[ { "id": 205667, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1968", "page_number": 209, "title": "RAS-1968", "content_text": "204\n\nDOWSON GROVE,\n\nDr. A. W. -\n\nDAWSON GROVE,\n\nMiss Jan -\n\nDEANS PEGGS, Dr. A.\n\nDENNEY, Miss D. R.\n\nDJOU, G. G.\n\n+\n\n1 Headland Road, Repulse Bay, H.K.\n\nAs above.\n\nc/o Education Dept., Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, H.K.\n\nOfficers Mess, R.A.F. Kai Tak, Kowloon.\n\nc/o American International Assnce. Co., Ltd., 12-14 Queen's Road, Central, H.K\n\nDOWSON, Prof, John L. M. Dept. of Philosophy & Psychology. The\n\nDRAKE, Prof. F. S.*\n\n-\n\nDRAKEFORD, L. S. ·\n\nDRURY, Miss Kathleen\n\nDUNCANSON, J. D.* DWYER, Prof. D. J.\n\nEDWARDS, O. P. ·\n\nEITZEN, Mrs. J.\n\nENDACOTT, G. B.\n\n+\n\nEUSTACE, Col. F. A.\n\nEVANS, C. J.\n\nEVANS, D. M. E.\n\nEVANS, P. J.-\n\n+\n\nEVANS, Mrs. P. J.\n\nEWING, Miss E.* -\n\nFABER, Mrs. A.\n\nFABER, Mrs. G. A. G,* -\n\nFESSLER, Loren\n\nFISCHER, Mrs. Ingrid\n\nFISCHER, W. D.\n\nFISHER-SHORT, W.\n\nFITZGIBBON, D. J.\n\n-\n\n-\n\n►\n\nUniversity, Pokfulum, H.K.\n\n'Lincot', Stoke Road, North Curry, Taunton, Somerset, England.\n\n121 Miles, Clearwater Bay Road, Kowloon.\n\nNethersole Hospital, Bonham Road, H.K. 26 Leinster Mews, London W.2. England. Dept. of Geography\n\nGeography & Geology, The University, Pokfulum, H.K.\n\nc/o H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn. H.K. 22 Magazine Gap Road, Hong Kong. Y.M.C.A., Salisbury Road, Kowloon,\n\nc/o Hong Kong Sea School, Stanley, H.K. Police Headquarters, Arsenal Street, H.K.\n\nc/o Dept. of Laws, L.S.E., London, England. Ray-O-Vac International Corpn.,\n\n604 Chartered Bank Building, H.K.\n\n33 Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley, H.K.\n\n13. Rodmarton Street, London, W.1.\n\nEngland.\n\n10, Cooper Road, Jardine's Lookout, H.K.\n\nInveroak, West End Lane, Stoke Poges,\n\nBucks, England.\n\nEast Asian Research Center, 1737 Cambridge St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138, U.S.A.\n\nP.O. Box 1416, H.K.\n\nAs above.\n\nc/o Education Dept., Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, H.K.\n\nc/o British Embassy, Beirut, Lebanon,\n\n* Life Member\n\nPlease notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206558, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 106, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "100\n\nE. G. PRYOR\n\nSuch improvements, however, were inadequate to overcome 50 years of neglect and insensitivity to the basic requirements for good public health and in 1894 the bubonic plague descended upon Hong Kong with a vengeance.\n\nThe Great Plague of 1894 and Remedial Action\n\nLengthy accounts have been written about the bubonic plague of 1894 including case histories of the agonies suffered by its victims. Suffice it to say that of the 2,679 persons treated in government hospitals, 2,485 died in great misery giving a mortality rate of almost 93%. Of the victims, the vast majority was Chinese. The worst afflicted area was the Western district and particularly the Tai Ping Shan locality.\n\nIn seeking an answer to the outbreak, Dr. J. A. Lowson reported that:\n\nPredisposing causes are, speaking generally, insanitary conditions, and of these filth and overcrowding must be ... two of the most important factors. The district of Tai Ping Shan supplied these factors in a marked degree at the beginning of the outbreak, the majority of houses being in a most filthy condition, as owing to the uncleanly habits of the people, the amount of ... rubbish accumulates in a Chinese house ... to an extent beyond the imagination of most civilised people. When to a mixture of dust, old rags, broken crockery, moist soil etc. is added faecal matter, and the decomposing urine of animals and human beings, a terribly insanitary condition of affairs prevails; and that this is no overdrawn picture of what was to be met with in Tai Ping Shan, many Europeans know to their cost. ...10\n\nDr. Lowson made a number of strong recommendations as to the measures which should be enforced to prevent further outbreaks of bubonic plague. Among other things, he urged that existing regulations should be strictly applied regarding the design and construction of house drains, the closure of insanitary buildings and the provision of adequate lighting and ventilation of premises. He further recommended that the use of basements as domestic accommodation should be prohibited, that all wells situated in densely\n\n10 Lowson J. A., \"The Epidemic of Bubonic Plague in Hong Kong, 1894\", Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hong Kong 1895, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong, 1895, p. 182.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211033, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 94, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "69 \n\nlished in 1884 by ex-pupils and prominent members of the Chinese community as a mark of respect for Dr. Frederick Stewart who had resigned as headmaster in 1881 after nearly twenty years service to the school; and various special prizes especially for proficiency in Chinese.\n\n26 \n\nHe was appointed under Colonial Standing Order 3248 of 1884, as from 1st January, 1885, at a salary of $300 per year.