Sessional_Paper_1895 — Page 485

Sessional Papers 議政定例兩局文件 All

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staff employed by the Government in their letter dated July 2nd, 1894. The reports given by other medical men at the request of Government dated July 8th, 1894, although the hospital had been specially cleansed and prepared with supplies of disinfectants for their reception, confirmed the danger to the Colony of this institution, for they said-"The whole number of patients under treatment was 58...... Of this number about one third were suffering from plague and less than half came from "Hongkong. The plague patients were scattered promiscuously amongst the others." This was while we were doing our best in the Colony to single out plague patients, and these other patients were daily being dismissed from the hospital to spread the infection they had contracted in the hospital over the Kowloon peninsula. That they did so was fully proved by the fact that only a few isolated cases appeared on the Kowloon peninsula before the Troops had thoroughly cleansed and white-washed all the houses, yet after this had been done and when the plague was fast dying out in Hongkong in the latter part of July the..plague cases were steadily increasing on the Kowloon peninsula and it continued there to the last, the latest case occurred in October long after any case occurred in Hongkong and the youth died in hospital three days after.

Moreover a patient, that had been deported from the Tung Wa Plague Hospital in the Cattle Depôt by Government orders to Lai-Chi-Kok Hospital, left that hospital of his own accord, came through Kowloon across in one of the Chinese ferries,, wandered through the City of Victoria back to the Cattle Depôt Hospital where he died twenty-four hours after.

The letter written by Dr. MOLYNEUX, dated July 12th, on the condition of the Lai-Chi-Kok graveyard and its dangers was, in every particular, correct. The show graves of fairly decent depth, described by the Medical Officers who reported at the request of Government on the 8th of July, remained empty although other interments had been made in the graveyard only a few inches deep. On July 17th Mr. FRANCIS, the President of the Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board, and myself visited the Lai-Chi-Kok graveyard and confirmed Dr. MOLYNEUX's statements in every particular, the show graves remained unfilled though still more interments had taken place. The heap of lime remained in statu quo and practically none had been used in the graves.

Later on Surgeons MEADON and BEARBLOCK, who were inspecting all junks and sampans coming into Hongkong, discovered the lime, that had been taken over to Lai-Chi-Kok Hospital for show purposes, being exported back to Hongkong.

For these reasons, which are facts which cannot be disputed, should deportation be considered necessary. It should at least be nowhere except to Canton, and not allowed to any place in the immediate neighbourhood of the Colony.

"

As for the Sanitary Board now that the scare is over it seems fast relapsing into the "do nothing' principle until the Unofficial members get all they demand constituting themselves the public repre- sentatives and being in reality only that of a very small portion of the public, and the necessity of its reform in some way is fully demonstrated. As a compulsory member of the Board words are insuffi- cient to express my disgust at, in any way, being a part of it.

As regards a Municipal Council I have no belief in the possibility of such an institution. The com- munity is too small and the conflicting interests of its members too great. To give a forcible illustra- tion of this being a fact look at the Directors of the many Companies in the Colony. Is there a single Company in this Colony whose Directors have not been held up to execration in letters to the papers and in articles in the papers, being accused of subordinating the interests of the shareholders to their own interests, of appropriating emoluments when there were no dividends, &c.? I would like to see a list of representative men of position, who think they have the confidence of the public, who would consent to become members, or whose firm would consent to their time being given for such a purpose in these days of high pressure, frequent telegraph instructions coming every hour in the twenty-four, and with mails coming in and going out daily.

Such an institution is recognized as a necessity in Shanghai and for the interest of all concerned in the Settlement, but the chosen few would in many cases be glad to get out of it if they could.

I am glad to see the observations in my last annual report as to the necessity of having some control over the wheeled vehicles for the transport of heavy goods drawn by coolies has received attention. Already I have sent in several reports to, Government of serious injuries inflicted by their want of proper control this year, and I have seen many minor injuries inflicted by the same cause.. Now they are to be licensed and the proprietors held responsible. There will, I hope, be fewer of such

cases.

I would like to suggest that when coolies are licensed to carry chairs and run in jinrickshaws, some consideration should be given to their physical capacity for doing such work. At least a quarter of the coolies so employed are quite unfit for it, and that they are so is patent to the most casual observer and needs no professional opinion. If they were horses their owners would be pounced upon at once for cruelty to animals and prosecuted. The unpleasant experience of having to get out of the vehicle and pay the coolie before his contract is carried out has occurred to many people frequently.

This report has been very hurriedly written. The reports of the Acting Superintendent of the Government Civil Hospital, the Superintendent of the Hygeia Epidemic Hulk, and the Government

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