The San Francisco call., 1899-06-26
Appearance Of the Scourge
Causes the Steamer to Be
Twice Quarantined.
IS NOW At HONOLULU
japanese Vessel First Detained at
Nagasaki, and a Second Case
Occurs After Leaving.
Special Correspondence of The Call

Special Correspondence of The Call.
HONOLULU, June 1S-Bubonic
plague is held by the local health
authorities to exist in the corpse of a
Chinese steerage passenger on board
the steamship Nippon Maru, lying since
yesterday morning off the harbor Of
Honolulu. For this cause the Board Of
Health ordered the vessel into quaran-
tine for seven days. The alternative is
to have the Nippon Maru refused both
admission into the harbOr and the land
ing of passengers and freight.
When the steamship China arrived
from San Francisco on Thursday with
out any cable advices regarding the
Nippon after her departure from Hong
kong on time, conjectures upon the
cause of the steamers being six days
overdue were balanced between quar-
antine and breakdown. The vessels
arrival here early yesterday morning
proved the quarantine guess correct. 1t
also brought the community face to
face with the stern duty of self-protec-
tion against the black Oriental scourge.
The Nippon Maru sailed from Hong
kong on May Il, and Shanghai on the
oath She arrived at Nagasaki two days
later. and there dispatched all of her
business without impediment. The
steamer was leaving the harbor of
Nagasaki under a full head of steam
when a Chinese steerage passenger
died. Captain Allen put the ship back
to port rather than take any chances
of having it become a plague ship or
detained under suspicion of being such
at other ports of call ahead.
Although the ships doctor did not
consider it a case of plague, the body
was sent ashore at Nagasak for exam
ination. The japanese port physicians,
however. pronounced the death as hav-
ing been caused by plague. They de-
clared the corpse infested with plague
/ baeili, and by their order it was Gre
i mated. fne nippon Maru was at the
same time ordered into quarantine for
seven days.
Having fulfilled her prescribed term
of quarantine, the steamship sailed
! from Nagasaki on June 8. She made
! Kobe and Yokohama all right, having
! had no further case of sickness,
! and sailed from the latter port for
/ Honolulu on June s. The Rio de Janeiro
had sailed for Honolulu the previous
day, but was not sighted here until
! yesterday eVening-about twelve hours
| later than the Nippon Maru. The Rio
brought clean bill of health and was
admitted to dock in the harbor. Shs
sailed at 8 o'clock this afternoon.
Upon the arrival of the Nippon off the
! harbor she was boarded by DR.. F. r.
! Day, port physician and member of the
| Board of Health. She reported the
! death of a Chinese steerage passenger
| on June IA. The man had been i'll but
! twenty-five hours and the ships physl-
! clan gave the cause as uraemic convuI-
| Irio J1,o fo Iii t1-Or1 hOI
had been kept on board embalmed.
| DIR. Day at the same time received
! an official report of the quarantining
at Nagasaki from DR.. Rokkaku. medi-
! cal inspector at Yokohama for the
! Hawaiian Government. Taking into
| consideration this report from Japan,
! together with the fact that the victim
| had died after only twenty-five hours
| illness, he ordered the steamship into
| quarantine until he came ashore and
| reported.
! Having made his report to the board,
the port physician returned to the
ship, taking with him DR.. Carmichael,
! inspector of the United States Hospital
! Marine Service. The two doctors made
| a post mortem examination of the dead
! Chinaman. They found the condition
of the lungs, the bronchial tubes and
the kidneys, as we'll as that of the
! pericardium and peritonital cavities,
strongly suspicious of the plague. Some
specimens of the fluids and glands
were brought ashore for microscopical
examination, which being made strong
ly supported the diagnosis of the ply
! sicians. The only absolute proof. how
! ever, is to be found in the cultivation
| of the germs. This process will take
! three or four days AS the matter
stands, though, the appearance of the
| bacillus is identical with that of Speci-
mems of the plague bacillus brought
! from Japan two years ago by DR.. c. b.
! Wood
These facts were all laid before a.
special meeting of the Board of. Health
Yesterday afternoon. The board pre-
scribed a strict quarantine for the
! Nippon Maru. It proposed a period of
| seven days after disinfectiOn. Should
the proposition be declined, the ship
| will not be allowed to land either pas
sengers or freight.
There are eight saloon passengers for
| Honolulu including Mr.. and Mrs. H F.
/ Wichman and DR.. w. T. Monsarrat
Mr. Wichman is the leading jeweler Of
! this city. DIR. MonSarrat is the
veterinary inspector of the Hawaiian
! Government, who left here in a trans
port carrying army horses and mules to
Manila, under engagement by the
| United States military authorities. The
ship has 750 tons of cargo for this
port.
| DR.. Wood, member OF the Board of
| Health. said to The Call correspondent:
'"The necessity for quarantining any
passengers landing here being decided,
the possibility is thereby admitted that
the disease may develop among them at
| quarantine Unlike some other dis
eases to be guarded against the
plague is known to be communicable
| through the medium of rats and other
vermin. 1t is absolutely impossible to
disinfect the ship properly with about
800 people on board. If, however, the
ship accepts quarantine, it must be
afforded. The passengers would be
fumigated before and after landing at
Quarantine Island, and there treated to
the chemical bath, etc, and the through
passengers returned to the vessel. when
| she had been completely disinfected.
The captain of the steamer does not
admit that it was the plague of which
his steerage passenger died, but the
| DoorI of uaolfh ThUciaia nc oro oil