The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-04-23

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.UH NH.UH. IHII. .UI IWt IH. .ia.
once Squad Ih. WiIIT,. HnI GU. ultIt.
v..t utu.u.HtI.kyu. There had Boon bIt
utUr fOuef1i vaccination among tue Us.
utts .1 tha disease uul DIDhf Geld.
aud Js IhUy were igu0rUut of tIu malHIy.
and d'd not know how Co take care uf
themselves they died like sheep lly the
sttu of june Tho ouHta numbered az.
and throughout suly ana August the dis
case ragged With terrible violence over
The entire Island. The whole medical
stan OF Honolulu came forward az the
first. and offered their aid ANA services
rratuitously TO the Commission, which
were gratefully accepted. u was a very
generous thing TO do, as II meant hard
work night and day with personal risk
and no pay.
By the middle Of July the question
arose as to the huryinE of the dead. No
one not even those who had recovered
from the disease. or who had not taken
IL. would assist In such work. There
fore the Commission was obliged to call
on all ble-bodied men who had recov-
cred, to help the police In that work;
ana In case OF refusal they were fined or
imprisoned. 1t was a harsh measure but
n necessary one for the public good, as
the Honolulu police We're most laborious-
ly employed night and day In attending
the sick and burying the dead in the
town, and could not be sent two or three
miles away to perform that duty. At
this time there were in the fort six men
who had been engaged in the riot of the
previous year, and who had had the
smallpox. The King authorized me to
offer them their freedom If they would
consent to bring the sick to the hosp
tails, and help bury the dead. They
agreed to this offer, and no light task
did they find 1t; as forty fifty was the
usual number buried uaily, and some
times more. the men We're often kept
working until midnight. after having
been at work all day long At the end
of July, forty houses were put up at
Waikiki. and thirty on the Eva side of
Honolulu, as hospitals.
Pages could be filled describing the
heroic work done by volunteers in nurs-
ing the sick; and there are some here
today who could tell of heart-rending
scenes. Families We're broken up; par
ents deserted their children the husband
would leave the rest of the family in a
dying condition 1t was not uncommon
to find an entire family sick at the
same time, or to enter "A house only to
find dead bodies. The disease appeared
in the most remote places and numbers
seemed to take it from mere fright; it
was a time that tried mems souls.
After August the disease began to
abate, and by the end of the year 1t had
almost disappeared. Thanks to the quar-
antine enforced, there were not many
cases on the other Islands, SO that those
living there knew comparatively little
OF the dreadful times on Oahu.
During the prevalence. of the disease,
a number of meetings were held by the
and considerable excitement
was caused by some persons who made a
political affair of it, charging DR.. Judd
and Mr.. Armstrong as the persons who
were responsible for the introduction of
the disease. A more wilful accusation
could not be imagined; but certain ones
who had ill-feelings against the former
carried the matter SO far that he was
from office. Naturally this caus-
ed a good deal of feeling, which was I'M
as the whole community were
doing their best to stop the disease, so
as to be entirely free of it when the
feet came in the fall; and every
means We're taken to purify the town.
The disease had been mostly concentrat-
ed around Maunakea street, and as it
grass houses, in the latter part of Au-
gust fourteen of them were burned down,
the Fire Department having been pre-
viously called out to prevent the spread
Of the flames.
AS the epidemic began to supside an
was made as to its origin.
Many attributed it to the case from the
Charles Mallory. but 1t could not have
come from that one case, as some
months had passed since that vessel had
left before 1t made its second appear
ance. The nearest the Commission got
to the truth was that captain of a
merchant ship, which arrived here from
San Francisco, gave his clothes to the
TWO women who We're Arst taken sick, |
% wash. In conversation with one of
he Commissioners, he said that only a
week before leaving that city the occu-
pant of the room next to his had died |
If the smallpox. The partitions between
he rooms We're made of brown cotton |
10th, and his the captain's) clothing |
lung against this partition of cloth; and |
IN his arrival mere he had given this |
clothing to the two women to wash. A |
story was circulated that the disease
'ame from lot of old clothing that had |
,een brought here and sold, some months |
1rior to the first case; but there was no |
to 1t.
l. nave dlTtuuy dlluucl 10 the meas
Ires taken to purify the town before
he arrival of the whaling fleet. The fleet .
It this time numbered two or three
thousand men, and as the Commission
lad reason to think that the greater
art of them had never been vaccinated,
md as the ships Were shortly expected
rom the Arctic, 1t was decided, on their
trivial, to keep all the crews on board
until they We're vaccinated. This deci-
ion was laid before Hon. Elisha II. AL
en-, then the United States Consul, and
le was asked to call a meeting of the
ther Consuls to consider It, This was
one, and all OF them agreed that 1t was
wise measure and further, that they
you'd assist the Commission In carrying
out. Shortly after this meeting, Mr..
Allen resigned his office. and was sue
eeded by Mr.. b. f. Angel. who, in COM
any with the other Consuls issued the
GLOWING circular. which was sent to
he vessels on their arrival in port:
United States Consulate,
Honolulu, Sept. 81, 1853.