\n\n27 The authority for his appointment was CSO2202. His starting salary was $240 per annum.\n\n24 For details of the memorial system and the part played in its genesis in England by Andrew Bell (1753-1832) and Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), see John Lawson and Harold Silver, A Social History of Education in England (London: Methuen, 1973), pp. 241-246.\n\nIn one of Eitel's reports on the short-lived Normal School in Hong Kong, he refers to the \"Madras-born monitorial scheme of Bell and Lancaster\" being adopted at the Central School by Stewart. In Eitel's opinion, this scheme suffered in comparison with the Normal School because it did not include “the special private tuition and instruction”, presumably, in teaching rationale and methods. (CO129/202, p. 532).\n\nIn his Annual Report for the year 1866, for example, Stewart wrote: \"In my last Report I stated that I entertained the hope of being soon able to overcome many difficulties connected with the school by training Chinese assistants for their work. I then anticipated that I should always be able to retain two of the more advanced boys for a period of at least four years, after which they might, if they chose, find employment elsewhere and be succeeded by the two who stood next to them. The project has all but failed. The demand for the services of the more intelligent of the boys is so great that it is, in the meantime, hopeless to expect them to remain for any length of time. The two in whose case the experiment was tried have both left many months ago, just when they were beginning to be of real value to the school. I shall not, however, abandon the scheme. Out of several, it may be possible to retain some; and, as the knowledge of English becomes more general and situations more difficult to be obtained, the greater will be the probability that these Assistants will remain until, at least, others are qualified to take their place.” (Hong Kong Government Blue Book, 1866, pp. 279-280).\n\n30 The dispute was, in some ways, a continuation of the friction which existed between Frederick Stewart and Eitel after the separation of the duties of Headmaster of the Central School from those of the Inspector of Schools in 1878, first as an expedient measure while Dr. Stewart was on long leave in England and subsequently confirmed on Stewart's return to Hong Kong. Bateson Wright succeeded Stewart as Headmaster of the Central School in 1881. He inherited the bitter relations between the two leading education officers in the Government, but his own, quite positive personality, if anything, exacerbated the situation so much so, that the supervision of the Central School was taken away from the responsibilities of the Inspectorate and a “Dual System\" inaugurated whereby the Central School, renamed successively Victoria College and Queen's College, was administered and reported on by its own Headmaster and eventually examined by an independent Board which did not include the Inspector of Schools. The Dual System was kept in being until the retirement of Bateson Wright in 1909, when the Government's educational system was reunited and renamed the Education Department, headed by a Director of Education in place of the Inspector of Schools.11 Stokes (1962), p. 47.\n\n31", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212940, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 8, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT\n\nHON AUDITOR'S REPORT\n\nARTICLES:\n\nKarina Lam Wai-Ling - The Concern of a Nation's Face: Evidence in the Chinese Press Coverage of Sports. ............................ 1\n\nJanet George - The Lady Doctor's 'Warm Welcome': Dr Alice Sibree and the Early Years of Hong Kong's Maternity Service 1903-1909 .. 81\n\nKeith Stevens - Three Fukienese [Min-nan] Cults: Pao-sheng Ta-ti, Ch'ing-shui Tsu-shih and San P'ing Tsu-shih ....................... 111\n\nGerald Choa - The Lowson Diary: A Record of the Early Phases of the Bubonic Plague Epidemic in Hong Kong 1894 ................ 129\n\nPatrick Hase - Eastern Peace: Sha Tau Kok Market in 1925 ............ 147\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nMary Pang - Reflexivity in Research and a Question of Culture ..... 203\n\nDan Waters - Tales of a Venerable Chinese Gentleman ................. 211\n\nDan Waters - Taking a Godson ............................................... 215\n\nGeoffrey Roper - Visits to the Swire Institute of Marine Science at Cape D'Aguilar 1993 and 1994 ............................................... 217\n\nBOOK REVIEWS ....................................................................... 