Page
June 10, 1899.]
to give water or trough closets to the Chinese, and this was simply the thin end of the wedge, and if it went on they would get trough closets all over the place for the Chinese, and that be thought every one would admit they had no water for. During the last four years, since he had been here, the water had been twice cut off-this year and in 1895-96 this occurred, and the reason was a very simple one. In 1895 the rainfull was 45 and in 1898 it was 57. There was no reason at all why at some future date the rainfall shonld only be 45 again or even less ;
and with the population increasing at the rate of 6,000 per annum in this city it would be a very unwise" thing until the Director of Public Works could say there would always be suffici- ent water in the reservoirs to supply all they wanted-and that had not been proved during the past year-to give trongh closets to the Chinese or water-closets generally to the 10,000 white population in the colony.
CHINÁ OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
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The VICE-PRESIDENT, in seconding, said he agreed with every thing the Medical Officer had said. He thought they ought certainly not to go beyond the line of policy laid down in the report which the committee of the Sani- tary Board made ou the advisability or other wise of limiting the water closets in the colony He had that report before him, and as he had pointed out before, it recommended that the introduction of water-closets should be limited to hotels, clubs, and blocks of offices where the great number of Europeans frequeuting the building rendered it very difficult or impos- sible to apply the system of hand carriage. If they had adbered closely to that he doubted very much whether they would have allowed water closets at all in these offices frequented by a large number, of Europeans. Certainly it was never the iuteution of the Board when they laid down that line of policy to extend it to the Chinese frequenting these blocks of offices. The Director of Public Works had mentioned two objections to the in- troduction of water-closets-the water supply and the pollution of the harbour. He thought there was a third and a very important objec. tion too, and that was the objectiou to allow ing more excretal matter than absolutely un- avoidable into the sewers. It they could be absolutely certain that the traps to every house connection to every sewer were in perfect order aud would be kept in perfect or- der, then a very strong argument against water closets would be done away with; but could they be sure of such being the case? He thought not. They had recently had an application from the military authorities to have water closets in the married quarters on the Kennedy Road level, and they were told by the Medical Officer of Health that the sewage from the various water closets would travel through a considerable portion of the town principally inhabited by Chinese, and they also had it from the Medical Officer of Health. from the personal observation of himself and reports made to him by some of his inspectors, that all the traps to the house drains in that portion of the town were not always in perfect condition. That to his mind was one of the great objections to the introduction of sewage into their sewer-. The Director of Public Works pointed out that at home they had the water carriage system and be seewed to infer that everybody was quite happy and lived to a good old age; but his experience was quite the reverse. He found that in Hongkong there was an almost total absence of such diseases as typhoid and diphtheria, which simply claimed their thousands of victims in every large city at home. They had had some few cases of typhoid, but their excel- lent Medical Officer of Health had gen- erally traced them to the milk supply. He pointed out that the majority of the gentlemen whose opinions were asked by the Board in 1894, when this matter was before the public, were opposed to water closets, and he thought that the present system, having been so successful, should certainly be con- tinued, and that the less water closets they had
they the better.
On the matter being put to the vote the amendment was carried, only the proposer and seconder of the motion voting against.
REPUJE DESTRUCTORS,
A report by Mr. J. R. Crook on the working of refuse destructors and their adaptability to this colony was submitted.
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The PRESIDENT said the thanks of the Board were due to Mr. Crook for his able report and for the trouble he took whilst at home in the matter.
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The VICE-PRESIDENT begged to move that the Sanitary Board recommend the Government to erect a four-cell refuse destructor in accord! ance with the recommendations of Mr. Crook
Mr. SBORNE, in seconding, said he cont sidered the report a very able one. There would be but one opinion, and that was that it was very desirable to have this des tractor. He had not the slightest doubt they would not get it (langhter) but still be thought it was their duty to recom mond the Government to place this item in the estimates for next year. What had happened lately must show them how very unsatisfactory the present system of removing towu refuse was. He referred to the recent occasion when the contractor was found depositing large quantities of rubbish into the harbour alongside the contractor's boats. If they went down west along the Praya they would find little heaps of town refuse and rubbish surrounded by a body of children and people picking up little mor cels. All this would be swept away if they had a destructor at ennedytown.
The VICE-PRESIDENTSaid he thought that in forwarding the resolution to the Government the point Mr. Osborne had touched upon as to the depositing of rubbish in the harbour ought to be brought to their notice, because not only was this destructor desirable from a sanitary. point but also in the interests of the harbour. which was really the most valuable heritage they had. Once their harbour became shoaled ap they might shut up shop and take a back. seat.
The motion was carried:
REPORT OF THE SANITARY SURVEYOR.
