The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-04-14
MILITARY WILL
: PROTECT" ITSELF
IF CIVIL AUTHORITY CAN NOT
KEEP DISEASE OUT,
SOLDIERS WILL
CFrom Thursday'a Advertlser.l

From Thursdays Advertiser.)
''There is more politics to the square
inch in this town than in any have
ever been in, I" remarked Major Tim.
berlake yesterday afternoon, anent the
cholera question in relation to the mill.
tary forces stationed here. "The city
| physician should be a man absolutely
free from any political influence what
soever,' he continued. ''He should be
man who takes an interest and a
pride in his work and not one who can
be pulled by the various strings.
have no intention of placing the fort
in quarantine at the present time but
win wait and see what developments
are made in the situation tomorrow. If
there are any more cases, then the re-
strictions win in all probability be put
on again, as we have a number of Ha-
waiians working here.
"The military authorities have no in
tentiOn of stepping in at the present
time but if anything serious occurs and
it is seen that the present authorities
could not cope with the difficulty then
we shall have to step in. If we do
we will make thorough job of it. The
men are stationed here permanently and
the only way they will leave is when
they are driven out by superior force
and we intend to protect ourselves. /
was in Cuba when we took charge Of
affairs there. We made a house toulouse
inspection, irrespective of persons, and
by the time we had finished we had
corralled every mosquito in the place
and had driven out the yellow plague.
81 can not follow the trend of events
here, as they are in such tangle, but
judging by the way things seem to be
run on the surface, the man responsible
for the health of the city is not worth
fifty dollars month.
Zone of the greatest dangers to our
post lies in those ponds along the road
to Waikiki. They are simply breed
ing place for mosquitoes, and among
the breeds you have here is the one
that carries yellow fever. If a case of
that once occurred here, then it would
sweep the whole town, especially with
the dirty condition of the tenements
and the houses in which some of the
people i've"
Good Work, but
Major Timberlake simply reiterated
what other of the military authorities
say. One of the medical officers at
Fort Shafter, although complimenting
the board of health officials on the way
in which the last outbreak of the dis
ease was handled, deplored the condi-
tion of the town as far as sanitary ar
rangements are concerned. fThe fight
ing Of the plague was excellent,' he
said, "but it should never have been
given the chance to start. 1t is only
small town, and the ground is easily
covered. Some of the houses in which
the people live are nothing more than
novels and are the breeding places for
all the diseases on earth. They are
totally unsanitary and are filthy in
every degree. 1t is a great pity that
such state Of things should be within
so lovely a place.
Zone of the things that strikes me,
however, is the way in which The Ad-
vertiser gave so much publicity to the
question. 1 naturally expected that the
paper would keep the matter more or
less hushed up, for there is no doubt
that it kept large number of people
away. I myself had three lots Of
friends coming to stay with me, but
when they heard of cholera being here
they Immediately notified me that there
was nothing doing. The Advertiser,
however, came out and warned the
public in a way that it is to be com
mended for and which reflects great
credit on the paper"
Model for the City.
At the Marine barracks, the officers
are not afraid of the fresh outbreak as
matters down there are model for the
whole of the town to follow. Every
thing is fly proof, in spite of the fact
that some of the interested people say
that nothing can be kept inside a room
with fly.proof netting around it. The
refuse is all burnt and the garbage tins
are kept covered and white washed.
The consensus of opinion among the
medical men at the various forts is that
there is gross mismanagement some-
where. The town is in such state of
insanitariness that if such a thing as
yellow fever did break out here the
people would die like flies. Although
nothing was said openly there is the
fact to be read between the lines, that
unless some proper methods of looking
after the health department were in
trOdueed the military authorities will
have to step in and see to it that their
men are not placed in any danger. This
is all the more significant as there are
rumors of big military changes soon to