The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-11-29

premises with it and do away entire
ly with cesspools those denominations
of primitive village life.
This subject is not one that will in
terest pupils or teachers. but ii is i'm
portant that all should know the
necessity Of maintaining the utmost
cleanliness Of such cesspools as are
still IN use.
The other day 7 was called TO see a
poor consumptive and found him living
on the ground floor of an old two
story house, makai of Beretania street.
near Alapai in d fairly GOOD neigh
borhood you observe Having occa-
sion to go into the back room I was
shocked To see the filthy condition of
the floor from an INSTRUCTED drain. Yet
the man and his family had peen living
in these unsanitary conditions for some
time. Such disease breeding holes are
not so very uncommon in Honolulu.
Our Board of Health rs trying hard
to abate the nuisances. but more often
than not they fail to get the CO..
operation of the residents. Frequent
ly they have to begin condemnation
proceedings in the courts before they
can get the owners to clean up.
1t is truly astonishing to see how
supine some of the people are in these
matters. They do not seem to realize
that cleanliness, personal and domestic
is a sine qua non of healthy living.
Because it is little trouble or ex-
pense they will allow the daily waste
of the household to accumulate until
it is an abomination.
Stops and garbage, tin cans and
empty bottles, old clothes, and rub
bish of every description are thrown
out in the yard or into an adjoining
vacant lot if one is available, and left
there to rot and breed disease.
On two separate occasions the citi-
zens of Honolulu laid aside their usual
vocations temporarily and became
sanitary inspectors. There was rea-
son for SO doing. Formidable epidemic
diseases had broken out in the town.
The place was divided into a large
number of districts and each house was
inspected twice a day.
What a cleaning up there was! What
fumigating and disinfecting and white
washing! There was occasion for it.
The town had become pestiiential
through the carelessness and inertia
of the ignorant classes principally.
The daily waste of a community of
1000 inhabitants is something enor-
nous, far more than one would think
unless it has been given some atten-
tior, and-unless it is disposed of daily
it It Is: allowed to accumulate, espe-
ciafly in a tropical climate, it soon be-
comes a menace to health. 1t consti-
tutes a proper breeding place for the
germs of all infectious and contagious
disease All that is needed is to have
the seed sown in such a soil, and u
luNuriant harvest of disease will soon
be reaped.
This was the condition on Honolulu
in 1895 and again in 1900. The amount
of old rubbish that was collected and
lowed out to sea was astonishing. Cess
pools were emptied and disinfected, and
everything done in these spasms of
that could be thought of. We
even had sanitary bonfires where all
other measures were inadequate to ac-
complish the purifying task.
But what did it all amount to? The
town soon sunk back into its old con-
ditions because the people themselves
took no interest in maintaining their
premises in a sanitary condition.
We know from recent exposures that
Honolulu is unclean today, and it will
remain so in spite of the best
efforts of the health authorities. until
the sewer system and the garbage
service is expanded until it includes
every house in town.
In the meantime. while waiting for
this millennium, would it not be well
to instiI the principles of domestic
into the minds of the young3
Why not take them on a tour of in
spectiOn, and point out to them the
sins of sanitation that are being COM
mitted daily-to take them "slumming"
not for the flotsam of humanity, but
that they may see and know the inqui-
ties of filth that are a constant menace
to the health of a community
Object teaching is. the most i'm
pressive. On another inspection tour
the mosquito campaign could be ex-
planned to them, and they could be
taught how to find and destroy the
breeding places of the little pests.
The diseases for which they are re-
sponsible-yellow fever, malaria, dem
que and a number of others-could be
enumerated. The life history of the
mosquito could be shown them. The
larvae and pupae swimming around in
stagnant water. are exceedingly inter
esting biological objects to study, and
the children would enjoy watching
hem. 4
The means employed for destroying
hem could be illustrated at the same
ime.
The pupils could be modified into
sanitary corps. or brigades, with officers
ma private inspectors. The latter could
90 on inspections and report to the
;ormer all nuisances found. They
,ould then be told what to do to abate
hem.
In some such way as this, they could
acquire a practical knowledge of sani-
airy matters that would be of real
service to the community