221\n\nvii\n\nix\n\nxvi", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213081, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 149, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "130\n\nTo eradicate this focus of infection, it was resumed by the Government the following year. In the subsequent re-development, the old houses were demolished and replaced by new ones provided with windows, privies and space in front and behind as required by newly enacted legislation. Many other actions were taken to deal with the situation. The whole of Hong Kong was subjected to a thorough cleaning up. The laws related to public health were amended to impose strict measures against the Epidemic, including compulsory reporting and removal of patients. To enforce this, house-to-house search was conducted by British soldiers, against the violent objection of the Chinese community who regarded it as unwarranted intrusion into the privacy of their homes. Additional hospital facilities for the isolation of patients were hastily made and as the epidemic progressed, more had to be opened up from time to time.\n\nWithin the administration, responsibility for the health of Hong Kong was divided between the Sanitary Board and the Colonial Surgeon at that time. The membership of the Sanitary Board was as follows: the Registrar General, the equivalent of a Secretary for Chinese Affairs, as Chairman, the Surveyor General, the equivalent of a Director of Public Works, the Captain Superintendent of Police, the Colonial Surgeon, and five other members. After the Epidemic broke out, a Permanent Committee was appointed to recommend necessary legislation and bye-laws for taking vigorous action. In the post of Colonial Surgeon, the equivalent of the present-day Director of Health, was Dr. P.B.C. Ayres who had held it since 1872. Under him was Dr. J.A. Lowson, whose diary we are going to look into.\n\nJames Alfred Lowson was born in 1866. He graduated from Edinburgh University in medicine in 1888 at the age of 22. He came to Hong Kong, probably in or before 1892, because in October that year he represented Hong Kong at interport cricket in Shanghai. On the return trip, his ship, the S.S. Bokhara, was sunk off the Pescadores in a typhoon. He and one other member of the cricket team were among only twenty-five survivors out of about 150 passengers and crew on board. In 1894, at the age of 28, his posting was medical superintendent of the Government Civil Hospital, at the onset of the Epidemic. At that time, in the medical and health service, there were only three full-time medical officers, Dr. Ayres, Dr. J.M. Atkinson and Dr. Lowson, in that order of seniority, assisted by some private practitioners on a part-time basis. In the March 1st entry of his", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213082, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 150, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "131\n\ndiary, Lowson recorded that Dr. Atkinson, who succeeded Dr. Ayres as Colonial Surgeon later, went on leave on that day, leaving him with an address in England. It was because of Atkinson's absence that Lowson found himself in Atkinson's position as second-in-command in the early phase of the Epidemic.\n\nIt is not known until recently that Dr. Lowson had kept a diary. To tell you how the diary was brought to light, I have to take you up to Caine Lane which is below Caine Road on the mid-level of Hong Kong Island. There stands an old building of typical neo-classical design which was built in 1905. Used by the Department of Health as a storage depot in recent years, it was formerly the Government Pathological Institute. Having decided to declare it as a historic building for preservation in 1990, the Government further agreed to turn it over to the Hong Kong College of Pathologists to convert it into the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences. By this transformation, to quote from the Introduction in a brochure prepared by the architects, the idea that 'matching history with the appropriateness of building function lends relevance and a sense of continuity,' is realised. To launch an appeal for donations, Professor Faith Ho of the Department of Pathology, University of Hong Kong and President of the Hong Kong College of Pathologists, gave an interview to the South China Morning Post. The article, which appeared on February 13th, 1993, came to the notice of Mrs. Frances Ashburner, a grand-daughter of Dr. Lowson, now living in Australia. She then had the diary photographed in microfiche and sent it to Professor Ho, who kindly gave me a copy. I have to thank both Professor Ho and Mrs. Ashburner for permission to present and publish this paper.\n\nBefore we open the diary, we should take a look at the book itself which is also of historic interest. It was printed and published by Kelly and Walsh, the oldest bookshop in Hong Kong, now still in business in Prince's Building. The title on the cover reads: \"The Imperial English and Chinese Almanac for 1894, being the 57th and 58th year of the Reign of H.M. Queen Victoria and the 20th and 21st years of the Kuang-Hsu Reign. No. 1, Price One Dollar, Interleaved with Blotting Paper.\"\n\nThe first thing that struck me when I turned the pages of the diary was the handwriting which was bad, uneven and untidy. Some words, written in bold and large letters were undecipherable. The impression I got was that most of the entries were made by Lowson at the end of a long day.\n\nPage 150\nPage 151", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213083, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 151, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "132\n\nwhen 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.