The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-02-24
MAO|'S PLAGUE
DR.. Armitage Makes a
Statement.
Says Previous Reports Have Msrep-
resented Things - General
Maui News Notes.


vertlsers Maui correspondent, by
George Hons and by President Wood
of the Board of Health, comes from
DR.. Armltage of Waikiki. 1t is per-
maps unnecessary for this paper to say
that it printed ali it had in good faltn
and based its editorial conclusions up
on news that seemed accurate:
Waikiki, Maui, Feb. IA, 1900
Editor Advertiser: Your issue or the
18TH inst. received by me TO-DAY con-
tainS SO many remarkable mIsstate-
lnents in reverence TO the commence
ment and progress of the plague on the
island OF Maui, that / feel constrained
in justice to myself and to the public
TO present you with an accurate &C
count of the epidemic. Il
Not only is your own editorial on the
subject misleading; but the reported
statement of Mr.. Hons, as well as the
reported official report of DR.. Wood, re-
quire very considerable alterations to
make them agree with the facts. In
one particular you are correct, when
you state that | attended all OF the
cases: and now | shall endeavor as
briefly as possible to make you aware
of the true facts of the case, prefacing
my account with the remarks, that the
diagnosis of case of plague is fire.
quently a matter of some difficulty in
the absence of archaeological evidence,
and that so far, no station for bacterfo-i
logical research had been established
on this island, until the arrival of DIR.
Garvin.
Case No l. On Sunday morning, the
4th inst, | was called to see a China
man residing in a house situated
amongst the taro patches some dis
lance below the Wailuku depot. l
drove thither, taking with me my Chin
csc cook as interpreter. The patient,
man named All Tong, was in an ex-
tremely weak condition, barely able to
stand, with a temperature of 104o, rapid
pulse and respiration. He had come
from wash house in Kahului, where
he had been taken i'll on Chinese New
Years day, and my enquiries and ex-
animation led me to believe that he was
suffering from malaria; but ny sus-
p1cions were aroused by considerable
glandular enlargement on the right
side of the neck which had arisen two
days previously. His friend came to
my house for medicine, but returned
ABOUT three hours later, stating that
the man was dead. Immediately | teIe-
phoned to Mr.. Hayselden, the deputy
| sheriff; on his arrival | told him that
l mad case which | strongly suspected
| to be one of plague and requested him
to find Sheriff Baldwin and DIR. We'd
! dick, and ask them to meet me at nv
house as, soon as possible. Some time
| afterwards, the sheriff arrived. and 7
| endeavored to impress him with the
gravity of the case, urging on him the
| necessity of strict inquiry and ex-
| animation, and stating that in nv opiu-
| ION the lungs would be found to be
seriously affected. DR.. Weddick did
not see me about the case, nor was |
asked to take part in the postmortem
examination which, so | have learned
afterwards, was restricted to a simple
examination of the affected glands. pro
nounced by the Government physician
to be free from suspicion.
case No. 2. On the morning of Feb
ruary 9th, | was called to see an old
| man named Sam Yeng. residing In and
part owner of the wash house from
! which case No. l had come At thn
time, | was on my way to see All Ming
TO whom | had been summoned thai
morning. 1t seems that the old man
mad been i'll for some DAYS but had
1 declined medical attendance. and whom
l saw him sitting on a stool in a semi
! comatose condition, I told his friend
mat ne was dying. I had him laid ON
/ a couch, and found that beyond high
! ieVer, and rapid pulse and respiration
mere was nothing to arouse susnicion
OF infectious disease. He died before
Iete.vIne medicine. DR.. Weddick did
/ not consider autopsy necessary.
! case NO 3. Leaving him, I naseed
/ on 10 the Sam Sing store and restai,r-
ant III the same block to visit tho
/ ina yer An Ming. | had attended him
! on former occasions and know bon-
/ easily he became Frustrated lto
| comparatively slipht attack of ilIraa.
! he was arnarently SUFFERING fror,
| severe mal9rial svmntoms chiIls ond
men fever over 1862. There u,aro ~
sVmntoms pathoenomonfc Of nIao,,e
win the exception of a very s1iobt o,.
seInent Of the left femoraI glands
! "hen L took DR.. Weddick RI COO ,+bis
cdsE on FeDruarv 7th. he did not ro-
Sat9 IL as suspicious: whilst DIR Wood
LoIu me that the gland forwarded n
1 nlln LOT examination did not resemble
endt Vi plague patient. and that on
receiving it. he and DR. HofYmoDr
snled' thinking that it was a faIsa
diafm. MicroscOpical evidence obou,od
,ne Dacllli. When last saw All Mine
Iate on the night OF February sth he
was sensible. his temperature had
Yielded considerably to hypodermtc H inl
lections of quinine, he was cnv 1 I'D
with profuse perspiration. and was
apparently suffering from cardiac
syneore, for which I Injected strvcb-
nine nitrate. He died early on the 9th.
cases Nos. 4 and 5. These were a
japanese woman and her babv. named
respectively Yasu and Sc WoriLara
Ihey had come from Camp 7, Spreck-
elsvllle, about fifty days previously.
Late on the night of February 9th hay-
ing been summoned to visit them at
hahului. where they were living in the
same block as the other cases. 7 found
mem 70 be suffering from high fever,
me woman complaining Of severe all
nominal pain, the child showing symp-
.oms OF bronchitis. The child died dur-
ing the night. the woman on the fol-
lowing day. In the light of the other
cases, consider both these as cases Of
/ prague, although in nvoy,o;~o4aa, .FLn.