Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1900-01-08
VIEWS OF MEDICAL MEN.

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should now be accepted. They might
meet with similar Instructions tC
| those encountered in Hongkong, but
the work must be persevered in and he
was glad to see the profession united
in demanding sanitary conditions.
Dr.. Hoffman regarded Honolulu as
the dirtiest town he had ever seen.
Dr. Cleveland, a lady physician
made few general remarks expressive
of hope that the improvements now
projected would make these Islands in
reality the Paradise of the Pacific.
DR.. Raymond advocated radical
methods as being distinctly obligatory.
Things he classified as absolutely os-
sential were increase of the water sup
ply, the extension of the sewerage sys-
TEN. the burning of garbage and the
wiping out of Chinatown. This whole
section should be laid bare. Medical
men We're aware that this was the only
way to deal effectively with an infected
district. He referred to the purifying
process employed in Hongkong. The
question arose whether these essential
steps were feasible. He believed ar.
rangemonts could he made with the
Chinese whereby syndicate could give
them new and clean Chinatown. In
the meantime the Inhabitants could be
housed in temporary barracks. With
the large income of this community
from its exports the cost of such
sweeping changes would be mere
bagatellc. He closed by moving that
the chairman appoint n committee to
prepare resolutions for submission to a
corresponding committee of the Cham
Der of Commerce, for consideration and
perfecting in joint conference. to he
presented to the Council of State and
by that body acted upon as a matter of
emergency.
DR.. Myers seconded the motion.
DR.. Mort suggested the setting apart
of hospital room for the examination
of all cases of fevers. There were two
kinds of plague. pneumonia and alb
dominal, and il was difficult to dag
nose cases in the dark rooms of China.
town.
DR.. Raymond advised the recon-
mendation, as one of the measures for
adoption, of amended building laws
which would compel some observance
of wholesome rules of living on the
part of Asiatics. With such reform
Gus an element in one section than In
another.
DR.. Alavarez suggested caution in
the burning of buildings Owners of
buildings destroyed which had not
been infected would doubtlessly dis
pute the authority for the action. He
thought hot steam would be a good
purifying agent where lire could not
be lawfully employed. A steam dis
injecting plant would be invaluable for
cleansing the belongings of people
visited by any infectious disease. The
possibility Of typhoid fever becoming
epidemic here made such an apparatus
desirable. 1t might be that the pres
ent visitation, which could hardly he
called an epidemic should continue Tor
a long time, and in that case the
policy now being pursued by the Board
of Health would be impracticable. The
business interests could not stand H.
Cities abroad dealt with epidemjcS
quietly without stopping the ordinary
course of affairs. Doctors should not
be too busy to attend such meeting
as this one. Water filtration was urs-
ed by the speaker.
DR.. Raymond, referring to what the
previous speaker had said about deal
ing with uninfected buildings, argued
that the crOwding into the small area
of Chinatown Of enough people to fair
ly populate pretty large town on the
was sufficient justification
for denouncing the entire district as
infected when contagious disease APP
peared in any part of II.
DR.. Day supported the motion for
suggesting that it report
back to the Association a week thence,
They had the support of the planters
and merchants.
Dr.. Taylor remarked on the UNI
doubted existence of the plaSIC--the
worst scourge that can afllict human
beings-in this, virgin community
so far as that disease was concerned.
He did not believe 1t could be stamped
out quickly. Its history promised that
1t would not for some time attain its
maximum. 1t would not be impossible
to disinfect Chinatown. Nothing but
complete burning out of the section
would suffice. Then the soil ought to
be impregnated with oil and subjected
to fire, and no buildings be allowed
upon the territory for at least one year.
Even now shacks were being erected
which, If allowed to go on, would soon
produce new Chinatown. 1t was idle
for them to discuss law. They were
not lawyers. This was matter pure
ly of self-preservation to the commun-
ity.
DR., Emerson did not despair Of sue
cess in the efforts being made to stamp
out the plague. There was no reason
why the town should not be made per-
fectly wholesome in keeping the ma
tural health conditions here prevailing.
He suggested that 1t would be advisa-
BILE to have trees thinned out in places,
as, with all the benefits of foliage, trees
were liable in certain cases to shelter
disease.
The motion having been passed by
common consent, the chairman prom
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