The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-10-15

III AAA1 NAhA = LAENtAN reAAA ~
.slovenly and uncleanly habits of a large
section Of its inhabitants, have not already
rendered it a reeking fever bed. Now it is
proposed to abandon all that Nature has
done for us-nay, not merely is il proposed,
it Is commanded that we do so under pain
Of enforced expenses and of fines which, to
the poor man, mean terms Of imprison-
ment. And what is the alternative which
is to be forced upon Us ?-watertight vaults
and pits which, I'VE may infer from the
wording of the third paragraph Of these
regulations), are intended to be cleaned out
once in six months. Let us hear what an
acknowledged authority says on the subject
Of this very system which our Board of
Health are going to impose upon US at so
much cost to- individuals. Speaking "of
tightly cemented vaults to be emptied by
portable pneumatic apparatus" the writer
We refer to describes the weak points of the
system and adds, "these objections are so
grave that they should suffice to condemn
the whole process" He subsequently speaks
Of the system as one that may serve as a
" mskeshift where cesspits are still tOler-
ated,' but that which we are called upon TO
abandon in favor of it is a "makeshift "
provided for Us by Nature ten times better
than this. If we need bring forward any
proof that fecal matter III a liquid state is
infinitely more dangerous than when solid
we will but refer our readers to the evidence
afforded them by their own senses, in Homo
lulu, whenever there has been any heavy
fall of rain. We are not advocates for the
use of cesspits in towns, or anywhere, but
they must be used here until the adminis-
tration provides measures for their replace
ment. What we object to, is to part with
the pits sunk into a porous soil from which
all liquids drain promptly away to a
natural sewer, for watertight chambers in
which we are called upon to bottle up with
care the sources of malarious poisons and
give them the amplest opportunity of
spreading Infection around our homes.
The hotter the climate, the more rapidly
and continually does liquid filth evaporate
into the atmosphere, and on the other hand
tie more quickly does solid fecal matter
lose its moisture and acquire a hard surface
which renders it comparatively innocuous.
We have not space to go more fully into
this part of our subject, but must pass on
to the third objection we have raised to
these new regulations, merely remarking,
in conclusion, that if His Excellency will
insist on our cesspits being made water
tight, we pray that he will have them
1 Hduc uFLtDNl alSOt 50 IIltlI we mdy Dc
saved from the deadly poison of their ex-
halations. Our third objection to the regu-
lations is that by their IMPOSING consider
able expense on all persons who are affected
by them, a new hindrance is placed in the
way of real sanitary reform. The mini
mum estimate that we nave heard of the
cost of q watertight vault, constructed of
wood and of the dimensions rendered
49, Iry ofhnr of fhn RnorlIS anrlo
lions, Is twenty five dollars. How long
such a structure would last under the con-
ditions to which it would be subjected no
one Is able to guess, but it appears certain
that it would not maintain its watertight
condition for any long term. Construction
in brick and cement would be the only safe
method, and probably the cheapest in the
long rum. A five foot privy vault carried
to the regulation depth, and properly
eemented, will cost not less than one hun
dred dollars. If the duties of the agent of
the Board of Health under the first para
graph Of the new regulations are faithfully
discharged, no doubt a large number of pits
will have to be reconstructed, and if the
third paragraph is to be read as good
English, all within the declared area must
be made watertight within four months.
AlltI III DCOplCD hNC OCCh pun W ~ 6lCol
an expense, it will be impossible for the
Board of Health to introduce really valua-
BILE sanitary measures (Which, whatever,
form they take must include the doing
away with cesspits entirely without giving
compensation to those on whom it has pre-
viously enforced an expense thus to be rem
dered useless. Thus a new and serious
difficulty will be raised in the way of any
real reform. and the day of better things be
pushed still further into the future.
Having said thus much, and spoken thus
strongly, against what we deem the suicidal
policy embodied in the later paragraphs of
these regulations, we desire to express our
? hearty approval of the first of them. If
this be carried out with Yigor, a good work
will be done, for which the thanks of all
inhabitants of the city and Its neighbor-
hood will be due to the Board and its
agents.
HAWAIIAN PRoGREsS-Judge Lee in adj
D--ol a-