The National tribune., 1900-04-19
PHILIPPINE PLAQUES.
Measures Taken by Military Au-
tllorities to Improve Sanitary
Conditions and Prevent Spread
of Diseases in Manila.

| MANILA. Feb. %.
As illustrative of journalistic enter
| PRISE local paper to-day contained the
rather startling information that 80 new
cases of bubonic plague had developed
yesterday. On inquiry at Sanitary Head
quarters, under the command of MAJ i-Geu.
c. Edie, | was informed that there was no
truth in the report, but that the story had
probably arisen from the fact thst Mai. Ira
Brown, in making his round of sanitary
inspection had ordered 36 different China
men to be arrested for keeping their prem
ises III dirty condition. The health
authorities are congratulating themselves
on the fact that, with the exception of one
suspect, no new cases of plague have
developed for more than Il week.
The first case reported was that of a
native Filipino, Dec. 90, 1899, and since
that time % natives have had the disease,
Il cases proving fatal. About the middle
o1 January 1t was found that Chinaman
named Chan zap had died of the disease
Ill San Nicholas. the District next to the
bay and river, constituting the lowest part
of the business quarter
This was a source of new and serious
apprehension. not only because of the
strength of the supersttions among the
Chlnos as TO the treatment of their sick
and cremation of the dead, but also from
the crowded and unsanitary condition of
their dwellings,. The more intelligent
and wealthy of the Chinese, however i'm
mediately offered the authorities their
cooperation and support. They sub
scrlbed money for the erection of new
hospital to be used by victims of the disease
among their own people, and organized
Chinese sanitary corps to cooperate with
the authorities in making thorough
inspection OF the Chinese quarter. The
hospital has been completed, and their
sanitary corps has proved very efficient
indeed. The American hospital, in which
suspects are placed, is made up of tents,
but the Chinese is constructed Of nipa
thatch.
THE BLACK DEATH.
The bubonic plague, also known as
black death" and Oriental plague, is a
novelty TO the greater part of the medical |
profession here. 1t is described as an acute |
contagious disease. characterized by fever, |
swelling of the lymphatic |
glands, and hemorrbages 1t is imnedi- |
ately due to the absorption of a bacillus |
either by direct inhalation, by inocula- |
tlon from the food, or contact of the person. |
After incubating for from two to five |
days, the disease develops by producing |
severe pains i'll the back, headache. and |
perhaps delerium. la a day or two buboes
develop IN the groin, and not infrequently |
carbuncles i'll other parts, which eXcoriate
or break out upon the surface.
Post-mortem examinations disclose
thick, rod-shaped bacillus peculiar to the
disease. A Pinch immersion lens reveals
the microbes very clearly, a marked char
b..It, hot
OF the Individual bacillus are stained by
added coloring matter the central part is
not. That great care and caution are
necessary i'll making laboratory examina-
lions OF the germs was very thoroughly
demonstrated i'll Vienna several years ago,
where, through the accidental breaking
Of a culture tube containing them, four
people, including the doctor and his assist
ant lost their lives.
The japanese professors. Aoyama and
Is kitasoto, who in 1894 first discovered and |
Identified the plague bacillus in cultures
from Hong Kong while it was
aging in that city, We're more fortunate:
hOugh they made the mistake of main
aiming that the climate of Japan would
lever foster and propagate plague germs.
The fact that the plague is Just now prev
ilent in Kobe and other japanese towns
would indicate that il is not dependent so
much upon external temperature as upon
he heat OF the human body for its active ;
'peratiOnS.
HEALTH INSPECTORS.
OF course the great abettOr and coadiuf0r
# the plague, as of most other diseases
ere. Is filth; and to successfully encounter
nd destroy this prime minister of DEATH
he sanitary patrol have made daily rOundsi
/ inspection since this special inSurrection
gainst life and good order began. mol
shack" nipa hut, stable, dive, cellar or
ouse-boat escapes them. The. corps of
eath inspectors number 100, including
2 Chinese. and their red-cross badges are
ready passport to amy and every place
hey choose to enter.
They carry i'll a light wagon different
as cloride of lime bichloride
mercury, and carbOlic acid, together with
lIckets, brushes and brooms, and at every
lace requiring it, do their work rapidly and
\ disniecting plant, brought over by
ne transport Warren. is also at the service
the corps. An interpreter accompanies
lem when necessary, Il man who speaks
'agalO, Malay and three Chinese dialects,
S well as Spanish and English. He is "a
ortuguese mestizo, born in the Caroline
stands and educated at Hong Kong.
AS illustrating what they encounter
ley found Il family OF some Il persons,
presenting three generations, living in "A
lrner of II stable, eating and sleeping
Jgcther i'll Il space not more than six feet |
Iuare.
In another case a family of 10 lived in
ne archway; and in many cases pigs and y
hickens have been found concealed in the a
edding or about the house Strict orders il
ave been issued that these animals shall e
OF be kept within the city limits. C
DISEASE SPREAD BY RATS. Il
The theory is mooted here that small
and especially rats, are active
gents in spreading the disease; and | was II
formed at the Sanitary Bureau that dead h
ats had been found in the infected quarter /
t the city about the time of the outbreak of a
ne disease and since, which, it was believed v
ere victims of the plague. though the ..
efunct rodents have not been found i'm I
uch numbers as were reported in Hong d
.ong and Bombay when the malady ragged h
/ those cities. n
Another theory put forward to explain
'hy the disease makes such frightful G
lroads among Orentals and seldom at $
lcks Europeans, is that so many of the h
Drmer go about with their pedal extremi- n
eS covered with nothing more impervoIIs il
nan dirt, and that ii is prompt To attack the h
0ckless and shoelesS, who happen to come a
1 contact with the germs. In support of
lis view the fact is urged that il was among II
le Celestials lacking such substantial c
that the disease worked m
hen rayaging the provinces of Yunnan @,