The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-01-01
NEWS OF JAPAN
State of the Plague in
Kobe.
The Relations Of Japan and Russia
Anti-Tobacco Legislation PropOs-
ed in the Diet.

of plague on Friday. December s, an
other on the eth and one on the 18th.
No new cases were reported today.
The methods Of the authorities for
stamping. out the plague in Kobe are
causing some comment on the ground
of want of thoroughness. While. for
instance, the proprietor of a factory
where more than ten operatives are
employed is ordered TO engage a doctor /
at his own expense to examine all the |
men every morning and report the re-
suit to the authorities, We are told by |
the Kobe Shibmun that during the past !
few days some houses have not been
visited at all by the health officials who
are supposed to be going round the
houses examining the health Of the in
habitants.
The Yushin states that no special eff
feet has yet been made on the foreign
trade of Kobe by the outbreak of
plague No decrease is noticeable in
the departures and arrivals of vessels,
and the only thing observed is some
decrease in the number of passengers
arriving at Kobe by boat and rail. of
import goods, iron, American and In
dian cotton and sugar are in good de-
mand, and the dealers are taking de-
livery of such goods without the least
hesitation, while the export of mating
and other articles is very active.
At a meeting of the Kobe Physicians
Association, held on Sunday last, a
resolution was adopted that a doctor
visiting the house of a patient should
wear an over garment of white mate
rial which could be disinfected, and
should always carry with him appara-
tus for disinfecting which could be used
in the case of patents suspected to be
suffering from the plague.
a correspondent of the Kobe Shin
bun, who was recently examined for
his health by a physician sent by the|
City Office, objects to the danger from
infection which the examination i'm
wolves. He thinks that the doctors en-
gagged in such service should wash their
hands with proper disinfeCtants before
examining each healthy person. as doe
tors are quite as liable to carry the
infection as anybody else This is qula|
true, and we may state that a foreigner
who was examined quite a number of
times while taking a railway journey
recently, at last insisted on the Their
mometer used being carefully washing
in his presence before his tenn eIature|
was tested
In view of the fact that ignorant peo-
pie are very apt TO conceal cases of
plague. the residents at TennOji, Osa-|
ka, and ueighbOrhoOd have set up a box
at a convenient place, in which inform
alton about a house where a case of
plague is supposed to be may be secret
ly given.
4 writer to the Kobe Shimbun states
that it is quite right to isolate the
places where the plague occurs, butt
poings out that as long as the policeI
are allowed to freely go in and out
of the isolated area there will be dan
ger.
On the authority of DR.. Kitasato. the
Yushin states that the only course now
possible for stamping out the disease,
which appears already to have spread
to all parts of the city. is TO thoroughly
cleanse houses and premises. destroy
all rats, medically inspect the people
and collect all the inhabitants of the
poorer quarters in Kobe in one place
and there isolate them. The improve
ment of the drains an keeping houses
clean, Just as in the cities OF Europe |
are also recommended. The simplest
way of catching rats, according to DR.. |
Kiyasato, is to spread birdl1me on a |
sheet of paper, putting in the centre
something of which rats are very fond.
It is an extremely difficult matter to
disinfect houses where plague has Oc-
Cured to such an extent as tol
thoroughly stamp out the disease.
For instance, the house of Hirai Mata-
kichi at Fukiai, who recently died from
NJ xxrac Il ii n facrad tnraa tirnpG
and yet the children were affected
three weeks after the disinfectiOn had
taken place Such houses DR.. Kita-
sato urges should be pulled down and
the debris burnt.
The number of dead rats picked up
in the city of Kobe up to the 4th inst,
since the outbreak of the plague. num-
Der So. OF this number. no less than
eight were found to contain plague
bacflli, one bacilli resembling those of
the plague five were free from the ba-
cilli, and 81 contained unknown bacilli.
The number of the animals caught and
officially reported is 1902 in all.
Drainage of Kobe.
The Kobe Chronicle says: We are
glad to learn that the local Sanitary
Society has adopted a resolution to ad-
/ dress Il memorial 10 UONtIuO OlllllOLl
on the necessity of an improvement in
the drainage of Kobe, which has hither-
to been much neglected, and is likely
to act as a medium for spreading cpl
demic diseases. As a matter of fact.
as the memorialists point out, typhoid
fever and diphtheria are constantly
present, and such diseases are now be-
ginning to be regarded as chronic in
Kobe. The cleansing of houses and all
other precautionary measures, which
are now being vigorously carried out,
are rendered nugatory by the bad state
of the drains. and should measures
against infectious disease be
neglected much longer. the trade Of theI
port will be seriously affected. The
city. however. has many pressing i'm
portant works TO attend 10. as il con-
tinues to increase by leaps and bounds,
and the inhabitants can scarcely SUPP
port any heavier burdens. The total
length of the roads or streets OF thel
CITY now amounts 10 90 ri. with 81 ri OF