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Appendix C.

Report on Plague work at Kowloon by Mr. Frank Browne, (Acting Government Änalyst),

GOVERNMENT CIVIL HOSPITAL,

HONGKONG, 22nd June, 1898.

SIR, I have the honour to report for the information of the Board that the cleansing work in British Kowloon, for which I was appointed in April last by His Excellency the Acting Governor on the recommendation of the Board, is now concluded.

2. A great deal of cleansing was done particularly in Yaumati. The following table shows the extent of the cleansing carried out at the expense of the Government :—

No. 11 District (Hunghom and Villages:)

Floors washed only,

29

Cleansed and lime-washed (floors),...202

Obstructions removed,

88

* Coolies employed-one day each,.496

No. 12 District (Yaumati, &c.)

36

528

68 875

Where washing only was required in houses, the inmates usually carried out the work of their own accord, which fact will explain the small amount of washing only, that was done by the Govern- Although an opportunity was afforded to the tenants to do the lime-washing required, very few availed themselves of it on account of the expense.

3. The obstructions removed consisted of bunks, cocklofts, cubicles, doors, josses, and latrines, which had been erected in such a way as to deprive the rooms of light and air. A great improvement has been effected in most houses by these removals as the removal of a single obstruction has in many cases converted a dark ill-ventilated room into a healthy and cheerful habitation. However, experience has shown that these obstructions are put up again as soon as vigilance is relaxed, so it is earnestly hoped that special attention will be directed so that such structures may be at once demolished if re-erected.

No. 11 District-(Hunghom and Villages).

4. Cleansing in this district was commenced on April 20th, and completed on May 23rd. The houses here are for the most part very good and substantial, but in the event of another epidemic attention should be particularly directed to Shung On Lane and Dock Lane, in which the houses are inferior. Several cases of plague having been traced from Shung On Lane, on May 7th the whole of Hunghom was disinfected with a mixture of salt, manganese di-oxide, and sulphuric acid. It was considered advisable to disinfect the whole of the place as a number of dead bodies had been found on the hill-side, and it was impossible to find out which houses were infected and which were not, so the safest plan was adopted of disinfecting them all.

No case of plague could be found to have occurred in the houses of Hunghom after the disinfec- tion although several bodies (see table of cases of plague attached) were afterwards found on the hill- side, but the number of these bodies being only 11 from May 7th to June 13th, a further disinfection on a wholesale scale was not considered necessary.

No. 12 District-(Yaumati, Tai Kok Tsui, Mong Kok Tsui, &c.)

5. Cleansing operations were commenced on April 20th, and the work was completed on June 2nd. A number of cases of plague having occurred at Tai Kok Tsui a visit was paid to this village on April 24th, when it was seen that a large proportion of the inhabitants were living in insanitary dwelling-huts, boats, and hovels. On April 26th the whole of the district was disinfected with salt, manganese di-oxide, and sulphuric acid. The people in the huts, boats, and hovels were for the most part trespassers on Crown land; they were not agriculturists but apparently merely loafers of no use to the Colony. In an industrial centre like Tai Kok Tsui, such dirty and insanitary hovels are particularly objectionable; fortunately, now, many of them have been destroyed. Since the disinfection on April 26th no further cases of plague have occurred in the houses at Tai Kok Tsui, but several cases have been found in the hovels and on the foreshore. The majority of the houses in Tai Kok Tsui are well constructed and with the hovels removed there should be little fear of plague another year.

6. It was early seen in Yaumati from the number of deserted floors that a number of bodies had been carried out from the houses and placed in the street or in other open places. The whole place was therefore disinfected as in Tai Kok Tsui, on May 7th, and the number of dead bodies found in the street, subsequent to this disinfection, being considerable, chloride of lime was placed on every floor at Yaumati on May 17th.

* Exclusive of lime-washers who were paid by piece-work.