The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-05-19
The Madras.

The Madras, one of q number of ships
engaged in a general passenger carrying
business, loaded up at the port of Hong
kong with Chinese coolies for these Islands.
By coolies we mean Asiatic laborers moved
from place to place as such, they -neS being
{" passengers in the OrdinaTy acceptation
of the term, for it can be shown that they
arrived here without the means to support
themselves unless they obtained immediate
employment, They were in the same cate
CORY as those on the City OfTOkio, of whom
the purser-upon being required to collect
The hospital tax of $500 per head-said that
he was satisfied that he couldn't find
amongst them an average of $1.00 per
head. This immigration was a Specula-
ton by somebody in human muscle. The
Captain of the Madras chose to take Oh
board his vessel-not a very large one
some $50 of these persons, to manage which
were seven European, but not a single
European surgeon. In u letter to the PreSi-
dent of the Board of Health he states that
the ordinance or regulation of the Hong
kong Council f~orbidding the expectation of
Chinese to these Islands, had, during the
absence of the Governor General been re-
scinded, and that licenses to vessels to carry
away emigrant were being granted prior to
the public official notice of the resembling
of the ordinance. The Madras, and all the
other vessels, came here without due notice
with their coolies. The Madras arrives off
this port, and the captain signs q bill of
health in which il is stated, " IL person on
beard my NeSSel mas Deen SelZeu Dy q con-
tagious disorder, nor have L heard of any
such disease on board of any. vessel that L
nave spoken on my way to this place.
No person has died or been sick
OF a contagious disease IN board
nv vessel during the last six months.n
1t is true that Captain Bradley wrote Il let
ter about the same time, explaining that
he had two smallpox patients OIL board {;
but in view OF the contradictory statement
ut that time, and subsequent ones, we are
.nF;oGaI fhnf that trnS nv no al, "a frtn
disclosure of the state of the case. At any
rate, the Board of Health, in view of the
past sad experience of the country in regard
to smallpox, was totally unwilling to al
low any infected ship to enter this port.
What is the usual practice in dealing with
infected vessels? DO we not know that in
many such instances ships are anchored
outside ports for sixty or even ninety days,
without any communication with the
shore except under the closest surveillance.
Yet the Madras has had every reasonable
opportunity of communicating with the
shore. The captain has come to our
wharves and chatted with agents and
others the vessel has received recruits
and coal without difficulty, and the captain
has had an opportunity to seek whatever
medical aid he required. He, of course,
having no confidence in the Chinese doctor s
Cd board, who have evidently assisted in
concealing cases of smallpox amongst their
country-men-has had a foreign physician,
DIR. TrousSeau, to wait upon him in con-
sequence of his own i'll health. The Eu-
Iopeans on the vessel becoming apprehen-
sive have been vaccinated by the Port Ply
stefan, and the offer was made to vaccinate
all the people on board, the Board of Health
being now supplied will a large amount OF
bovine virus Ordered long before there was
any approximations of smallpox invasiOn)
sufficient to vaccinate some thousands of
cases.
Admitting that there has been suhi-
cient reasons for admitting the vessel
inside the port and quarantining her
passengers, it must be remembered that
the quarantine ground has been engaged
several weeks with passengers from vessels
who had prior claims to attention. There
were those from the Oceanic, Coptic and
City of Toxic VINO had to be cared for. The
passengers on board the Glenelg, although
reporting no suspicion of disease and
found by the Port Physician perfectly
healthy, submitted to "A two weeks quaran-
tine on board without q word of remon-
STRANGE, or any unnecessary newspaper
discussion. We fear that the Madras may