The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1889-01-11
BOARD OF HEALTH.


EDITOR BULLETIN: My former
letter re Board of Health seems to
have stirred up some discussion in
your columns as to who was TO
blame for the large number of deaths
from whooping cough. l am sorry
if anything in my letter led Mrs.
Hall to think l was making an at
tack on her or any other private in
dividual. What l was attempting
to show was that our present Board
of Health had not the confidence Of
the general public, in view of the
appointments which they had made
and other matters, one of which was
the whooping cough epidemic.
The Board of Health and their
servants 1 hold are to blame and
they only when any contagious dis
ease is imported and allowed to
spread and can only add that if l
were to arrive here with a family
suffering from whooping cough or
measels, / should not consider it
my duty to take my family to the
quarantine grounds, and keep them
there till well, unless / was ordered
to do so by an officer of the Board
of Health.
The Advertiser" treats my let
ter AS though it were almost too
trivial to notice. At the same time
they do not make any reference to
the case in which a man who was
in charge of the Board of Health,
(that is the question: was allowed
to die without medical attendance.
"a little thing like that to u medi-
cal writer may seem of no account,
but to a common man 1t seems
rather tough, and only wonder
that the representative of the coun-
try TO which the man belonged has
not investigated the matter.
The "Advertiser" seems down on
anyone who says even one good
word of a man, who is now "dead
and gone" Mr.. Gibson, and the
clique which now runs that paper
and supports the present Ministry
were always loud in denouncing Mr..
Gibson for giving passes to people,
who wished to visit friends at
Kakaako Branch Hospital and
saying he had no right to do so
for fear of spreading the disease,
and that his only motive in dong so
was to make himself solid with the
natives, but now the great organ OF
the party never even opens its
mouth when member of the Board
of Health, with the sanction of the
board, organises an excursion pei
steamer and takes over to Moloka
= some two hundred people--some tt
! see their friends, and some out o
!, curiosity. If this was not done tt
: make the present board solid witt
the natives, surely they will not ob
ject to future excursions gotten u
!; by the natives themselves and unde
9 the same rules.
= Mr.. Gibson certainly was nc
u afraid of doing his duty amongs
y the lepers, and went among thei
= freely to enquire into their wants
and | would like to ask how ofle
> DIR. Emerson has gone to Molok;
- without taking some other medic;
:; man to do work that q professloni
- $4,000 President of the Board I
- Health might do himself. If he hi
y any fitness for the position, why,
~ ask had he to take DR.. Brodie Wi
him on one trip at cost of $500. On
:. Why was one gentleman oiler'
~ the position of manager at Molok;
~ mad when he accepted same told TIN
:" were satisfied with the old manage
- Is the board themselves TO blame
~ some of these matters or does q
" President work in one direction al
~ the board in anotherY If so chan
q should be made in the interests
- the public, and when new man
- - appointed they should he sure
- get man who would not be like
~ cross cut saw needing a man at be
=, ends to keep it straight.
~ should like TO say a few wor
y, on the drug orders and contra'
- ~ made by the Board of Health, but
- fear of trespassing on your spa'
" with reserve for another occasion.