\n\nTo 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.\n\nMay 6th\n\nWent into town to see plague and saw a large number of cases\n\nMay 7th\n\nBack to Hong Kong. In Club 6 pm. Rumour of plague. Saw Ram who said not so and described what had occurred\n\nRam was E.A. Ram, who was acting sanitary superintendent, and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213086, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 154, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "135\n\nBoard but both the Governor and the Colonial Secretary intervened. Consequently the Glass-works hospital was operated as a branch of the Tung Wah. It should be noted that the tradition at the Tung Wah Hospital was broken later during the Epidemic. Western medicine was introduced and a graduate of the Hong Kong College of Medicine was appointed as its superintendent.\n\nMeanwhile the situation took a different turn. At first it was thought that Europeans would escape from the infection because of their better living conditions and cleaner habits. The belief was shattered soon, Lowson recorded on May 29th: 'the first Shropshire case.' The Shropshire Regiment was stationed in Hong Kong at the time. Three hundred troops under eight officers were brought in to help in the cleaning up operation, including house to house search. Some soldiers caught the disease. One of the victims was an officer, Captain Vesey. 'Vesey got it,' wrote Lowson on May 31st. On June 2nd he went to see Vesey, on the 3rd Vesey was said to be better but he died at 9:45 p.m. on the 4th. In an annotation, Lowson wrote:\n\nMay 31st\n\nCaptain Vesey's attack was a serious business as up to this time we had everyone thinking Europeans would not get it and there was much consternation. The flight from the Colony to Japan and home was now almost a panic.\n\nOn June 7th he wrote that he offered to take sole charge of the sick at a meeting of the Sanitary Board but the offer was turned down. On June 10th there was some talk about the doctors refusing to work. In annotation on the entry on the 11th, he explained why.\n\nJune 11th\n\nThe trouble on last page regarding refusal to work arose from not one of the Permanent Committee knowing the state of affairs in town - May knew something but others did not but complained and made idiotic suggestions. The doctors were led up to having all the dangerous work to do and never one minute off duty, hence rebellion.\n\nMay was F.H. May, the Captain Superintendent of Police, who was a member of the Sanitary Board. In the diary, three names appeared a few times: Dr Penny, a naval surgeon, Dr. James, a major in the Army Medical", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213087, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 155, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "136\n\nService, and Dr. Molyneux, who came from Ningpo. There might be others helping out but these three evidently were doing more work, especially James who, Lowson recorded, was later appointed to the Sanitary Board. Though under strain and feeling frustrated, no one actually went on strike. So hard pressed were Ayres and Lowson that they had been sick but fortunately they did not contract plague as reported by the Hong Kong Weekly Press. Lowson was offered help from a probably unexpected source but it turned out to be no help at all. He wrote on May 22nd that 'the Alice Memorial students volunteered to help. But on May 31st: 'the Alice Memorial fellows scooted. Frightened to death.' However on June 8th they returned and were assigned to 'run the new pig sty.' These were students of the Hong Kong College of Medicine, which was established in 1887. The teaching hospital was known as the Alice Memorial.\n\nAs the disease continued to spread more facilities had to be made. Another make-shift hospital was opened in a pig and cattle depot, referred to as the new pig sty just now. This was to replace the Glass-works hospital which had to be closed because of its appalling conditions. On the 22nd Lowson mentioned that patients were diverted to the Alice Memorial Hospital. This however was not the teaching hospital of the Hong Kong College of Medicine but a matshed situated in the Kennedy Town Hospital compound. Also, at the request of the Chinese Community, operations were mounted to send patients back to Canton by junks. After waiting for junks to be ready on June 11th and 12th, on the 13th, Lowson wrote: 'loaded 45 patients for Canton in junk. 3 died.' and on the 15th: 'loaded junk for Canton, 36.' On June 26th there was 'news of the establishment of a hospital in Laichikok.' This was not ready until July 13th when Lowson wrote:\n\nJuly 13th\n\nGot ready to transfer to Laichukok Not one went All refused Went down myself\n\nIn an annotation, he explained: \"The Chinese refused to go to Laichikok Hospital because they thought they were sure to die.'\n\nAnd now to the discovery of the plague bacillus in the Hong Kong Epidemic, an event which earned for Hong Kong a place in medical history. Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato, an eminent Japanese bacteriologist who was", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213088, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 156, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "137\n\ndirector of the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan, arrived in Hong Kong with two assistants, Drs. Aoyama and Ishiyumi on June 12th. They were taken around the next day. On June 14th, Lowson wrote 'Kitasato discovered bacillus.' The following is quoted from a report in the Hong Kong Weekly Press dated July 15th on an address given by Kitasato: 'In the first day he was able to discover the bacillus in the bubo, lungs, liver and spleen of dead patients and he immediately made a culture in agar agar. On the same day he took with all due precaution some blood from the finger tips of patients suffering from the disease in a severe form and again found the bacillus. He then inoculated mice, guinea pigs and rabbits with the virus and in every instance the animals so inoculated displayed the symptoms of the disease and died.' Kitasato worked in a matshed within the Kennedy Town Hospital compound and made his discovery there. Following the discovery a telegram was sent immediately to the medical journal, the Lancet; later a full-length report was dispatched on July 10th. Both Aoyama and Ishiyumi contracted the disease, the former from nicking his finger while doing an autopsy. He survived to write a paper entitled “On the Plague Epidemic in Hong Kong in the years 1894 to 1895”.\n\nThe bacillus was also discovered by the French bacteriologist, Dr. Alexandre Yersin of Saigon's Pasteur Institute, who arrived in Hong Kong on June 15th. A few days later, he too found the bacillus. Lowson wrote on June 23rd: 'Got microscopes again out. Yersin got his bacillus.' Lowson later added that Yersin refused to work in the same matshed with Kitasato and it took a few days to erect another for him. Yersin reported and sent material back to the Pasteur Institute in Paris. After close scrutiny of the findings of both Kitasato and Yersin in their published papers by independent observers, doubt was cast on Kitasato's bacillus. The difference in the characteristics between his and Yersin's bacillus is highly technical and need not concern us. In the end, Yersin's was regarded as the real discovery, and the generic name given to the plague and allied organisms is subsequently Yersinia in his honour. To complete the story, although both of them knew that dead rats found in infected areas died of plague, they were unaware of the part played by fleas, which was discovered later by the Indian Plague Investigation Committee and others in the Indian Epidemic, about 1906-1908.\n\nThis then is an account of the situation as it developed in the first few months of the Epidemic as related in Lowson's diary. In several entries", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213090, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 158, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "139\n\nJuly 2nd\n\nLockhart and Governor now making themselves obnoxious bloody fools They are now walking into the mite properly\n\nJuly 4\n\nSaw Governor about suggested plans, gave him a lecture as to what to do and who to take advice from\n\nJuly 6th\n\nGovernor and ADC round hospitals Governor said to Chater (Sir Paul Chater, the well-known Hong Kong personality) in Club (Hong Kong Club) before me \"We expect to go to Laichikok tomorrow\" This was a boast that he was actually thinking about running into some danger at last\n\nJuly 7th\n\nLockhart, Cantlie and Hartigan at Laichikok, (2) did not visit graveyards at all Castle, II and L to Hygeia Never visited graves\n\nJuly 8th\n\nPreston and Westcott to Laichukok, no graves visited\n\nCantlie was Dr. (later Sir James) Cantlie, dean of the Hong Kong College of Medicine. He and Dr. William Hartigan were asked to visit Laichikok Hospital and report to the Governor. Also asked were two army medical officers, Surgeon Colonel A.F. Preston and Surgeon Captain S. Westcott. Lowson paid much attention to the way the plague victims were buried. He insisted that the graves should be dug down to a certain depth so that the coffins could be properly covered up with soil and lime and not exposed. A reporter from the Hong Kong Weekly Press described what he saw in Laichikok before the two visits as follows: 'The average depth of the graves was not more than nine inches. In some cases, not a few, the coffin was actually above the level of the ground and merely had a little mound of loose earth above them. Lowson's specifications had therefore not been properly carried out. In spite of Lowson's question mark, Cantlie and Hartigan did visit the graveyard. They wrote: 'We saw eight graves ready for use; they were in a row about 2 ft. apart and quite 6-1/2 ft deep.' They added that the official accompanying them volunteered the information that for the first graves the depth was insufficient because burial had to be done in a hurry. Preston and Westcott wrote that they did", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213093, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 161, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "142\n\nimportance of an unexampled calamity. However in spite of difficulties in balancing the budget, many public works projects were completed during his term. He governed with a liberal-mind for he increased the number of unofficial seats in both the Legislative and the Executive Councils in response to a demand for reforming the government. He also agreed to have an unofficial majority on the Sanitary Board. Generally regarded as an able administrator he stayed for fully six years as Governor, the longest tenure held by any governor thus far. In the history of modern China, he would be remembered as the Governor of Hong Kong who imposed a five-year ban on Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who then went to London and was kidnapped but rescued by Sir James Cantlie but that is another story.