Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-04-17
OBSTACLES IN
TRACING CASES

a new case OF cholera was found
yesterday, making the fourth since the
temperance of the disease In Homo
lulu, the victim being Kamaha. q road
laborcr living in the Kapalama dis
trict lie was removed to the Kalihi
quarantine hospital Saturday after
noon as a suspect and succumbed to
the disease yesterday morning
Considerable difficulty has been en-
countered by DR., Curric in tracing
down the cases because OF the dccep-
ton and attempts to mislcad prac-
ticed by those Ilawaiians having
knowledge of the cases.
As stated in the Bulletin Satur-
day, DR. Currie. the Federal bacter-
iologist, has gathered mass of cir
cumstantial evidence pointing to moi
as the source OF infection and his
memorandum on the now epidemic,
read at Saturday afternoons meeting
Of the Board of Health was as fol-
lows:
"In the present outbreak. No.
was taken in shack near the BoPrd
of Health building. lie bought poi
from Lee Hong Kec, South street
This shop got its taro supply from
was sick on Friday night ON IIuHtaCc
street got poi from a Bertania ave-
nue. shop, the Kong Hong Wo shop,
which furnished poi for the cases l.,
2. 3, and > in the first outbreak. the
taro coming from Msnoa. The third
case In the present outbreak bought
his poi up to about eleven days ago at
Moiliili. Lately he bought from the
factory In Kalihi, but he was guard
for the Board Of Health and II is stat
ed that he went in to lomilomi case
No. 2. and caught the sickness, and
Is therefore only contact case. Tho
numbers omitted in the above tracing
are contacts of other cases and did
not necessarily partake of poi. The
last suspect on King street got his poi
from a friend on King street The
friend said he got It in Kalihi, but
this case has not yet been traced out.
Case No. has not been invc 5tgated.
Can Handle situation.
There is plenty Of local ability to
handle the health situation. in the
| opinion of DR.. Currie, without calling
on the United States authorities TO
take formal charge. In this COnncC-
ton he states:
IF the present epidemic reaches
stage where the presence of our ser
vice in control would be necessary,
we would step in. in just the same
way as we did in San Francisco. Your
Governor would cable the President.
who might either detail the public
health and marine hospital service to
step in and take control of the sItu-
alton or he might detail the army to
| do the cleaning There IL no deter
mining that I'm pretty sure you
would have to furnish your own
money.
I'VE would be nominally under the
direction of the local Board of
Health, but in reality we would CO.
operate with II, combining our altcn-
ton to Just the subject of the cpl
| dcmic and doing nothing else except
work upon that. 200
| Federal control would merely
mean the guarantee of the efficiency
of the man at the head Il would not
take over the regular work of the
Board OF Health. and that Board
would have TO meet our expenses and
would depend on the Territorial Leg
| islature In just the same way for It's
| existence and subsistence as IL does
now.
"On the other hand, II we had a
very bad outbreak of disease here. il
| Is possible that the army would clean
up the place for the protection of it,
self. II would not clean up the other
/ islands, and II IL doubtful II II would
permanently keep control of the local
situation, stepping out merely to let
the disused Board resume duties con.
! siderably backset by the hiatus. -
u think the community should hold
on to the situation as long as II can.
There is enough intelligence in II,
barring a certain element among the
liawaiians, with their ignorance, to
be able to run things as they should
be run"