The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-03-30
JAP A SUICIDE.
Found Hanging in an
Empty House,
First Thought TO be Case OF Plague
Dr.. Hoffman, Proves
Otherwise.

Rumur had It that another plague
case had cropped up In Honolulu yes
terday. The story current on the
streets was that japanese realizing
that he had the plague had become
desperate and anticipated the work of
the disease by taking his own life.
Along in the afternoon a man rushed
into the Board of Health office and said
that the swollen and blackened body OF
a Japanese man had been discovered
In an empty house away out on Bere-
tania street near the Kamoiliili Church,
and that the case showed signs of the
plague.
Not long afterwards the matter was
reported by one of the corps of paid in
spectors. In going his round about
2:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon the
inspector had occasion to examine an
empty house in his district, towards
the Waikiki end of Beretania street,
not far from the Kamoiliili Church. On
entering one of the abandoned apart
ments of the building the inspector
came suddenly upon the dangling, life
less body of the Japanese, suspended
by the neck from a rafter by means OF
a long sash. The man had apparently
been dead for several hours; the limbs
were rigid and swollen and the face
was black. Lying on the floor in
corner of the room was a good-sized
valise, bearing the following inscrlp-
ton: "Mishimura, A. 49,"
DR.. Emerson was called to view the
body. He examined 1t very closely,
and with n great deal of suspicion.
| awpllipOc liSnnvnrn1 N a
groin and in the femoral glands, and
the doctor decided that the case was
suspicious enough to demand thor
ough investigation.
The body of the suicide was remov-
ed with all haste to the morgue and
there awaited the post norton exam
nation. While the undertaken was
transferring the body from Beretania
street to the pest house, Deputy Mar
shall Chillingworth inquired at the
Board OF Healdh concerning the where
abouts of the morgue. He was In
formed as to the location of that es-
tabhshment and went away after ask
ing a few questions about the suicide
The Health authorities acted with
pronptness in the handling OF this
matter; the case was apparently one
of suspicion and called for immediate
action and careful management.
1t was reported that The suicide had
come from Japanese lodging house In
Iwilei, on the slaughter house road,
one OF the buildings recently burned
by order of the Board of Health, from
which a victim OF the plague had been
taken.
This report has not yet been con-
firmed. Acting on Its recent resolution
that all unattended deaths should be
posted before the coroner was notified,
the post mortem examination was held
az the morgue late last night. DIR. Hoff-
mann performed the autopsy and dis
covered that the suicide had been suf
fering for some time with an acute
form of scrofulous disease. DR.. Hoff-
mann signed death certificate, giving
strangulation as the cause Of death.
The name of the self-slain Japanese
was entered on the morgue books as
Mishimura, age about &c or 81, height
5 feet 2 inches, body well nourished.
Mishimura is supposed to have hung
himself early yesterday morning, the
probabilities are that he had become
disconsolate through suffering with the
disease that had excited suspicion on
The first examination of the body.