The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-01-16

Iht mstaf ulp fhH be- EmrIrm.
have arraaui Ih o abHs pumsn $50
bltrd h % Tat Hfts Store hta Dog
,adcd thr Fannie ~ those whn ihouaht
.fbnmtaiyea immune aul haa r1ur.i q
widespread conformation which brHr
ZOO miri fhs public unRiei, that fois
lowed fhr ncef in cholora uuoa nf
fHo death of Charles g. Dodge Iha
conviction De- forced up us as BE- was Boo
fUa ,lse 0f Ethoi johnson .nat tha
plague docs not always respect the
white skin aud that Dee presence may
Doc fa.t without warning IN any home
whose inmates have taken the slight
o,. liberties with this mysteriou
-D1urcu ln the case of Mrs Board
imam !, is reported that She picked MO-
dead, infected rat, which was lying
in the store whore she was employed
u this is true, the moral Is to exercise
the greatest vigilance and care not to.
come IN actual contact with anythingl
that may have been touched by tho.
plague and TO see that private houses
stores, servants quarters and the like
are properly fumigated in advance
why leave all the fumigation to the
authorities after a plague case has de-
veloped and confne it TO the places
where men have died or been exposed p
Why should not private individuals seeI
that their homes and places of business
are subjected early to the disinfectlngI
process which may kill the stray bal
cillus before it lodges in the human
system?
And Is it not time to put an end toI
the dilIy-dallying about the complete
eradication of Chinatown? 1t is there
the plague broke out. 1t is there most
OF the victims have been found. From
that infected center rats have made
their way into other parts of the town
and so have cur dogs, which could alsoI
carry the scourge. Probably the rat
which Is said to have died in Jordan s
store was a Chinatown refugee. AreI
we to go on, day by day and week byl
week, respecting the property of this
on that owner or estate in Chinatownl
while, meantime, the germs of plague
are bred in the awful stew of corrup-
ton there? Is it not high time to con-
slider the welfare of the many rather
than the interests of the few?
1t is a common misconception that
the Board of Health has been able,
with all It's energy, to get much the
better of the accumulated filth in Chi
natown. Two eXcavators are at work |
and two more have been built the lat
ter, we understand, are to be used In
the town at large. Now what can two
eXcavators do in the Asiatic quarter,
where filth is accommodating at ratel
may deal with the new supply, but they
cannot make much of an impression on
the old deposits. Ten or twenty exca-
vators might, but we cannot get them
Tubing for the carts is not available.
What then? Fire, lime, sulphuric
acid and continuous hard work until
Chinatown has become n bare plain
so deeply saturated with disinfectants
that no germ can live there. 1t is the
only thing TO do to make safety abso-
lutte. Once it is achieved we shall see
the end of the black death near at
hand; but we fear there can be no safe
ty short of that.
Abolish the plague spot, gentlemen
Of the Board of Health. 1t never does
any good to wash, to plaster or disin-
feet cancer. 1t does not help matters
to cover the ulcered thing from sight.
The cancer must be cut out. And so
we say to the authorities that the treat
ment OF the cancer on the breast of
Honolulu must be just as signally CON
elusive. The rottlng spot must be
burned out And the sooner the job is
done the better for the health of this
community and these Islands.