The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-02-19
HAWAII is A BUFFER
'.1r.rs Report Jo Washington ou ...
Plague Fire and the Cos. of s.u"s
with Claimants


I I'm Acting GOVERNOR Duuuurs rou..
/ Gao the Secretary of the Interior There.
/ is am interesting discussion of I."
/ plague ure ana the court of CLAIMS
which Us investigating losses thereby,
ending with recommendation that I."
customs collections DE devoted to pay -
nDut of the claims. IL lis as follows
During the prevalence of bubUuiu
plague i'm the city of Honolulu i'm the
months of December 1899. and January
| after many futile efforts To place lNut
portion of the city known as China
| town i'm sanitary condition became
convinced that extraordinary measures
would have to DE adopted y the dise8s.
was To be brought under control At
the beginning of the outbreak "a vOlun-
tppr citizens sanitary cDmrultea was
formed, and the entire city was subject
| ed To- rigid inspection. Those who
were assigned to Chinatown discover
/ ed condition of affairs which was hl-d
] To realize and from a health standpoint
revolving i'm the extreme I'm a number
/ of blocks labyrinth of narrow alley
/ ways We're found. surrounded Joy dIIa-
/ pidatcd wooden buildings totally unfit
/ for human habitatton Overlooking
cesspools existed under many of the
| houses, ana the decaNlng IIoor umpefs
We're saturated with the NTH. me ut
] ter indifference ana helpieSsness OF the
I inhabitants. as well as the general cou-
/ dluons, proved a formidable obstacle IN
| the way of sanitary Improvement.
/ ltorues OF rats INFESTED the LOCALITY ana
were considered a menace to the other
| parts of the city, owing to the fact that
| they We're known to be susceptible to
| the disease. FINALLY 1t was decided thaL
/ the only speedy way OF sowing the pro
| blem was to destroy by fire such build
| iugS as could not be satisfactorily reno
waited and which had been declared to
/ be infected by plague owing either to
| deaths having taken place in them or
/ in the immediate vicinity.
THE first fire was ordered by the
! board of health on January 1, 1900. The
| buildings to be consumed were situated
| ON Nuuanu street on the border line be-
| tween Chinatown and the business pOr-
! ton of the city. Three deaths from
plague had occurred in rapid succession
in one of the buildings ana several dead
! fats We're found in the rooms or adj
| joining houses. The fire department
/ was called out ana every precautiOn
4 was taken to guard against the spread
OF the ire, All the buildings i'm the con-
demned section, together with their
contents, were destroyed, and a sigh
| OF relief went up when ii was known
that at least one plague spot was dis
"osed OF. Inc hrSt tlre was Followed
by several others in the next succeeding
/ days until the great conllagration of
] January 20 occurred In attempt;hS
I to burn block of condemned buildings
the nre department lost control OF the
IRE, owing to a sudden and violent
change of wind. The burning embers
rose high i'm the air and finally set hre
to one OF the spires of haumakapili
church. All efforts to eNtinguish this
blaze were Intellectual, and hrebrands
We're soon lying over the Inflated quar-
] ter, winch readily lEnited numerous
nLes' ana WITHIN a Sh ri space OF time
CHINATOWN was ammo. completely ogS-
IfoEed' the only pofjI N saved Delns the
pIleA structures connected with me
nam business center Al the time the
LIe happened lhe district was under
UlIuIaIE puarauIlhe guard as no per-
son mao Deeu alIoWeo 10 IeaNe the quar-
, Ter N.'nouI P"iIihSSioh' LeneI camp
was unuef CONSTRUCTION at haIWaInlo'
ABOUT hlHeS OUTSIDE Oh the city, where