| San Francisco Examiner, 02-February-1925 |
HEALTH BOARD INTRENCHING
AGAINST BUBONIC PLAGUE
Whereas, the entrance of Oriental diseases into this port causes the Board of Health to view with apprehension the meager means at its disposal for the successful meeting of such an emergency; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Board of Supervisors of the city and county of San Francisco be requested to provide the funds necessary for the purchase of a movable disinfecting engine, which can be used for the rapid and complete disinfectio n of buildings in which the present system of fumigation has been found to be inadequate; and be it further
Resolved, That the Board of Health requests a conference with the proper committee of the Board of Supervisors in reference to the foregoing matter.
The Board of Health is determined to be prepared for emergencies in case of a visit of plague from the Orient. No chances will be taken in allowing the scourge to creep into San Francisco through the Golden Gate; and should it succeed in eluding the watchfulness of quarantine and sanitary officials, the board proposes to be ready for a battle of extermination.
So much was canvassed at a special meeting of the board held yesterday. The physicians entrusted with this serious task discussed it in secret, and then in open session adopted the resulution presented by Dr Hazel.
The board went further and advised the destruction of shanties in the Chinese quarter.
Chief Plumbing Inspector J. J. Sullivan reported that he has investigated the Chinese quarters in Duncombe alley. He continued.
These dens are below the street surface and underneath the building on the southwest corner of Duncome alley and Jackson street. They are unfit for human habitation, being dark and loathsome in appearance and without any ventilation to the outer air. They are used principally as opium dens and inhabited by the lowest classes of Chinese. They are a danger and menace to the health of the occupants and to the surrounding neighborhood.
In addition to this, Health Officer A.P. O'Brien said he considered this particular locality a "hot bed for the propagation of disease," and he asked the board to invest him with power to inform owners and tenants that inasmuch as the buildings are not habitable, the premises should be vacated at once, the shanties destroyed and the debris removed.
Health Officer O'Brien was given the authority he desired, and he thereupon submitted the following communication relative to cleansing unsanitary districts.
AGAINST BUBONIC PLAGUE
Whereas, the entrance of Oriental diseases into this port causes the Board of Health to view with apprehension the meager means at its disposal for the successful meeting of such an emergency; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Board of Supervisors of the city and county of San Francisco be requested to provide the funds necessary for the purchase of a movable disinfecting engine, which can be used for the rapid and complete disinfectio n of buildings in which the present system of fumigation has been found to be inadequate; and be it further
Resolved, That the Board of Health requests a conference with the proper committee of the Board of Supervisors in reference to the foregoing matter.
The Board of Health is determined to be prepared for emergencies in case of a visit of plague from the Orient. No chances will be taken in allowing the scourge to creep into San Francisco through the Golden Gate; and should it succeed in eluding the watchfulness of quarantine and sanitary officials, the board proposes to be ready for a battle of extermination.
So much was canvassed at a special meeting of the board held yesterday. The physicians entrusted with this serious task discussed it in secret, and then in open session adopted the resulution presented by Dr Hazel.
The board went further and advised the destruction of shanties in the Chinese quarter.
Chief Plumbing Inspector J. J. Sullivan reported that he has investigated the Chinese quarters in Duncombe alley. He continued.
These dens are below the street surface and underneath the building on the southwest corner of Duncome alley and Jackson street. They are unfit for human habitation, being dark and loathsome in appearance and without any ventilation to the outer air. They are used principally as opium dens and inhabited by the lowest classes of Chinese. They are a danger and menace to the health of the occupants and to the surrounding neighborhood.
In addition to this, Health Officer A.P. O'Brien said he considered this particular locality a "hot bed for the propagation of disease," and he asked the board to invest him with power to inform owners and tenants that inasmuch as the buildings are not habitable, the premises should be vacated at once, the shanties destroyed and the debris removed.
Health Officer O'Brien was given the authority he desired, and he thereupon submitted the following communication relative to cleansing unsanitary districts.
To the Honorable, the Board of Health, Gentlemen: I would like, as an initiatory step toward the cleaning of certain districts in Chinatown, the Latin quarter and wherever I find things not in as sanitary a condition as they should be, the order of your Board that all living rooms in such quarters be subjected to a whitewashing process twice annually. In support of this request, I beg to state that such measures are taken in many of the Eastern cities in tenement districts. Yours respectfully.A.P. O'Brien, Health Officer
This recommendation was approved by the board, with the result that there will be a wholesale whitewashing of Chinatown.
The steamer Australia is still in quarantine and no one on board or ashore is able to learn when she and her passengers will be released. The Oceanic Steamship Company has given up specultating and are now getting the Zealandia ready to take the Australia's place on the route to Honolulu. The Zealandia will sail on Wednesday next.
The fumigation of the women and children passengers was completed yesterday as well as that of all the baggage. Dr. Kinyoun, quarentine officer, said last night that the examination of the male passengers would be finished at ten o'clock this morning, but until that time he could not determine when the steamer and her people would be released.