\n\nSir James Stewart Lockhart, the main target of Lowson's attack, was Registrar General and acting Colonial Secretary in 1894. There is a biography of him written by Shiona Airlie entitled 'The Thistle and the Bamboo.' He emerged from it as a capable but ambitious man who was eager to seek promotion ahead of his time, and in spite of what Lowson said of him, he got on well with the Chinese. The function of a Registrar General in the early years was to deal with Chinese affairs, not legal matters as at present, in fact, the initial title was Protector of the Chinese. In this office, Lockhart maintained good relations with the directors of Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk and the District Watch Committee, the three main representative bodies of the Chinese community. As to his character, he was said to possess 'humoured geniality which endeared him to his contemporaries' but 'occasionally his patience snapped and from a man considered in the main to be warm-hearted and genial, he became angry and stubborn.' He made at least one important contribution in connection with the Epidemic. After the Resumption of Tai Ping Shan Ordinance was passed, action had to be taken to demolish the old houses. Both landlords and tenants put up a spirited resistance as they both had to suffer financial loss, no rent to be collected by the landlords for sometime and no cheap lodgings for the tenants who were mostly coolies. The coolies threatened to go on strike which would paralyse the city in already very difficult circumstances. Lockhart, who was fluent in Chinese, having been a cadet in the Hong Kong Civil Service, was instrumental in solving the dispute which ended amicably. In 1895, at the age of thirty seven, he became Colonial Secretary when his acting appointment was substantiated. In addition, he was appointed as Special Commissioner for the New Territories in 1897 after the lease was settled. In 1902, he went to Weihaiwei as its first Civil Commissioner. On his departure the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213094, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 162, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "143\n\nnewspapers were to recall that 'he was an exceedingly courteous and popular official and earned the respect of all with whom he was brought into contact' all except Lowson perhaps.\n\nJohn Jonathan Francis was first admitted as an attorney and solicitor in 1870 and called to the Bar in 1877. In 1887, he became the third barrister in Hong Kong to become a Queen's Counsel. He had served as a police magistrate and a puisne judge. For public service, he was once a captain in the Hong Kong Volunteers Corps, standing counsel for the Hong Kong College of Medicine when it was being established, and Chairman of the Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board. There is an amusing and unflattering story about him told by Norton-Kyshe which gives us an insight into his character. He was presented with a silver ink-stand in 1895 in recognition of his services during the Epidemic but he returned it because he considered himself slighted by the treatment he received as compared with Mr. May who had been his colleague on the Committee.' May was awarded the CMG which Francis thought should also be given to him instead of a mere ink-stand.\n\nHowever, two other government officials, the Colonial Surgeon and the Captain Superintendent of Police, whose parts were of great importance, apparently escaped Lowson's wrath. Dr. Phineas Ayres held the office for twenty-four years, from 1872 to 1897, the longest ever in the history of the medical service. After he took up his post, he had been very critical of the sanitary conditions in the native quarters in his annual reports. Despite his warnings, it was almost ten years later than Osbert Chadwick was asked to conduct a survey. In his Report published in 1882, Chadwick made many recommendations to improve the conditions. Although a Sanitary Board was constituted to take action, still not much was done for another ten years until the Plague Epidemic burst upon the scene. Endacott wrote that Ayres criticised the Sanitary Board for its 'long, wordy, windy, desultory rambling discussions, ending in nothing being done' in 1895, the second year of the Epidemic. One can see why Lowson had some respect for him. Again quoting from Endacott, Robinson described Ayres as 'having a rather foolish manner, but he is in perfect possession of his senses', and acknowledged that 'he had warned the Colony continuously of the evil sanitary conditions.'