Sessional_Paper_1907 — Page 853

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Annexe H.

REPORT OF THE RAILWAY MEDICAL OFFICER FOR THE YEAR 1906.

The Report of the Railway Medical Officer for the year 1996 can only be of a limited character, owing to the fact that systematic medical records only began to be made towards the end of the year. In future years the usual statistical form of report will be possible.

2. The British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway is to extend over a line of twenty-one miles from Hung-hom to the neighbourhood of Sham-chün, including a tunnel through the Kowloon range of hills, and already operations are in progress at many points along this line. Between four and five thousand men were engaged on the works during the latter part of the year, and the number is being rapidly increased as new sections are taken in hand. There are two permanent camps, one at the Tunnel South Face near Kau-lung-tsai, where in December there were employed twelve Europeans, thirty Indians, and seven hundred Chinese, the other at the Tunnel North Face near Kong-hau in the Sha-tin valley, where in December the number of employées was seven Europeans, seventy- two Indians, and five hundred Chinese. A storeyard has been established at Tai-kok-tsui, a sub-storeyard at Lok-lo-ha, on Tide Cove off Mirs Bay, and an extensive brick-field, with Indian labour, near Tai-po; and temporary camps, which will be moved as needs of the work may demand, exist at intervals between Hung-hom and Fan-ling, some four miles beyond Tai-po.

3. It became apparent early in the year that a special Medical Officer for the Railway would be necessary, but it was not until October that such an officer became available. From 4th May Dr. H. MACFARLANE acted as Railway Medical Officer, and did what was essential at the camps, in addition to his own duties in Kowloon. On 4th October, Dr. J. W. HARTLEY arrived in the Colony, and assumed the office. On 7th December he was trans- ferred to other duty, and I was appointed to the post. On 24th August Mr. CHAN HIN FAN, a licentiate of the Hongkong College of Medicine, was appointed to be Chinese Medical Officer resident at the Tunnel North Face camp; and on the 14th November the Railway authorities were granted permission to avail themselves of the Government Dispensary under Mr. LAU LAI, Chinese Medical Officer at Tai-po, for treatment of native employées on the section of the line near Tai-po.

4. A Medical Office and Dispensary have been established at Tunnel South Face, and also at Tunnel North Face, and it is proposed to erect a small hospital at each of these camps. These hospitals will be centres for dealing with out-patients, and for the rendering of first aid in serious emergency through accident or otherwise, and will contain one or two wards for the in-patient treatinent of Chinese employées who may require special attention in hospital without the necessity of skilled nursing.

5. European employées are treated by the Medical Officer in their own quarters for briet illnesses, or for conditions not requiring trained nursing; for more serious ailments they are transferred to the Government Civil Hospital. Similar arrangements are mean- time made for Indians it is under consideration as to whether the proposed camp hospitals should make local provision for the treatment of Indians.

Chinese cases of a serious or chronic character are sent to the Government Civil Hospital or Tung Wah Hospital, as in each case is considered most fitting.

6. For the removal of sick from the various camps to the hospitals in Victoria, an arrangement has been made for their transference by the Kowloon Sanitary Staff on telephonic requisition to the Yaumati Disinfecting Station, at a fixed rate to be paid by the Railway for each case thus transferred, the rate being so estimated as to cover wages of men, cost of trausport over the harbour, and tear and wear of ambulances. This arrange- ment secures prompt and expeditions transfer of the patients by persons who are accustomed to doing such work, while in case of infectious disease questions of the disinfection of ambulances will be directly under the control of the Sanitary Board's employées.