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HONGKONG SANITARY BOARD.
A meeting of the Sanitary Board was held at the offices on 16th December. Dr. J. M. Atkinson (Principal Civil Medical Officer) pre- sided, and there were also present-Hon. R. D. Ormsby (Director of Public Works), Dr. Clark (Medical Officer of Health), Mr. N. J. Ede, and Mr. H. McCallum (Secretary).
MINUTES.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
does not interfere with the slaughter of sheep, goats, and swine at the Kowloon slaughter house, Th DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS-I ap- prove,
The MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH-I ap- The minutes of the previous meeting were read prove. The police should be warned, as it may
lead to illicit slaughtering on the hill-sides. and confirmed
PLAGUE IN BOMBAY,
The number of cases of bubonic plague in Bombay from the 3rd to the 16th November was 153 and the number of deaths, 101.
MORTALITY STÁTISTICS.
For the week ended 4th December the death rate was 31, as against 22 9 for the correspond- ing period of last year. For the week ended the 27th November the rate was 20.9, as against 21.3.
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WHAT, IS A
BAKEHOUSE?
The following letter from the Medical Officer of Health was read :--
December 2nd, 1897.
Sir, I have the honour to request the deci- sion of the Board upon the point as to whether premises in which Chinese cakes are prepared and baked for sale should be held to fall within and the meaning of the term "bakehouse should be required to comply with he by-laws made by the Board under sub-section 10 of Section 13 of Ordinance 24 of 1897.
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Personally I am of the opinion that such premises should be registered and required to comply with the aforesaid by-laws, but as there appears to be some doubt upon the subject, I should be glad to have the opinion of the Board. I have the honour, &c.,
FRANCIS W. CLARK,
Medical Officer of Health.
&S
The following minutes were appended : Mr. N.J. EDE-I should say that the word bake-house includes premises such. those in question, but it will be well to make sure of our ground on this point.
The CAPTAIN SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE
December 22, 1897.
women of our own native land. In Hongkong there was little scope for the efforts of the ladies. Children for the most part were sent away and with them went a thousand thoughts Mr. EDE--Can the proposal be effectively and cares of mothers for their families. In carried out? The extra cost of bringing the regard to the housewife's duties. the ménage was in a great degree handed over to the cattle across to Kennedy Town and the carcases back to Kowloon will probably tempt the Kow-trusty house-boy, and the cases of sickness loon butchers to try to evade the rule.
and poverty amongst foreigoers were very few. There were in Hongkong no coal and blanket clubs,no Harvest Homes, no seaside éxcursions for school children, no autumnal fruit festivals, and no scope in the guardianship of the poor or the working of School Boards as they had at home. Indeed, there was very little for the ladies to do in Hongkong, but we could rejoice in the fact that many of them devoted some of their time to the noble work of charity and we could be thankful that we had a Benevolent Society in our midst. When be (Mr. Sharp) lay in Montreal two months ago almost a skeleton and so weak that he could not sit up in bed he thought he was going to die, and looked back upon the past and thought of how much strength and energy he bad devoted to business and pleasure as com- pared with the little he had devoted to the glory of God and the benefit of his fellow men. He prayed to God to be forgiven and he felt grate- ful that he had been spared.
I do not approve. The police cannot possibly prevent all illegal slaughtering at Kowloon and I think the last state will be worse than the first.
In the discussion which ensued the SECRE TARY said that if the depot was closed it would simply be a question of taking the carcase over to Kowloon instead of the live animal, so there would be no trouble in that respect. He did not think it was likely there would be any slaughtering on the hill-sides.
The MEDICAL ÜFFICER OF HEALTH moved that the depôt be closed for a fortnight to see how things would turn out.
The PRESIDENT seconded. Carried.
ADJOURNMENT.
The Board adjourned nutil Thursday week.
HONGKONG BENEVOLENT
S CIETY.
The annual meeting of the Hongkong Benevolent Society was held on 17th Dec., at noon, at the City Hall Mr. T. Jackson presided and there was a gcol attendance of ladies.
on
The CHAIRMAN proposed the re-election of Mrs. May, Mrs. Forbes, Miss Anderson, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Master, and Mrs. Siebs on the Committee.
Dr. THOMSON seconded, Carried.
The CHAIRMAN announced that the Com- mittee consisted of the above-named ladies and Mrs. Ritchie, Mrs. Hawkins, Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. Dowler, Mrs. Thomson, and Mrs. Bell Irving.
On the motion of the Chairman a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Miss Anderson for the time she hd devoted as President of the Society, and to Mrs. Black and Mrs. Michaelsen, who had retired from the Committee, for the great interest they had taken in the welfare of the Society.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings.
