The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-06-14
FRISCO is CALLED DOWN bY
WASHINGTON.
Federal Official Supervising ..le Clean
ing of Chinatown-The Extent of Pla-
gues Contagiousness.

Chinatown is infected with plague, san
Francisco is renovating and dlsintect-
ing Chinatown under the supervision
OF an oncer of the United States Ma
Tine Hospital Service. Tne government
health authorities at Washington nnal-
ly took the matter up and there APP
pears to be no further DOUBT tnat pia-
cue has existed for some time in the
Chinese quarter OF San francisco. In
formation ON the subject is SO success
Lully Kept from the public that only the
scientific journals tell the story The
following review OF the situation from
the Literary Digest gives the history
OF the case and shows how the federal
Authorities finally got tired of Frisco
taking:
The existence of the bubonic plague
in the Chinese quarter of San Francisco
which has been asserted and strenuous
ly denied during the past year, now
seems TO have been established beyond
doubt. The history of the disease is re-
markable on account of the attempt of
the state authorities. following the plan
of the legendary papal bull against the
comet, to quiet apprehension by legis-
lative denial of the presence of the
disease, and even to threaten those who
should venture to disagree with them.
The subject is thoroughly ventilated in
leading editorial in Science (May 10
from which we quote a number of
case of plague was discovered in the
spring of 1900, and was Immediately fol-
lowed by other cases, all of which were
promptly reported by the health autho-
rites. The diagnosis was objected to
| by a number of local physicians, and
on this basis the ex stence of the disease
| was at once denied by most of the city
! press The events that followed which
are both curious and interesting are
thus described in Science;
Fearing that the State Board of
| Health might quarantine the city and
that other States might quarantine the
| city, or even the State, to the vast in
| jury of public and commercial interests
the commercial interests of the city so-
| licited the establishment by the city
| board of health of a quarantine of
! Chinatown the portion of the city oc-
| cupII~. by the Chinese in which all the
reported cases had occurred. This re-
quest was acceded to, and the quar-
antine was established. The public was
| given to understand that plague was a
| disease of frightful contagiousness and
rapid spread, and that this quarantine
| was necessary to prevent the spread
| of the disease through the entire city
The quarantine though inadequately en-
| forced and obviously ineffective, was
quite naturally obnoxious to the Chi
| nese residents of the quarantined area
and they sought relief in the courts.
In the opinion rendered upon the
case, Judge Morrow decided the estab-
| lishment and maintenance of the qua
| rantine illegal, but marred what was
under the laws, a correct decision by
| the preJudicial and unwarranted state
| ment that no cases of plague had exist
ed in San Francisco. That the uuaran-
| tine was, in the light of our knowledge
of plague and in the light of the ORR
| entail experiences with the disease. an
| UnWarrantP6 mis- Of a
Is obvious AS rule, plague is not a
! personal infection, 1t is a house infec-
| ton; the best evidence of this fact is
the statement of one of the European
commissions that about the safest
| place in Bombay is the plague hospital
AS stated, the public of San Francisco
had been led to believe that plague was
a disease of frightful contagiousness;
| When, then, the quarantine was raised
and the Chinese population was allowed
to go where it chose in the light of the
afore-stated information, the disease
was expected to spread at once through
| the city. 1t did, of course nothing OF
| the sort. And naturally the general
| public at once lost confidence in the
local board of health and in the cor
rectness of the diagnosis"
Matters dragged on, we are toId
until the opening of the State Legisla.
| ture. In his message, Governor Gage
denied the existence of plague in the
State and passed severe structures upor
the surgeon of the Marine Hospital Ser.
vice. A motion was passed by the le.
glslature requesting the national Gov.
ernment to recall the surgeon, Kinyour
who demanded an investigation of tn,
hygienic state of affairs in San Fran
cisco. The Treasury Department there
upon sent to San Francisco a specia
committee composed of men of inter.
national reputation. Upon their arriva
bills We're introduced into the legisla
ture making it criminal offense fol
any one to report the existence of pla
que without the confirmation of the
state Board of Health, and prohibiting
the handling of cultures of the bacillus
pestis as prejudicial to the public
health. These bills did not pass, bu
they serve to illustrate the peculiar
mental attitude of some of the legisla
! tors. 1t had been charged that bacte
, biologists had Intentionally infecte,
! with the bacillus pestis the bodies O
Cinnamon dead of other causes, il
order to bolster up their diagnosis. TIL
special commission, after spending sew
eral weeks in San Francisco, and study
ing six cases of plague, presented a re
port confirming the existence of tn
: disease in the city. A committee o
citizens then went to Washington, an
agreed with the national authoritie
that the city of San francisco and tn
state of California should bear tn
expense of cleaning and disinfectin
Chinatown under the supervision of a
officer of the Marine Hospital Servic,
This disinfection is now in progress,
The writer goes on to say:
That now, one year after the troubl
began, the State is compelled to d
what it all along refused to do. under
take the hygienic renovation of China
town is an obvious proof of the correc
ness of the frank and open course. Ha
the Chinese section been promptly an
effectively cleaned one year ago. III
n disease would have been stamped OF
y at little cost, and the episode woul
have been ere this forgotten. At pre-
ent the pail still hangs over Californ
and there is general distrust of IN
on the part of the other states. W
trust that the present measures wi
prove effective. and that the State HI
escaped the occurrence OF a seriol
epidemic; but this escape will hay
CONTINUED to page five.)