The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-11-30
THE WAIPAHU
PLAGUE SPOT

A mile and a half long and from z5J
to 400 yards wide, ying under low
bluff parallel with the road in front
of Oahu Sugar Companys mill, is a
congeries of shacks inhabited by hui
man beings, horses, ?wine, poultry
and, more than likely, rats, which by
comparison leaves the worst Sums OF
kakaako and Palama in the class OF
Fifth avenue, New York.
1t is Familiarity known among local
health officials as the Waipahu plague
spot Here it was that bubonic pla-
que broke out after it was stamped
out in Honolulu And lately many
typhoid fever cases have been pulled
from the same place; as well as one
or more cases of diphtheria. The
land does not belong to the plantation,
although some of the lower class of
plantation labor has domicile there. It
is said to be owned in fee by certain
wealthy estates from which it is
leased only to be subleased by the orr
ginal lessees.
Yesterday Mayor Fern and Super
visors Aylett, Mcclellan and Logan
the health committee, with DR.. Mackau
the city phynician, and Mr.. Miehlstein,
the plumbing inspector, were carried
I to the spot by Supervisor Quinn in
his automobile, by appointment meet
ing Acting Governor Mott-Smith as
president of the board of health, DR..
Pratt, chief sanitary officer. and DR..
McGettigan, the plantation physician.
An inspection of two hours was
made of the ground and Improve
ments." The conditions the party
found weer altogether beyond descrip-
ton. So far as any plating is con-
cerned the whole section is simply
without form and void. AS to struc-
tural features-well, it is a case OF
every tenant his own architect and
builder, with the material seemingly
stolen from some prehistoric ruins OF
wooden city.
Old papered boards from the walls
of ancient abodes-dirty and musty,
strips of rotten lath, fragments of cor
rugated iron, remains of packing cases
in short every species of filthy and
mouldy debris, enter into the con-
struction of the shanties, novels, lean
tos, pigsties, bakeries, restaurants,
privies etc. disposed heller skelIer
without solitary attempt az align
ment or symmetrical frontage along
the entire mile and a half aforesaid.
Underfoot the entire ground is one
great hotbed for germs. Wells are
scattered every here and there, in some
cases within a few feet Of the open
sewers that criss-cross the whole vii
lage plot. One of these wells is bare
ly the legal limit of distance from a
privy vault having eighteen inches
of water evidently from the same
springs as feed the well. Every
where is black muck that must make a
condition easier imagined than des-
cribed in wet weather. Even under
the present dry conditions, moisture
oozes up in many places to the tread
of feet.
Some time ago an attempt at con-
demnation of some of the worst habi-
tations was made by the Board OF
Health. An injunction suit put an
end to this movement. It is hoped
that the municipal government win be
able, with the powers conferred by its
charter, to abate the colossal NUS
ance. AS it stands, the Waipahu
plague spot is a menace to the health
of the whole city and codnty.
There were five typhoid cases in the
plantation hospital yesterday. Mr..
Mott-Smith states that during the year
there have been more cases of typhoid
in the Territory of Hawaii than in
the City of New York.