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The report of the Sanitary Surveyor (Mr. R. F. Drury) for the first quarter of the current year was submitted. It appears that plans have been deposited during the quarter for the re-drainage of 80 houses; plaus for 163 houses were carried forward from 1898, making a total of 543 in haud during the quarter The re- drainage of 105 houses has been completed, leaving 438 to carry forward. Repairs to drainage arrangements have been carried out in 71 instances and 102 bouses are carried forward This makes a total of 173 houses in hand for repairs during the quarter. Cortificates have been granted under Section 47 of Ordinance 24 of 1987 for 84 new buildings and 1 addition, that they have been built in accordance with the provisions of that Ordinance. The drains of 188 houses have been inspected and reported
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Of this number 42 required reconstruction, 129 amending, and 17 were found to be in good order. Notices have been served on the owners of 171 houses calling on them to execute the necessary work.
APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION FROM LIME-WHITING.
An application was submitted for exemption from lime-whiting and cleaning of certain premises in the western division of the city.
Mr. OSBORNE, in proposing that the applica tion be refused, said that in the western divi.
siou there were still 1.756 Chiuses tenements unlimewashed, and here they were on the 8th day of June. There was an ample water sup ply now, so that the excuse of waut of water could not be made.
CONFIRMATIONS,
A letter from the Colonial Office confirming the appointment of Mr. C. W. Duggan as Secretary to the Sanitary Board was submitted, and also a letter confirming certain promotions and appointments as inspectors of nuisances.
AN ANALYSIS,
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neath," Garden road, Tsim Sha Tsui, was sub- An analysis of well water collected at “Rose.
mitted. Mr. F. Browne, Government Analyst, expressing the opinion that the water was fit for potable purposes.
THE TREATMENT OF RINDERPEST.
The following report (dated May 29th) on bacteriological requirements for treatment of
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rinderpest was submitted by Mr. C. Vivian Ladds (Colonial Veterinary Surgeon)
"At a recent special meeting of the Board which was called to consider an outbreak of rinderpest, reference was made by one of the members to my onre by serum treatment last year of a certain animal which was suffering. from that disease at the Dairy Farm, Pokfulam, and the question was asked, Why can this not be done again?' Enquiries have also been made as to the efficacy of bile treatment for the same disease, and in one instance it was in- siuuated that I was not doing what 1 might to check the progress of the epidemic. In justice to myself, I feel that some explanation is needed, and I beg to call the attention of the Board to the fact that I have previously pointed out that in order to deal with this snb. ject scientifically, it was necessary that I should be provided with certain apparatus, and given that, I was of opinion that I could successfully cope with the disease, or at least considerably lessen the ordinary rate of mortality; but left as I am with no appliances of any kind, not even a microscope, it is impossible to attempt. much, beyoud a few test cases such as the one already referred to.
In order to adopt the serum treatment of animals infected with rinderpest it
necessary to obtain, in addition to laboratory requisites, animals which have recovered from the disease, and unless these are available it is impossible to do anything. The object to be aimed at in dealing with riuderpest is to immunize the animal for life, and this cannot be done by means of bile innoculation, as the latter, if suc- cessful, can at the most only give passive im- munity for a short period, and the effect soon passes off, leaving the animal again susceptible to the disease. To carry out immunization for life successfully the operator should have at his command an efficient laboratory fitted with the latest appliances.
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Such an institution ought to prove a great acquisition to the colony, and might be inaugu- rated at comparatively small cost, as in addition to such work as might be done in connection with rinderpest, it would be available for the research work in connection with the plague and various tropical diseases.
My object in thus addressing the Board is to point out that although I am ready and willing to do all that lies in my power to fight rinderpest, or any other disease, in my present position ny hands are tied for want of the necessary bacteriological laboratory and its adjuncts."
The following minutes were appended
Mr. Osborne-"The Board ought to press upon Government the need of a properly-equip- ped laboratory such as Mr. Ladds suggests."
Dr. Clark-"Estimate of cost $4,000- $5,0 0; Mr. Ladds says that he would have time for laboratory work if allowed another Inspector, so I understood."
The Hon. R. D. Ormsby~~" Mr. Ladds should be called on to send in a complete list of what he requires, accompanied by an estimate of cost."
Mr. Brewin" Has Mr. Ladds time to do this laboratory work ?"
The PRESIDENT said that this matter had been recently brought before the attention of the Government by himself. As Mr. Ladds was now out of the colony he could not answer President's) recommendation, however, par- any questions as to cost, etc. On his (the
ticulars as to the cost of a similar laboratory which had recently been founded in Shanghai bad been obtained. Roughly the cost of the neces- sary equipment was $5,000. This did not include the cost of the building and the annual expen- diture. Undoubtedly it was desirable that the colony should be provided with a laboratory of this description, but the Government had de- cided that this could not be entertained at present. Therefore it was not advisable for the Board to press. this úpon the Goverment now, and he moved that the subject he brought up iu six months time.
Mr. OSBORNE seconded and the motion was carried.
THE PLAGUE.
Telegrams from Penang showed that on May 26th three cases of plague were reported and on June 3rd four cases,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.