The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1895-10-11

terday afternoon, President Smith
in the chair. Present: Drs. Day
Wood, Emerson, Wayson, Ryder
Members Waterhouse, Keliipio
Lansing, and Health Agent Rey
nolds. Among the audience wert
Professor Alexander, president o
the Board of Education, Inspector
of Schools Atkinson and Post
master General Oat.
The following communication
addressed to President Smith was
read from Kauai physicians:
We regret that as some of US did
not receive our mail until the 2Sth
ult., we have been unable to soonel
lay before you, in collective and con
nected from, our side of the question
in connection with Kauai and the
measures adopted to prevent the in
PRODUCTION of cholera.
When we advised that Kauai should
have no intercourse with Honolulu
while cholera was epidemic there, and
that the people should give way to ne
cessity only, we were influenced by
the following considerations:
Firstly. The nature and distribu-
tion of the population we should have
TO deal with if cholera became epi-
demic here. You in Honolulu have a
large intelligent population con-
tiguous with the population that is a
menace to the public health at such a
period, from which you can get, and
did get, valuable aid during the epi-
demic. We, on the contrary, have in
our respective communities a large
mass of Ignorance, prejudice and su-
perstition to deal with, widely distrib-
uted, with a comparatively small
number of people that we could get
intelligent aid from in dealing with
such an epidemic as cholera.
Secondly. We have no facilities for
dealing with the disease should it
come among US. Were we prepared
as they are in some countries to deal
with it, and il trade demanded it, we
should do without quarantine; but,
situated as We are, it was Incumbent
upon US to advise such course as
would make il practically impossible
for cholera to get a footing here.
That being so, and as the Board of
Health in Honolulu had appointed a
Committee of Health in Lihue, to
whom was given an almost free hand
in dealing with the situation on Ka
uai, we advised that the committee
should adopt the longest period of
quarantine known to Hawaiian law,
viz: eighteen days, partly to intercept
cases of cholera with an exceptional
period of incubation, and partly to act
as deterrent to traffic.
We recognize and admit the author
tiles mentioned by the physicians on
the Board of Health as placing the
limit of the period of incubation of
cholera at five days. We admit that
such a period would embrace the great
of cases; but we contend
that there are other authorities quite
as eminent AS those mentioned who
state that the incubation period of
cholera may be much longer; e. q,
Parke's Manual of Hygiene, which is
the standard work on hygiene in Eng
land, India and the Colonies, saws
(and with your permission we will
quote portion of paragraph which
has peculiarly apt bearing on the
situation as we on Kauai see it, /:
as the iIlcubGtiUe stage (of choJera)
can Ger toiyaiy last as long as ten or
tsOelUe days, and there are some good
cases on re'ord aOhere it has lasted
for more than tn enty, ii iR clear that
quarantine, 1GlLeSS enforced for at
east the last period of time may be
useless. An island or an
inland SiLLdge far removed from com
1leroe, and capable for a time of do
ing 1Oithout 1t, may practice quuran-
inc and preserve itself; 6ut, an other |
both IN theory and ac- |
udt experience sho1U that quarantine |
ais" Ernest Hart, chairman of the |
National Health Society of Great |
Britain, editor of the British Medical |
Journal, and author OF several articles |
N cholera, after review of various |
medical authorities places the period |
# incubation OF cholera at from one
o fifteen days.
hester, says that the incubative stage
4 cholera may run from one to
ighteen days, usually from two to
our. Lebert, Med. Trans. Berlin,
ays one TO three days, exceptionally
ne TO two, on the average it does
Iot exceed one week, though period
I one or two weeks is by no means
are, longer time is exceptional of
curse. We only take into account
ere those cases which have been COL
ected with the greatest care.
From the above mentioned authori-
les it will be seen that in asking for
n eighteen days quarantine we were
skiing for no more than was neces-
ary TO cover the cases of cholera
'bich have an exceptional period OF
The duration of quaran-
ne adopted in any particular place
epends also ou the exigencies of
-ade. From our insulsr position,
.hlch made perfect quarantine posi-
lie, from the fact that it was not
ecessary, nor did the people OF Kauai
ant to have any intercourse with |
honolulu while cholera was epidemic
here, as no trade or industry of any
'nsequence on Kauai suffered there
y, and as with little adjusting of its
'od supply Kauai could hold out for
long time. We maintain that we
ere right in asking for period of {
narantine that would cover excep-
onal cases of incubation and act as a
ar to traffic, more particularly pas
,nger traffic. That there was no dis.