The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-02-19

destroyed. (c) Arrangements have
been made for the local preparation of
Lustig.s. serum. I'D The different CON-
are being moved and assisted
to start health camps and hospitals Of
their own. (e) Arrangements have
been made for tile-turning. (f) "A sys-
tematic survey of houses in. the city lis
being made with a view. ts their sani-
tary improvement. 1t .appears-and
this may be OF interest to authorities
in Japan-that the regulations regard
ing the segregation of persons who
have been in contact with plague casss
have been considerably relaxed, and 2
such persons are allowed to attend sto
their ordinary duties on the sole con-
dition of returning to camp in @t6e
evening in order to be kept under OBJ
servation.. On the other hand, Lieu
tenant Brackenbury, who Is In charge
of the plague operations of sMandyi
and Calcutta, says that up to the mid
die of March last those people es-
capped whom the landlords compelled
to live under sanitary conditions, and
only in those houses where every one
was allowed to come and live without
being asked where he came from did
the disease show itself In this way
they prevented the infection from be-
ing. introduced. or, when it was intro
dueed, spreading" But we also learn
from the same observer that during
the months of March and April, when
the diseases attacked the houses
Through rats), scarcely any of the
houses built over godowns escaped.
These godowns and the houses over
them are always infested with rats. It
was most remarkable that in Mandvi.
while all the people were coming to
me with tales Of rats dying, and was
finding how useless 1t was sending only
patients out of the house to stop the
spread of the disease, in Chuckla l
heard no such stories, and l found that
if / sent the patient to a hospital, as
/ had been doing. this measure was
quite sufficient TO prevent further
cases There are no godowns under
meath the houses in Chuckla. When
the disease attacked houses, 1t seemed
to attack all alike-badly ventilated.
dark, overerowded chawls, In which
poor Ghattis live as well as the large,
airy buildings of the richer mer-
chants" r.a.f ~. ..sf,sisss
New Form OF Plague. =
HONGKONG, Jan. 25.-The Press
says: The form the pest has taken in
Japan is not that which attacks people
through abrasion of the skin, being
thus comparatively slow in its develop
ment. but that which attacks the
respiratory organs, against which the
Yersin serum has been without effect,
though it may possess preventive
properties. The two doctors who sue
cumbed attended a., pRtient suffering.
unknown to them, from this form or
plague and they were consequently en-
tirely unprotected and simply inhaled
the disease. One plan the Japanese
doctors have recommended In dealing
with the plague is that the infected
| houses should be promptly destroyed,
and it is pointed out that Ii this had
| been done in Kobe when the first case
became known the disease would not
have assumed it's present dangerous
proportions. Foreign medical men in
! Japan predict that If the plague In
| Osaka, one of the most densely popu-
lated cities in Japan, is not stamped
out, it may spread among the inhabit-
ants of that Empire, who as AStatics
are so liable to contract It, and 1t Will
become as great scourge as II Is IN
India today. Although all are thankful
that the plague has apparently run its
| course in Hongkong, yet the colony Is
not entirely free from it, and no effort
should be withheld by the authorities
| that tends to prevent it's reaprearance.
A recent leading medical authority
stated that the rat was the chief prop
agator. of the disease, and our Sanitary
Board have rightly started crusade
against these vermin. Though a mon
etary inducement has been offered the
Chinese and traps supplied on loan to
Inouseholders, only one rat within sew
eral days was presented at the Office
of the Sanitary Board. This would
tend to show that the reward is not
sufficient, though undoubtedly good
many of the vermin have been exter-
minated by the use Of the traps sup
piled without the reward being claimed.
Though the result is apparently disap-
pointing yet 1t behooves the Sanitary
Board to perseyere. and promote en-
lergetically any means for the preyen-
| tion of the disease that the Medical and
Sanitary Officers approve. Above all
the last meeting of the Board revealed
the fact that the cooperation OF the
public in sanitary reform is not always
easy to obtain. That Is frequently an
impeachment but it may be overcome by
a vigorous board, and such the new
body has already developed symptoms
of becoming. The dread OF the effects
of a future possible visitation of the
plague-o~ any epidemic that an east
ern popU! is so liable to-should
have the effect OF demanding the ener-
getic cooperation OF the community
even if public spirit be no incentive.
Cruiser Raided by Pira'es.
II CANTON, Jan. 24.-The screw steam-
er Yao Kun, owned by man named
Kwan-lo-sam, OF Canton, running be
! tween Canton and Suncho, in the dis
trict of Punyu. and having on board a
number of passengers and little cargo
| was attacked and taken away by
pirates. On the 21st instant. at noon,
she started on her usual trip from Can
ton. On reaching Samcheong village
some of the passengers on board hailed
small boats and wanted to go ashore,
when number of pirates well dressed,
| Inc nd nj