THE HONGKÓNG WEEKLY. PRESS AND
Powell's Secretary, M. F. G. Motton, to the Colonial Secretary "I am desired by the Commodore to enquire whether there is any objection on the part of the Colonial autho- rities of selling to the Admiralty_the❘ ground marked "Plateau" and "Rocky Pro- montory" on the accompanying plan, and if there is no objection, what would be the ap- proximate cost? The land is required for the purpose of establishing a torpedo-store and workshop, and a range for tes ing torpedoes, and as deep water is found comparatively closo to the shore off the promontory, it is not considered that a more suitable site can be found within the limits of the harbour."
The Director of Public Works was requested to report, which he did, to the effect that the area applied for was overlapped by the site of a segregation camp, and it was very probable that if the Admiralty were allowed to acquire a portion of the property they would object to the segregation camp being established in their vicinity. The pathway which formed the main route of communication between Kowloon
and Tsim Wan and neighbouring villages crossed the area which the Admiralty do sired to acquire. That route must be pre- served in order to construct a good road at some future period, giving access to the villages referred to and to other portions of the New Territory. For these reasons the applica. tion would have to be modified, and it would also be desirable to ascertain what area must be reserved for the segregation camp. The President concluded his report by suggesting that the Sanitary Board be consulted.
The suggestion was adopted, and the matter; submitted to the Board, with the following minute from H E. the Governor :- It appears to me that a regregation camp in this position will involve large expense in necessary arrange- ments to confine segregated people to the camp."
The following minutes were appended:- Mr Osborne "I am under the impression that the whole peninsul、 was to be reserved for a segregation camp.
Dr. Clark-" The land should not be sold, as it is greatly needed by the Colonial Govern-
ment.
Hon F. H. May-"I regard the segregation camp as a very necessary work, not so much for quarantine purposes as to help us to deal with plague in its initial stages."
The PRESIDENT moved that in the opinion of the Board it was inadvisable to part with any portion of this land.
Dr. CLARK seconded, and the motion was unanimously carried.
RATS ON THE PARADE ground.
Correspondence relative to the finding of rats in the neighbourhood of the parade ground was laid on the table. It included the following letter from Major-General Gascoigne to H. E. the Governor:-"My attention has been called to a statement made in the China Mail of last evening (17th inst.) in which it is said that it is believed that a very large number of rats have been found in the New Parade Ground, etc., etc. This is in continuation, no doubt, of some utterances of Dr. Clark at a recent meeting of the Sanitary Board. As your Excellency is aware, I, at the time, did not quite endorse the views entertained by Dr. Clark, and requested that the matter might receive further attention. Owing to an accident, my memo to your Excel- lency was not brought up before the Board, and as time had elapsed I thought it best to let the matter drop. But now that the matter has again cropped up, I request your Excellency to bring the matter up for full investigation. It is not for a moment suggested that Dr. Clark has made his statement loosely or carelessly. What is contended by Major Williams (in charge of the Parade Ground), is that Dr. Clark has been misinformed by his people as to the amount of rats found in the immediate neighbourhood. Major William's contention is that if rats in any number were found in the neighbourhood, he must have seen them, whereas with all the search possible made after his attention had been drawn to the matter, be has not seen them, neither have they been seen in any number in Murray Barracks. Only one dead rat has been found on the Parade Ground during the last eight months. Major Williams is himself living in a tent on the ground, and it would be impossible for rats in any number to be there without his seeing
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[July 1, 1901.
them. Our contention is that the people from | certificate or bring this letter "before the next whom Dr. Clark has received his information | meeting of your Board." have misled him. I would certainly desire therefore that attention should be drawn to this."
As
The following minutes were appended :· Mr. Bryan-"The houses are unfit for human' habitation until adequate drainage is provided, Dr. Clark was asked to report, and | and a certificate cannot be granted so long as winnted follows:-"The Inspector of this remains incompl:te.” the District reports that during the past The President-" As Messrs. Leigh and two months over 2,200 dead rats have Orange request that their letter be laid before been found in the neighbourhood of the the Board, this should be done. At the same Parade Ground, and the cricket ground. time I do not see what action the Board can This averages over 36 a day. Further com. take in the matter." ment is think needless. These rats were collected within a radius of 200 yards of the Parade Ground, and if we count only those from the City Hall, Government Offices, Murray Barracks and Beaconsfield Arcade, they total 1,080 for the two months, or over 17 per day.
The PRESIDENT-I propose that this letter be laid ou the table, aud that no action be taken in regard to it.
This was agreed to.
RATS.
It was shown in tabular form that the return of rats purchased by the Sauitary Board during the week ended 22ud inst. was 2420. No. 3 Health District supplied 403, while the other districts yielded an average of 200 each, except districts Nos. 10 and 11, which yielded 83 and 76 respectively. Previous to the 20th April, there had been no rats from either of Districts Nos. 11 and 12. The other districts seem to have been furnishing a fair supply of rodents since the beginning of the year. The price of each rat purchased was increased from 2 cents to 3 cents on 24th January, and from that date up to 26th May there was a steady rise in purchases from 600 to 3.693 per week. On 1st June, the week's figures were 4,271, the following week saw an increase of 20, and the week ended 15th saw the number reduced by 6). The past week, ended 22vd inst., during which the plague epidemic has mitigated considerably, shows a substantial reduction of 811.
