentally, the handwriting in this Report was as good and clear as the annotations. From these other sources I have been able to obtain further data and information to elaborate on some of the entries I have chosen to present.
To us the diary came to life on May 4th Lowson wrote that he went to Canton by night boat, and mentioned seven names. It would seem that they were going there to play some match, for the next day, the 5th, he wrote 'Murray and Potts licked hollow. However in his Report to the Governor, he stated that his main purpose was to see for himself the state of affairs as there had been reports that bubonic plague had broken out there.
May 6th
Went into town to see plague and saw a large number of cases
May 7th
Back to Hong Kong In Club 6 pm. Rumour of plague Saw Ram who said
not so and described what had occurred
Ram was E.A. Ram who was acting sanitary superintendent and
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.