The Hawaiian gazette., 1876-08-09
Small POx.
possible.

Our readers may be interested to have a
short historical sketch Of the small pox az these
islands. So far as we know, this disease was
brought here for the first time in the autumn
of 1852 in the ship Charles Mallory from San
Francisco This vessel had on board sixteen
passengers for this place. and on her arrival
she was anchored off Waikiki, and her passen-
gers transferred to temporary quarantine
hospital established on the shore near Dia-
mond Head. They were under the charge of
Dr. E. Hoffman,, and so successfully were the
necessary precautions carried out that the dis
ease spread no further. Of the sixteen pas
sengers by that ship but two are now living,
Mr.. McDonna of this place and Mr.. F. L.
Hanks Of New York city.
In the spring of the following year. 1853, a
vessel arrived from the same place, reporting
a clean bill of health, but brought the disease
which was communicated by some clothes
sent ashore to be washed. The two women
who performed this service were the first vic
tins. But when publicly announced by Drs.
Hoffman, and Lathrop that the disease was
the small pox, it was regarded as incredible,
and no measures were taken for a week to
prevent the disease from spreading. The con-
tagion rapidly spread over this island in spite
of all efforts to check it, and in less than three
months swept off $1,000 of the people.
On the other islands very few deaths occur
red, except at Lahaina, and some parts of
Maui. Vaccination was attended to very
thoroughly, and protection thus afforded as
far as possible In 1872 this disease again
appeared, brought by a passenger from San
Francisco on the steamship Nebraska, who
was first taken to the Sailors Home, CHS
condition not being known) but was after
wards removed 10 the C. S. Marine Hospital
where he died. The native who drove the
carriage thither took the disease and also died,
and from this there were twenty-five cases,
some of which proved fatal And now for the
third time we have it again by the steamer
Australia from San Francisco, which brings
one case of varioloid, transferred Immediately
to the hospital on the reef The ship while in
port was as strictly quarantined as was prac-
ticable, and the passengers for this place kept
under the surveillance of the Board of Health
for fourteen days.
Had they been exposed to the disease a
strict quarantine would have been necessary.
In regard to the landing here of the patient on
board there has been some censure, but it
should be borne in mind that it has become an
inter- alional regulation that in such cases the
patient must be landed at the first port and
cared for. So when the British steamer
Gaelic arrived at Yokohama last spring, three
Chinese with this disease were landed, and
placed in the hospital and the ship went OH to
San Francisco.
The suggestion in the last Advertiser that a
wharf for quarantined vessels be constructed
on tile lee side of the harbor is a good one,
and if practicable should be carried out, as we
shall always be exposed to contagious dis
eases.
1t would be well if more attention were
paid by parents to the law requiring vaccina-
tion to performed on every child within six
months from the date of its birth, as laid
down IN sections 81 to 3l6 inclusive of the
Civil Code. The penalty attending non-ob-
of the law is five dollars fine for each
offense. The experience of the past ninety
five years in Europe and America is conclu-
sive that the protection afforded by vaccina-
ton is thorough and complete