Sessional_Paper_1901 — Page 511

Enclosure No. 7.

30th May, 1901, and 5th

June, 1901,

theories, that I requested Major-General Gascoigne to permit an Officer of the Royal Army Medical Corps to make an independent report upon it, placing the services of a anitary Officer and an Officer of the Public Works Department at his disposal, I attach his report.

8. The very high percentage of mortality here has also engaged my attention. In the epidemic of 1896 it was 91.12 %. In 1898, 89.45 %. In 1899, 96.10%. In 1900, 94.56 %. In 1901, 94.86 %. This percentage is higher than that reported from other places and is generally supposed to be much higher than at Macao or Canton, though there are no figures available for the latter, and at Macao local conditions render statistics on this subject unreliable as plague patients go across the harbour to the Chinese hospital in great numbers. I have visited the plague hospital on two occasions and thoroughly inspected it. Nothing could be more entirely satisfactory than its arrangements, and so far as I could see nothing was wanting in the treatment or the surroundings. Yet there must be some cause for the exceptional mortality. On reading the report of the action taken last year in Bombay, I found that patients were allowed to remain in their houses to be nursed by their friends under proper restrictions, and early in May I suggested that the experiment might be tentatively tried here, but the suggestion was not accepted by the Sanitary Board. Personally I have little doubt that with such a regulation th mortality would not be so high. The plague hospital is at the extreme western extremity of the town, and the carriage of a plague-stricken patient in an am- bulance, which, until I ordered wheeled ambulauces with pneumatic tyres, consisted of a cot slung upon a pole, and carried for two or three miles by two coolies could not be conducive to the recovery of the patient.

9. On the 10th May, I authorized the erection of a matshed plague hospital at Yaumati on the Kowloon peninsula and obtained from Major-General Gascoigne the services of Dr. Stewart of th Indian Medical Service to relieve Dr. Thomson from his duties as Medical Officer of the Gaol so that his entire time should be

devoted to plague work.

10. On the 20th May, I authorized the employment of a launch and of two junks, in which patients could be taken to the plague hospital from the eastern district, or dead bodies sent for burial, that they might not be carried through the streets. At the same time additional accommodation in the shape of good and airy matsheds was provided at Kennedy Town and two additional nurses were engaged.

11. Feeling that if the disease is propagated by vermin, the Chinese coolies ought to have an opportunity of washing, I directed the Public Works Depart- ment to erect a number of matsheds with arrangements for hot water.

It was generally assumed that the Chinese coolie would not avail himself of this means of cleanliness, but the thousands who have since flocked to these bath houses have shown that they are ready to avail themselves of any opportunity for securing persoual cleanliness, and the Sanitary Board has requested that more matsheds may be erected, and provision made for permanent baths. I have suggested that the working women shall have like facilities, but the Board reports that they would not use them. I propose, however, that one or two shall be provided as an experiment.

12. I have now given you every information as to the efforts made to combat the disease during the present year, efforts that I regret to say seem to have been unavailing. From one experiment just completed it is possible that good results may be obtained. Seeing in the Bombay reports that where a house was thoroughly disinfected plague did not recur that year, and observing from the full particulars given in our returns of the past three years that more than one case in any house was comparatively rare, I directed the Medical Officer of Health to select the worst. centre of the disease and to thoroughly disinfect a given area (hitherto only the