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The CHAIRMAN, after reading the notice convening the meeting and the report and accounts, remarked on the good work the Society was doing and the devotion of the ladies to their, at times, disagreeable task. Occasionally they were visited by impostors and it was only the strictest sense of duty that led them to say no iu such cases. As time went the necessity for the Society would be more marked, as more foreigners would be The eighth annual report is as follows:- attracted to the place and heme stranded. The Committee of the Hongkong Benevolent They were doubtless sent here by Society beg to submit to members and friends a friends, who said, "Go to Hongkong and you The SECRETARY-At the time the original will find work," but on arriving here the poor Bakehouse by-laws were made the point was
people found they had been sent on a fool's considered, but no clear and definite decision was
errand. Anything of that kind was to be most arrived at. It would seem clear enough that if seriously deprecated. The Society very often bread is baked for sale and sold, that the pre-heard of people wishing to get their passage. mises in which such bread is baked is a bake. house within the meaning of the Health Ordin- ance and the by-laws made thereunder.
The CAPTAIN SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE I should like to see any previous papers on this subject. On the face of it a place where bread or cakes are baked is a bakehouse.
The MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH moved that the word "bakehouse be held by the Board to include all premises in which bread, cakes, or other similar articles are cooked and exposed for sale for human food.
The PRESIDENT seconded. Carried.
THE KOWLOON CATTLE DEPOT CLOSED.
The following report from the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon advising the closing tempor- arily of the Cattle Depôt at Kowloon was read :-
8th December, 1897. Sir,—In order to have the meat supply of the colony under my immediate supervision during the epidemic of foot and mouth disease, I think it is advisable to close the Kowloon Cattle Depôt for a time, and no cattle can then be killed at Kowloon.
The small quantity of beef required for the Kowloon markets can easily be taken across from Kennedy Town, and will cause little or no inconvenience to the butchers on that side of the harbour.
Subject to the approval of the Board I have given instructions that no new cattle are to be admitted into that depôt, and when those ani- mals housed therein at the present time are killed off, the place can be closed.--I have the honour to be, Sir,
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J. VIVIAN LADDS, Colonial Veterinary Surgeon. The following minutes were appended: The PRESIDENT-I think the course advised by the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon is on the whole a wise one. There will not be any great inconvenience to the butchers in Kowloon. It'
money to another place, and when they were asked what means they had of getting on in the world in nine cases out of ten they could not give a satisfactory answer. The Society had accom- plished a most useful work in dealing with many deserving cases and they were all indebted to the ladies for the trouble they had taken in affording relief. The Chairman then proposed the adoption of the report and accounts.
Rev. R. F. COBBOLD seconded. The resolution was carried.
Mr. GRANVIL E SHARP said that he was deeply grateful to Providence for being able to attend the meeting of the Hongkong Bene- volent Society. He trusted that the Vagrancy Ordinance would save the Society from the troublesome cases to which the Chairman had alluded and enable them with more satisfaction to pick out the real deserving cases for which this Society had been established. He thought they might feel there was a reflex influence in the work of the Association. It was not only beneficial to the recipients of its bounty, but it had a blessed influence on all who administered the bounty and attended to the working. It was a part and parcel of that altruistic self-sacrificing care for others which was a dis- tinctive characteristic of the best of our coun- trymen and of other nationalities in all parts of the world. The effects of the working of the Association could be seen elsewhere. Only on Thursday he was reading of the meeting of Chinese ladies in Shanghai for promoting f male education. Was not that a result of the good example of the European ladies in Shanghai who had been for years past working for the relief of the poor from the torture of foot- binding? It was the example and influence of foreign ladies amongst the natives, as such example had a sauctifying influence on the
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port of the work effected during the year. There were forty applications for relief, all of which were carefully investigated, with the result that assistance was rendered in
thirty-two instances. Twelve applicants were
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assisted to other parts of the world where they had friends or. opportunities of employment. Fifteen applicants have been in receipt of relief of a more or less permanent nature, and five children are being educated and supported by the Society. In other cases temporary relief has been granted according to their merits, Our sincere thanks due to the Managers of the many Steamship Companies who have
We have to thank, too, liberally assisted us. Mr Grace and the ladies and gentlemen who so kindly assisted at the concert given in aid of the Society's funds, as also Cólonel Gordon and the Officers of the West Yorkshire Regiment, who were good enough to give the services of their Band on that occasion. During the year Mrs. Hawkins returned to the colony and post of President of the resumed her Society, which during her absence had been filled by Miss Anderson, to whom the best thanks of the Society are due. The following ladies retire in rotation from the Committee:- Mrs. Siebs, Miss Anderson, Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Master, but offer themselves for re-election.
ALARMING ATTACK ON HAIPHONG,
ONE EUROPEAN KILLED AND MUTILATED. Information was received on the 20th Dec, by the steamer Mathilde of a most outrageous attack on Haiphong by between four and five hundred bandits. Only rather meagre details have as yet reached Hongkong, as the attack was not made until the 15th inst., a few hours before the Mathilde left the port. This much is certain, that a number of residences were set- fire to and Mr. E. Gauthier, a bookkeeper in the employ of Messrs. A. R. Marty, was killed in a most ruffianly manner and afterwards his body
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