The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-08-06
Some Matters Of Light Import
ance Before the Board.
ASIATIC EMIGRATION CONSIDERED
Interesting Letter From DR.. Ash burton
Thompson Leper Myths From
Samoa-LOdging House License Re
fused - Fish and Beef Inspection.

The regular meeting of the Board of
Health yesterday was cut short by the
arrival of the China and the necessity
for DR.. Wood to board her as health Of
fiecr. When Prest. Smith arrived there
were present Drs. Wood and Emerson
and Messrs. Keliipio and Lansing, and
Doctors Alvarez, Monsarrat and Execu-
tive Officer c. B. Reynolds.
Minister Smith read a communica-
ton from the Minister of Foreign At
fairs relative to a request from two
residents of the leper settlement for
permission to go to Japan for treat
ment.
Drs. Brown and Burgess, who have
passed before the Board of Medical Elk
aminers, were notified that they would
be given certificates upon filing proper
applications and the payment of the re-
quired fee.
Eleanor Beattie, a lady physician of
Hilo, requested to be granted a license
to practice upon a certificate granted by
three reputable physicians of Hilo in
stead of going before the regularly con-
stituted board in Honolulu. Granted.
At the suggestion of DR.. Wood the
Board of Survey was asked to send a
man to the quarantine grounds for the
purpose of making a map of the ground
and buildings.
Application of DR.. Sloggett for per-
mission to practice medicine was re-
ferred to the Board of Examiners for
action.
An application from some Chinese.
through their attorney, ]. Alfred Ma
coon, for license to open lodging
house in the Chinese Theater was re-
ferred to Executive officer Reynolds.
The application will be denied for sani-
tary reasons.
A letter from a resident of the settle
ment regarding the Y. M. c.. A. there
was referred to the Hawaiian Board,
as being more eccleSiaStic than sanitary
in it's character.
DR.. Monsarrat reported the inspec-
ton of 125 head of beef cattle at the
slaughter house since last meeting, and
ination of 42,251 fish: of these 1900
from Maui and Molokai were con-
demned.
President Smith stated that while
abroad he had consulted DR.. Eldredge
regarding the advisability of having
emigrants from China or Japan come
here during the months when plague or
cholera are epidemic there He believed
it would be safer to forbid such de-
partures from May to September of
each year.
The president also stated that re-
ports had been received from Samoa
regarding the presence there of several
persons, among them two Hawaiians,
suffering from leprosy. In view of a
proposition from the Samoan Govern
ment to take these people to Molokai
and allow them to reside there, the Ex-
ecutive had about decided to take them
at the rate it costs the Government to
keep the lepers. Before taking action,
DR.. ]. Ashburton Thompson arrived
here from the Colonies, and at a meet
ing with the Executive he was asked to
enquire into the case. The following
letter received from DR.. Thompson puts
an entirely different light on the affair:
Sydney, June 7th, 1896
My dear Sir:-On touching Fiji | did
not forget your question concerning
leprosy in the Navigators. In the first
place DR.. COrney who is H. MS Prin-
cipal Medical officer at the Fills, and
who has been in the group since 1874.
has unusual familiarity with language,
manners and customs, and voyages in
the South Pacific. He has never visited
the NavigatOrs, but many Samoans go
to FIJI, and have been questioned by
him on the point of interest to YOU.
He tells me that the Samoans have a
name for leprOsy, which is O-le-ma'e
supe: this you will consider important.
Then, he says, the tale that they have
about half-a-dOzen Iepers all of whom
are foreigners has been current ever
since he remembers. Thirdly. the bet
ter SamOans who visit the Fills say.
when Intercepted, that they know
what leprosy is, that it is met with
among Samoans in their group much
in the same way as they themselves
see it in Fiji; and they give it the name
mentioned above. Lastly, Corney once
questioned a Rev. Mr.. Brown (the mis-
SiOnary who once led an army of the
faithful in New Britain against the
heather and defeated them) who had
worked for years in Samoa, and he
said, No; we have no leprosy; but we
have --" and proceeded to describe
nerve leprosy very clearly, and asked
what it might be. I think l told YOU
that the Rev. Mr.. Davies. a medical
told me the old yarn-that
they had two Chinese, one or two Ha-I
waiian, and few Ellis islander lepers. /
but no natives. a good while ago. DR.. |
Corney thinks that competent people /
likely to identify milder forms of the
disease do not very often travel to re- |
mOter parts Of that group; about this l |
know nothing.
had sufficiently agreeable voyage
home, finding on board my old acquain- /
tances Below and Mrs. Potter, going