The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-04-12
FEARS ARE GROUNDLESS
No Danger Of Epidemic of Small
Pox.
EXTRA PRECAUTIONS TAKEN
Special Meeting of Board of Health.
Objections to Landing Passengers
From Gaelic Instructions to
Agents Carelessness at HOngkOng.

A special meeting of the Board of
Health, in conjunction with the Ex-
ecutive, was held in the office of the
Minister of Foreign Affairs at p. m.
Saturday.
A proposition from a member of the
Board to quarantine vessels from infect
ed ports was rejected, for the reason
that it might have serious effect on
commerce. Again, there was an aver
sion to keeping we'll passengers conf1n-
ed on board a vessel which might be-
come a pest ship.
1t might be expected that taking the
smallpox patient from the Gaelic to
Quarantine Island would result in other
cases breaking out, but the facilities for
quarantining there were so perfect that
the disease could not extend to the city.
The guards on the island had been
doubled, so that in the event of a panic
among the Chinese they could be quick
ly subdued.
The plan is to quarantine the passen-
gers for eighteen days from the time
they and their baggage was fumigated
President Dole thought it was neces-
sary to protect the citizens. 1t might be
hardship to the plantations to deprive
them of labor, but the health of the
people was more important and should
be protected.
Attorney General Smith opposed quar-
antining vessels outside because it was
too radical.
President Dole thought that if the
rule had been in force last year we
would not have had the visitation of
cholera.
Attorney General Smith said all YES
sells from Asiatic ports were out ten or
eleven days. He wanted to know if the
Government is right in shutting out the
passengers who are not affected.
President Dole said government had
a right to do anything that would pro-
tect it's citizens.
Senator WaterhOuse wanted to know
if it was compulsory on the part of this
Government to take this diseased pas
senger from the Gaelic.
Attorney General Smith answered:
Really nothing is compulsory"
DR.. Day said it is the duty of a coun
try to receive passengers on it's shores
and treat any contagious disease that
might exist among passengers. There
is no danger of an epidemic of the dis
ease in enlightened countries, where
modern methods of quarantine are en-
ployed. Much depends upon cleanliness.
Fumigation would destroy the disease
in baggage, and a scrubbing process, in
the individual Black plague is not so
contagious as smallpox; it can be COM
municated by one person to another,
but if it was to break out in Quaran-
tine Island there would be little danger
to the people in the city.
DR.. Emerson said the dangers of con-
tagion with black plague was from con-
tact with the ulcers and clothing of the
individual affected. The period of in
cubatiOn was from two to five days
Quarantine facilities here are so per-
feet that there is very little danger of
the disease being communicated to per-
sons outside the station.
Dr. Wood said that as most people
here had been vaccinated, there was
little danger of smallpox breaking out
in the city. Black plague came usually
from imperfect sanitation, and if it
breaks out there is little treatment for
it. Everything depended upon prevent
ative measures in the case of smallpox
There was no doubt that a number of
new cases would appear out at the
Quarantine Station, and if a panic oc-
CURED among the Chinese passengers,
precautions should be taken to check it.
1t was suggested that a notice be
sent consuls and steamship agents at
Asiatic ports to the effect that passen-
gers from any infected port would not
be allowed to land.
Attorney General Smith said it would
not do to formulate such an order, as it
would be a hardship to passengers
whose destinationswas Honolulu. If the
same order was issued from other ports
vessel would be refused a landing
everywhere, and the pest ship would
wander around until everyone on board
had died.
President Dole said it would be a
hard thing to confine the well Iassen-
gers on vessel with a lot of people