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

- 80 80 49,
person, and possible danger to the life OF
the beloved Princess Regent but we doubt
about the "chill" on account Of any Con-
stitutionaI defect. We have had to meet an
interregnum twice within the memory of
the most Of this community. The head Of
the State passed away, without any desig-
mated successor, yet the Government went
on -harmoniously in charge OF a responsible
Ministry as it might have done, had there
been-a we thank God there was nOt-any
recent occasion for g PTovi-innsl Ministerial
regency. But it will be well, no doubt. to
provide ConstitutiOnally, for any possible
emergency of the kind in view.
THE PRESIDENT OF the Board of Health
has proclaimed some new " regulations"
which we publish as official news,--in-
tended we presume to promote the health
of the city. In our opinion, some of these,
if carried out, will ave the very opposite
tendency, and will enhance and render per-
manent one of the worst features of the
present unsanitary condition of Honolulu.
The regulations we refer to are those which
relate to the construction Of privy vaults
and c~esspooIs. An area has been defined, in
GLIDING all the more densely populated
part of the city, within which all such con-
structiOns are in future to- be " built water
tight" This regulation is made imperative
in regard to all vaults and cesspools con-
structed after the date of the proclamation,
and reconstruction in accordance with ii
is to be enforced, in regard to those already
existing, upon notice of the Board OF
Health or its Agents. being served on their
owners. Furthermore, on the Ord day of
January next all privy vaults or cesspOols
which are not watertight, or which have
not been thoroughly cleaned within a
period of six months shall be closed" This
regulation is equiyOcally wOrded and may
be- construed to mean hat existing cess
pools, though not watertight, will not be
interfered with If they nave been cleaned
any time during the six months ending
January Ord. Be this as il may, il is
manifestly the intention of the Board of
Health to do away with all cesspOOls con-
structed upon the plan hitherto common in
Honolulu and to replace them by water
tight pits and vaults. This is the outcome
of years OF discussion upon the sanitary con-
ditiOn Of the city, OF reports and investi-
cations by ministers and government
officials, Of the importation of n shelf
ful of works on Hygiene and Sanitary En-
cheering for the Government library /;
this after all he has seen and heard and
should have learnt, is what His Excellency
the President Of the Board of Health pre-
sents to us as his deliberate scheme for the
sanitation of the city. This is worse than
having a stone doled out to us when we ask
for bread we nave been implorIng a bless
ing at the hands Of our health authorities
the blessing of n more healthy city-and
they give us a curse, a death dealing curse,
instead.
If there be one thing as to which all au-
thOrities on sanitary affairs are more
unanimous than on any other, it is that
the use Of privy vaults and cesspOols in
towns, and even in villages, should,
wherever possible, be prohibited entirely.
The Boards own professional adviser, in
summing up the last report on the subject
which has been made public, has told them
there can be nOdOubt Of the necessity of get
ting rid of the prIvy and ~cesspools, as soon
as possible" and has at the same time
pointed out to them the proper substitute.
The engineers estimate of the cost of intro
ducing a system, which would be efficien t
and suitable to the circumstances of the
place, fixes the amount at a very moderate
sum, one well within the means of the
country, and shows that the annual cost of
working il would not be felt by the house
holders of the city, if it were surcharged
upon them. The Board had this informa-
ton before them, the public has long been
expecting them to act upon ito at any rate
to prepare and perfect n scheme for sub
mission to the Legislature at its next
. session. Instead Of this, what do they do &?
{ They determine-First to prevent the peo-
pie from taking advantage of a bountiful
4 provision of Nature, by which the city has
hitherto been preserved from the worst evils
that attend upon the cesspoOl system /;
Secondly, to enforce upon us and perpetuate
. that sytem in its very worst form, viz !:
that i'm which all liquid matter that finds
its way into the pit or vault is retained
s. there, To dissolve the fecal matter which
would otherwise remain in a solid and
less harmful condition, and to be a never
failing scOurce, day and night, OF deleteri-
: Gus calculations; Thirdly, to render it ever
the more difficult for wiser men, who we
hope are hereafter to take this matter in
hand, to remedy the evil they have done,
, by enforcing on hOusebOlders and property
= owners expensive constructions which
must sooner or later be rendered useless.
These three points each demand a separate
u article for their proper discussion. We can
/. to-day only briefly develop their leading
features.
First, then let us consider what we are To
p lose by having the existing cesspools re-
! placed by watertight chambers. Through
, out Honolulu and its neighborhood, between
=, the sub-soiI and an underlying bed of coral
? rock, we find a layer Of black sand, variable
. in thickness, but almost every where deeper
than are the cesspits which penetrate it.
This porous stratum acts as n natural
sewer to the city, and carries of with