Sessional_Paper_1897 — Page 459

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Appendix B.

SANITARY BOARD ROOM,

HONGKONG, 7th June, 1895.

SIR,-Referring to the letter of the Assistant Sanitary Superintendent of the 3rd ultimo setting forth the steps that he had taken in pursuance of the instructions of the then Captain Superintendent of Police conveyed to him verbally immediately after the first case of plague had been reported, we have now the honour to submit the following report for the information of the Board.

SPECIAL SANITARY SERVICE.

House-to-house Visitation.

2. In the attached schedule A will be found a statement of the number of houses visited by the 5 sections of Police and Military told off for this special service. The total number of inspections made by the whole detachment, consisting of 24 Police and 15 Soldiers, was 41,646.

3. The examination of houses has gone on with great smoothness and regularity. Throughout, the attitude of the public has been friendly and the conduct of those engaged on the service good. The special instructions which have from time to time been issued to the Police Sergeant or Constable in charge of sections have been promptly and intelligently complied with.

4. In several instances application has been made by Chinese householders for their houses to be exempted from the inspection on the ground that an invasion of the privacy of their dwellings would be objectionable as in cases of sickness after child-birth, &c. In such cases the searching parties have been promptly directed to omit the inspection. No requests for exemption on trivial grounds have been received.

5. Since the 17th of May in consequence of certain confidential information communicated to the Board regarding the existence of plague in the neighbouring Portuguese Colony of Macao, a special watch has been kept on all Chinese passengers arriving from Canton. The Captains and Officers of the river steamers who have been communicated with have expressed their willingness and intention to do everything in their power to meet the possibility of cases of plague arriving here from Macao via Canton. We are informed that suspicious cases of sickness are promptly rejected at Canton; and in the event of the officers observing while en route any sick persons who may have escaped detection before the departure of the steamer, it has been arranged for the Police Sergeant on duty at the wharf here to be acquainted of the fact the moment the steamer arrives.

6. Another measure in the nature of a secret service has been adopted for the detection of im- ported cases, the details of which it is undesirable, in the interests of the public service, to disclose.

Latrine Service.

7. The order of the Board with regard to the disinfection of the night-soil-in the latrines open to the public has been enforced to the utmost possible extent. Three soldiers were detailed for this. service to assist the inspectors in charge of the Health Districts. 10,000 lbs. of chlorinated lime have been expended during the month for this purpose alone. At first there was some reluctance on the

part of the keepers to comply with the order: but in only one instance did it become necessary to have recourse to legal proceedings, viz., in the case of the Gough Street latrine the keeper of which was fined $25.00 by the presiding Magistrate.

Disinfection of Houses, &c.

8. The 4 soldiers originally detailed for this service in the event of the plague obtaining a firin hold in the Colony were subsequently told off to strengthen the house-to-house visitation parties and to assist the inspectors in the work of their districts.

9. The Board having approved of a reduction from the 1st instant of the number of Police and Military engaged on special sanitary service, 9 men of the Riffe Brigade and 9 European and Asiatic Police were withdrawn from that date. The addition of chlorinated lime to the night-soil in public latrines has been "discontinued, but as it was considered desirable to maintain for the present the use of this disinfectant on a modified scale, a number of earthenware pots containing small quantities of the powder moistened with water have been distributed in all the latrines open to the public in accord- ance with the recommendations of the Board.

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10. The following are the details of the new scheme for house-to-house visitation by a party consisting of 3 European Police Constables, 12 Chinese Police Constables, 5 Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the Royal Engineers and 7 Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the Rifle Brigade. The detachment now works in 3 sections instead of 5 as formerly, each section being in charge of a European Police Constable. The extent and nature of the duties of these sections are set forth in the attached copies of the instructions handed over to the 3 Constables, detailed to take charge, on the night of the 1st instant.