The Independent., 1901-04-12


made to DR.. Raymond last year lii
answer to question of his. Perhaps
by thinking hard, Doctor, you will re-
member that DIR. Raymond asked you
why you did not get some material
from the Board Of Health, or go into
the boards laboratory and make your
own experiments, carry on your own
cultures, and satisfy yourself as to the
nature of the illness about which you
seemed to have some doubt, and that
you in reply stated that you had n
family depending upon you and did not
care to handle such dangerous material
as that which was causing the deaths
in Honolulu at that time, and in ex-
PLANTATION of your wholesome fear OF
such intimate association with the
dangerous material mentioned to DR..
Raymond the death of DR.. Pestana,
who became infected by the plague
because of his temerity in doing that
which you preferred to leave to others
with more courage or less discretion.
Are you not just little ashamed OF
expressing or having an opinion in the
matter at all, Doctor under the cir
cumstances?
For reasons which are sufficiently
evident from what has been stated
above, it Is not worth while 10 argue
with you upon the question OF whether
the sickness of last year was plague
or something else. Your knowledge
upon the ssubject is too limited to en-
title You to an opinion. ~ @
However, you have made some state
ments which require correcting, and l
shall devote the remainder of this
friendly epistle to that purpose.
You did NOT keep alive plague
germs in the Kalihi laboratory for
over three years. Your cultures We're
as dead as Julius Caesar when your
successor assumed charge.
The cultures were NOT sent 20 you
from Hongkong. I got those cultures
in Hongkong myself in 1896, and sent
them to DR.. Day, through DR.. Beach,
of the steamer China.
1t was NOT the opinion of the ma
jority Of the physicians connected with
the Board of Health, at a meeting held
at, the Pacific Club, that there never
lad been any plague here.
This meeting was held at the very
beginning of the epidemic, only five
days after the first case, and every
physician present who had seen post
mortem, or examined a slide (and they
only were entitled to an opinion) eX
pressed the belief that the illness un-
der discussion was plague.
DR.. Raymond stated that he did not
consider the diagnosis yet proven. You
only physician present who stated that
he did not believe the disease to be
plague, and you forgot to give it a
name. "Haemorrhagic Septlcaemia"
had not yet been coined. AS there were
fifteen or twenty other physicians
present, you could hardly be called a
majority.
1 beg to respectfully deny your state
ment that there was no hign mortal
ity among the rats. The rat popula
ton in the. infected localities was prac-
tically wiped out; for instance, In Iwi-
lei. You must admit that know mora
about this than you do, Doctor, as
went into all of the infected localities
and you stayed out of them.
The disease DID spread in China
town in an increasing ratio until the
population was removed
You state that there were no cuses
recorded here which would prove that
the sickness was dangerous TO attend
ants or any one else; and that it was
not contagious, and yet you, yourself
admitted to DR.. Raymond that you
were afraid to handle it-and later
before many witnesses, stated in an
swer to a direct question that you
would not take your family ana move
into house in which a case had oc-
CURED, even after the most thorough
disinfection conducted under your own
direction. 3f"If~r
Have you forgotten the fate of Ma
chida, the young assistant of Dr. Ko:
bayashi, who died of plague on Janu-
airy 10th with "a bubo under his arm
from an infection of the thumb, con-
tracted while assisting DR.. Kobayashi
at a post-mortem upon plague vic
tim? And how about the two victims
from the small force of men working
Upon the odorless eXcavators-and the
four guards, who also died or the
plague?
Is your memory playing tricks upon
you again, Doctor?
You state that the epidemic OF last,
year was not plague, but Haemorrna-
sic Septicaemia. 1 presume, of course,
you carried out in full all of the ex-
periments which you enuHneraJe as
ecessary-including animal expert
ments, before making your diagnosis.
BY the WaX. do NnI not thinl, TINT