THE CLOSING OF A WELL.
The Board at its last meeting agreed to close and fill up & well at 14, Des Voeux Road Central, the water of which had been found to be unfit for potable purposes and liable to prove injurious to health.
A letter had since been received from Mr. R. C. Wilcox, on behalf of the owner of the premises, suggesting that in a colony where the supply of water is so uncertain, wells of the class alluded to should be closed, but not filled up, so that in case of fire in the dry weather they might become available for purposes of extinguishing fires. If this suggestion was agreed to, Mr. Wilcox was prepared, on behalf of the owner, to have the well covered over and looked, the key to be held by the principal resident in case of fire.
The following minutes were appended: -Dr. Clark-If properly secured, there is no very great objection to the retention of the well for fire-extinguishing purposes."
Lieut. Col. Hughes-" If covered over and locked, 1 see no objection,"
Mr. Chan A Fook-"I applied some years ago for the same permission, and it was refused. I cannot see the justice of granting one and refusing the other. No distinction ought to be made with regard to wells, the water from which has been certified to be unfit for potable purposes. It should be closed up."
The PRESIDENT-I don't know what the feeling of members in regard to this matter is. The resolution of this Board was that the well should be closed, and I think that should be done.
This was agreed to.
A. DISPUTE CONCERNING THE DRAINAGE
OF HOUSES.
On the 17th inst. the Sanitary Board Surveyor Mr. W. Bryan, wrote to Messrs. Leigh and Orange re an application by them for a certifi- cate of occupation for seventeen houses on Hongkong Inland Lols 222 and 223, of which they are the architects, informing them that before a certificate could be issued, the lane behind must be channelled and all sewage water led to the Government sewer.
Messrs. Leigh and Orange replied—“ We wish to point that this work is the duty of the Government, and the owner having done his part under the conditions of sale and ordinance, we call upon you
to grant the usual,
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Mr. Osborne "If Messra. Leigh and Orango's statement is correct, the certificate should be granted.”
Dr. Boll- Are Messrs. Leigh and Orange correct in their statement or not ?"
Dr. Clark-—" I take it that the whole question hangs on the conditions of sale, and the D.P.W. might inform the Board what these conditions
are.
The PRESIDENT said that it was impossible to take any action in the matter until the lane had been properly surfaced and chaunelled, when the Board would issue the desired certificate.
PLAGUE PRECAUTIONS.
Under this heading Dr. Clark, in a paper submitted to the Board, suggested that a warning be inserted in bo h the European and Chinese Press to the following effect :-
1. The public ceilings and wooden skirting. boards, and lath and plaster partitions afford great facilities for rat runs, and the Sanitary Board strongly recommend that ceilings should, wherever possible, bo dispensed with in offices and dwellings on the lower levels, and the exposed beams limewashed or painted.
2. Skirtings should be of coment and not of wood.
3. All rat-holes in walls or floors should at once be stopped up.
4. All gratings to drain-inlets should, wher over possible, be fastened, and broken ones replaced without delay.
3. No discarded food should be allowed to lie about in kitchens or yards.
6. All drains and drain-inlets, traps, etc., should be flushed daily with a bucket of clean water. 7. Coolie quarters should be regularly in- spected and strict cleanliness enforced.
With regard to this last clause, I (Dr. Clark) regret to say that the coolie quarters of many of the offices and dwellings on the lower levels are allowed to get in a most filthy condition, owing in part no doubt to the fact that such quarters are often used in common by the servants of several firms. The maintenance of the cleanliness of such quarters is, both by law and by commonsense, the duty of the householder and not of the Sanitary Authority, and with plague epidemic in the colony, it is surely not unreasonable to ask that each firm should depute one of its assistants to make a daily or even weekly inspection of the coolie-quarters attached to the office, and to institute a quarterly lime- washing of all such quarters, instead of waiting for the occurrence of a case of plague, or the finding of a dead rat, and then having a grand clear-out of the accumulated filth of weeks or months.
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The following minutes were appended The President-"I agree with your recom- mendations except as regards No. 4. If you will alter the wording of it to 'should if possible be securely fastened,' that will meet my objec tion. The gratings must be removable in order to enable the trap to be cleaned out. It is a difficult matter to devise a fastening that cannot easily be tampered with, and at the same time not get out of order continually."
Mr. Osborne-“I would also recommend the Board to arrange to supply private inspectors for European offices and dwellings. Many firms and people would gladly pay for a European to look after servants' quarters.
The PRESIDENT could not see how the Board could take action in the matter referred to in Mr. Osborne's minute. He proposed that what Dr. Clark recommended be done.
Mr. OSBORNE spoke briefly in support of the recommendation_contained in his minute, but was not prepared to make a motion in the matter.
The PRESIDENT's proposal was agreed to.
WILD DELL' ULOSED,
On the motion of Mr. MAY, seconded by Dr. BELL, it was agreed, on the report of Dr. Clark, that Wild Dell was -unfit” fòr- human-
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