The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-19

8. 1900
anu, ana that at the earliest possible mo
ment the lepers will be gathered togatb
s s ana carried there. This has bee
doubt but that it should be done in ,he
i ''ie
The Leper In Asia
mis- ms part OF the world seems to breed
ieperS There are said to be more thar
a million in India, China and japan an,
IN TINS estimate half a million is ssipn
ed TO Hindoostan. No accurate sTafis
ers nave oeen taken for China. for lep
the southern part of that empire. TheX
mix about with the rest of the nsonIe
anu anu you see leper beggars everywhere
IN many or the rivers they go about in
boats asking for aims. thrusting on, bags
attached to long poles at every boat
ana ship which goes by They blackmaiI
the funeral professions and levy tribute
on the mourners, threatening to touch
them if they do not give aims. There is
a ieper asylum in Canton which has 500
inmates. There both sexes live together
s Slau many OF them marry and have chill
l saw no Chinese lepers in the Manila
hospital, but there is a large Chinese
population here, and without doubt some
1L tne chinese are lepers. Leprosy was
"a
before the days of Confucius, and il is
said that one OF the disciples of that
sage died of this dreadful disease
Leprosy Is usually caused by contact.
put IT is the more prevalent wherever the
people are overcrowded, dirty and poorly
TED A hot, moist climate, such as we
nave mere. is conducive to it. and the
Government is using every effort TO mt
tiie Town IN better sanitary condition
The Health of Manila
So far our soldiers have been very
healthy mere in Manila, and also in all
parts OF the Philippines. l have no doubt
out that these islands arr among the
most healthful of all tropical countries.
and, for people who live well and take
care OF themselves there is but little
uahSer. Inc heat is greater than that
OF the United States in the summer
The natives, however, have ne health
regulations and Il Ouse-to-house vista
tlon which the sanitary officials arr, now
making SHOWS that the city is in a very
bad condition
The death rate for the last six months
OF la.y was about Il per 1000, estimating
the population at 0O.O00. or if esfinnara5
at 100000, about 81 per 600 These fip,Iree
are exceedingly high. Hongkong which
is in the same latitude as Manila. and
Whlch has about the same climate, mas a
death rate only half as large. and II is
next door TO China, with all the plaques
mat that country so regularly produces
here we had practically no plaques dur.
ing the time above mentioned
The Black Plague.
Within the past few weeks, however
there nave been q number of cases of the
black death, or bubonic plague. This
plague mas broken out at several of tbs
ports of japan and China, and there have
been number of deaths from il here
found it a Kobe, Japan when | passed
through on my way to the PHILIPPINES
All the passengers taken on there were
= %
fore they We're permitted to come or
beard the ship, the captain of the shin
requiring doctors certificate from each
The black plague has. in the past beer
very prevalent in China, especially IN
Canton and Aongkong. 1t also exists il
lndla, and there are now a large number
OF cases in Bombay and Calcutta
W,.4t TO Eat the Rats,
The doctors here tell NE that it is ofteg
communicated by rats, and within the
past few weeks, they have sent out ar
order that all the rats are to be killed
II is charged that the F'iIipinos ana the
Chlnese VIII not cooperate with the
health department in this matter because
there are many among them who ea
rats as food | have bought dried rat:
which were offered for sale as eatabIt
articles in the cities of China and | Sc,
them for sale in the Chinese store.
mere The rats communicate the plagu,
by contact, or by running over the PEG
pie 1t is also carried by the feas which
live on the rats and carry the disease L
the human beings whose bodies ma,
form their next feeding ground
How the Plague Comes.
SO far nearly every one who ha,
caught the black plague here has died
The disease comes upon one withou
warning, in the shape of a fever which
in a snort time raises the temperature o
the patient to 105 degrees and inward
hn not ,
severe headache and shows signs of stu
por- After twelve hours the glands O
the neck, the armpits, or the groins be
gin to swell and soon become as larg,
as hens eggs. In some cases the pa
lent vomits blood, and within a few
hours he dies. Some few recover Ant
if one can keep himself alive for six day.
after exposure he is probably safe.
Inc plague kills rats as well as human
beings. Dead rats are found in the
drains in the infected portions of China
and the rats ran from such places al
most as fast as the men.
Object to Cremation.
The doctors here have had considera bl.
trouble about disposing of the bodies
They at first insisted that all should be-
burned, but the Chinese and Filipino:
made such an outcry over this that Gen
eral Otis has countermanded the order
When the plague was so bad in Cantor
many or the pallbearers who We're paic
~ Ndiis iIt COillilS TO the graves were
stricken with it, and when four mer
would go out for the purpose often but
two would return. The Chinese here are
very anxious to have the bodies of the
deceased sent back to China They put
them in immense wooden collins which
are Theoretically sealed by vanishing
them again and again with sort of lac.
quer but which are, nevertheless, unsafe
In case of the plague. During the prev
alence of the disease at Canton there
were number of Chinese coffin associa
tons, men who dubbed together to fur.
nish collins for the poor. In one such
club 1000 collins were given away. anc
altogether more than 10000 collins were
furnished for plague patients.
A Nation of Scratchcrs.
1t is said that so per cent of the people
of the Philippines are suffering from
skin disease, and, from the amount OF
scratching L see going on, l Judge thai
the hgures are not overdrawn. Every
second person you meet, whether man
woman or child, jerks his clothes this
way and that, apparently hunting 70,
Heas The diseases are largely caused by
eating fish, which forms the chief diet OF
the native Filipino. II brings about a
hsh eczema, in which the skin scales off
making the patient look a times not I'M
ike leper. Then there is the dobe
Il. L.