\n\nMr. May won universal acclaim and admiration for the drive and energy he showed in carrying out his duties as head of the police force. Sayers", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213096, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 164, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "145\n\na file-brand, his actions were dictated by his intense interest in his native town and its welfare.' A final judgment: “No matter how bitterly he might differ with any of his colleagues, and in his early years in the Council particularly he figured in many a heated scene, he left all rancour behind at the Council table. Next day he would greet his opponents as cheerfully as though nothing had happened to ruffle them and be good friends.\" We know that in Hong Kong, Lockhart and Francis had not responded to him,\n\nIn the end, how should we appraise Lowson and his diary? You will agree with me that he would appear to have been a rather difficult man; otherwise, he would not have clashed with authorities wherever he worked, in Hong Kong, India, and Forfar. You will recall that at the early stage of the Epidemic, he, a relatively junior doctor, offered to take sole charge but was turned down. This shows that he was probably the type who would prefer to give rather than take orders. But he was undoubtedly a forthright and strict character, uncompromising in disputes when he thought he was right and entirely honest in his intentions. I am sure all of us have come across such traits among our friends and colleagues. But neither Lowson nor history should accuse any of the people he criticised of mishandling the situation in any way. There was nothing else they could have done without the means that we now have at our disposal and the knowledge of the disease we now possess. Lowson's diary, though covering only the first phase, is undoubtedly a valuable addition to the literature on the Hong Kong Plague Epidemic now that it has become available.\n\nIn recent years, there has been much talk about Hong Kong's resilience, its capacity to recover quickly from one financial crisis after another, becoming even more prosperous each time. We seem to have forgotten Hong Kong's resilience in having survived the devastations of diseases, such as malarial fever in its infancy, bubonic plague in its adolescence, and occasional outbreaks of cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and others all through the years. There was a time when living in Hong Kong was a hazard, for one never knew when life or health would be threatened. The Plague Epidemic of 1894 was a real calamity for Hong Kong, as Sir William Robinson had said. But it can be regarded as a watershed for, after it, Hong Kong became a healthier and cleaner place. To mark its centenary, let us pay tribute to all those who contributed in the long fight against the Epidemic in their various capacities, as administrators, legislators, and medical and health officers, among them our unsung hero, Dr. J. A. Lowson.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213189, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1994", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1994", "content_text": "2 July\n\n7 July\n\n16 Sept\n\n5 October\n\n7 October\n\n21 October\n\n11 November\n\n9 December\n\n10 December\n\n16 December\n\nRescue Archaeology in Hong Kong Mr S.T Chin (This was combined with a visit to the Antiquities & Monuments Office)\n\nAnthony Lawrence Retrospective (This was combined with a dinner at the China Club)\n\nThe Coming Man 19th Century American Perceptions of the Chinese. Professor Philip Choy and Professor Marion Hom\n\nThe Lowson Diary A Record of the Early Phase of the Bubonic Epidemic in Hong Kong in 1894 Professor G H Choa\n\nTwo lectures on Vietnam. Dr Norman Owen and Dr Patrick Hase\n\nHong Kong's Wild Places - Changes through the Centuries Mr Edward Stokes\n\nDisappearing Trades and Artisans of Old Hong Kong\n\nShanghailanders. Colonial Attitudes and Informal Empire 1843-1943. Dr. R.A. Bickers\n\nBusiness in China An Historical Perspective (Held jointly with the South China Research Circle at the University of Science and Technology)\n\nCompetition and Organisation A Re-examination of Chinese Business Practices Professor Gary Hamilton\n\n1995\n\n20 January\n\n13 February\n\n8 March\n\nA Case Study of a Chinese Funeral Dr. Dan Waters\n\nAjanta Cave Paintings Mr Benoy K Behl\n\nAncient Monuments of Angkor Then Preservation and Future Dr Richard Engelhardt\n\nSome of the lecturers are here this evening as guests of the Society and I hope you will re-introduce yourselves to us, and members will welcome them in our midst. And on the subject of lectures and visits the Council is always very receptive to ideas - not only ideas but offers to lead a visit.\n\nLectures and activities are not however the only areas for which the Society is well known. We again make our views known to the public, we publish an annual journal, and the next one is likely to appear shortly: we celebrate anniversaries, and we will be bringing out a 35th anniversary publication, edited by Dr. Elizabeth Sinn entitled \"Villages\" with many original contributions by local members. We hopefully provide an impetus", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1994.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213505, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1995", "page_number": 101, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "69\n\ndue to high density made the spread of diseases rapid and easy. In 1888, a very serious epidemic of smallpox broke out among the inhabitants of the district. In 1894 Bubonic Plague fell upon the district with a vengeance.\n\nProbably the terrible disease was introduced into Hong Kong from Canton. Unfortunately, Hong Kong had for several months been suffering from excessive drought and consequently a very limited water supply. The local overcrowding and insanitary conditions tended to favour the spread of the disease. It was not surprising to learn that two or three days later after the first appearance of the plague (11th May 1894) it assumed an epidemic form.\n\nThe plague had gained a firm footing in the most densely populated districts of Hong Kong. In Sai Ying Pun, First, Second, and Third Streets were the most infected parts of Hong Kong. The disease in Sai Ying Pun was due possibly to the bad conditions of the latrines, especially the public ones. They were used by the bulk of the Chinese population. Few Chinese dwellings in the district were provided with facilities of this kind. The plague bacillus was abundantly found in the faeces. In those latrines, there was practically no disinfection of the faeces, and they were not cleaned out as regularly as they ought to have been. These latrines were often visited by plague-stricken people. The bacillus was probably borne by air and infected the neighbouring houses.\n\nFrom a letter of Dr. Lowson to the Colonial Surgeon, bearing the date 15th August 1894, we learn that:\n\n\"There is a licensed private latrine at 113 Second Street. At a casual glance, the shut-up houses all around bear eloquent testimony upon this point. Round this latrine, there is scarcely a house occupied.\n\nIn Centre Street, at the corner of Third Street, there is a latrine. On passing into Third Street to the South, numerous houses are shut up, and several cases have occurred in the neighbouring houses.\n\nAt 82 First Street, there is a latrine with an entrance at 91 Second Street. A very large number of cases occurred round this place. Around several other latrines, more especially at 29 First Street, numerous cases occurred. Sheung Fung Lane off Second Street and opposite to No. 91.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213506, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1995", "page_number": 102, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "70\n\nof that street is practically shut up. The mortality here was very great. The inhabitants were principally night-soil coolies and almost all died. The occupants of houses in Third Street, adjoining this were also numerously attacked \" (Lowson, 1895, P5)\n\nIn 1895, plague cases were found centred in First Street and several streets not far from the Civil Hospital. In 1902, a group of cases were discovered round Pokfulam Road and Second Street. Infected rats were also found in that area.\n\nAfter the breaking out of the plague, thousands of panic-stricken people began to leave Hong Kong. They left in every sort of conveyance: sampans, boats, junks, and river steamers. People of Sai Ying Pun could also leave by ambulance boats, which came to the China Merchants Wharf at 4 p.m. each day, on which the people were towed to Whampoa or Canton. At 1901, the population of the district was 44,722, a decrease of 848 people when compared with the 1897 figure.\n\nDr Lowson in 1895 and Dr Simpson in 1902 had both made a number of strong recommendations as to the measures which should be enforced to prevent further outbreaks of bubonic plague. According to them, back-to-back houses should be demolished. Basements should not be inhabited. Disinfected or rat-ridden houses should be either closed or walled in or thoroughly sprayed, fumigated, chlorinated, scrubbed, and lime-washed. Latrines and public markets should be maintained by the authorities in a clean condition.\n\nThe last recommendation was particularly important to the district. A latrine in the Sai Ying Pun Market was situated only three yards distant from a large quantity of meat which was often hanging for hours at a time. On the other hand, hot water tanks and bath houses, for the purposes of promoting cleanliness among the Chinese and thus preventing the spread of plague among them, were established in Second and Third Streets in 1903. A Public Health and Building Ordinance was passed in order to better sanitary conditions in Hong Kong. Unlike Tai Ping Shan district, Sai Ying Pun was excluded from schemes of resumption. However, at that time, most of the houses in Sai Ying Pun did need destruction and resumption rather than improvement of the sanitary arrangements. Actually, a few areas in the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 } ]