THE PLAGUE.

New Zealand Herald, 12 March 1901, Page 5

THE PLAGUE.

ITS APPEARANCE AT 'FRISCO

AND THE CAPE. By riffcl

■- Nkw Yokk, March n, A committkr of experts report that the bubonic plague has :: a V serious hold on 'Frisco.

London, March 11. ; A total of 102 cases of plague havoj occurred at ; Capetown, there oeing 22 deaths.

PRECAUTIONS IN.NKW ZEALAND. . [b\* 'rsijsGiurjk—tokss AssoeJAriON.jj Wkm.ino'WiSj, Monday, The Government has cabled to England mix India -.for 8000 more doses . of plague serum.

A new system oLlnmigatins* vessels is to 06 brought into operation in New Zealand, Machines specially made for the ■purpose m being obtained from Australia also a supply of « compressed material, the, fumes tWm' which will ho distributed by machines U* ever part of tie .ship,

The health officer for the port baa received the following telegram from, tho chief health officer for the colour, with reference to 'pre-; tuitions againstt the itdroductiun of the,*: plague which are to be earned out by the shipping companies !-~"All vessels arriving from Capo Colony arid from the ports of : Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and./ Perth, must observe the .■■following' precautions to prevent rats coming ashore :~-JR«t*guarda to. bo .placed on hawsers j ■:vessels'to, he moored j 4ft from the wharfs wharves to he tarwh; and gangways to be tarred, and to he lifted at night; rope to be tarred; where necessary, lights to bo kept burning between vw« , sets and the quay during the night, and ah tho wharf side; all tarring to he kept moist ;>; also all possible means to he taken to prevent vats going on board other vessels."' TDK OUTBREAK AT TDK GAPE. The Cape Times of February 11 nays;—« Unhappily there now no longer remaimhany doubt whatever that the disease that hai* made its appearance so suddenly and unexpectedly in Capetown is the bubonic plague,, and we regret to have 'to record font freatof eases have been discovered in Capetown, lives at Woodstock, and one at Stellenbosohj.;; though regarding tho latter sottTe doubta aw still entertained. It was further reported last night that another 'ease had been dls- .{ covered at Stellenbosoh, (hie of the Onpe-i town cases occurred at 1, Van dor Maiden* street, at the top of Walostreet, where «T > coloured man named Henry van Niekerk was found to be suffering from the disease on Saturday morning. The ease was reported 1 by Dr. Lester, and was subsequently ex* amined by Dr. Gregory, acting colonial medical officer of health, and by Dr. K. B. Fuller, medical officer of health for the city,who pronounced it to bo an undoubted case of plague, The patient was removed to the hospital at Uitvhigt, near Maitlaiul, on Satin 1 - day afternoon, and the other inmates of thus house, containing live adults and throe children, were also taken to the isolation location at the same place, The other cases in Capetown occurred at No, 12, Dixou-street, oft Somerset Road, where a labourer cmployed at the docks died suddenly soma" little time ago. On Friday afternoon Dr. Lands* 4 berg was called in to see a child at the same 1 : house, named Johanna Williams, aged iff ' yours, Tho case did,'not present any evlerniil symptoms of bubonic, but more nenrlv resembled enteric fevekg< On Saturday morn-' ' j ing, however, the eliildwied, and it was then found that another child in the same house wns ill. A post-mortem examination held I on the body on Saturday'night revealed the undoubted fact that the cause of death warbubonic plague. The other child, with the " inmates of the houTe, some of whom had been working at the south arm at the (looks, was removed yesterday to Uitvhigt, by : order of Dr. Fuller. In each of these cases every possible precaution has been arid is being taken to prevent the further spread of the disease, and the; premises have been thoroughly disinfected, under the personal supervision of Mr, W. J. Corben, sanitary "' superintendent,

A Cape Times representative, who has made inquiries at Woodstock, writes ?»—The most • : : alarming outbreak hitherto discovered is that at Woodstock, where on Saturday afternoon five Kaffirs, living at, some houses in Greystreet, were found to: be suffering from bu* i bonic plague, Lower Grey-street is a much' frequented thoroughfare, running ,; parallel . with the main road, and the houses in ques-«i': tion are solely occupied by Kaffirs. .There' are about 10 of th&rio ina vow, and for ft long time past the locality has been regarded as a blot on the municipality, It is' vuv* doulitedly one of the dirtiest and most \\\\- sanitary parts of -the city, or suburbs, and has been left pretty iwell to i(<ieif by the ■';• municipal authorities,, It lies, moreover, in the very centre of a thickly-populated district, there being a large number of artisan* and labourers living in the immediate vici- ; nity. : Most of the cases reported are under*-; stood to be the severer type.of bubonic. All : have been removed to Uitvlugtj and valuable "'. assistance was rendered to the Woodstock : ' ' municipal authorities by the Capetown Hani- ■' tury Department, who helped hi the disinfection and fumigation of the premises, and the removal of the patients and '! contact'*, cases to the camp, The patients all occupied the same house!* ami; 17 other natives also;- inhabited the dwelling. Two adjoining houses were tenanted by about 50 Kaffirs, and it was deemed necessary to isolate all. ■ The actual patients, as previously mentioned, were removed to Uitv|ugj:, and a.camp was established for the other 60 odd on the beach : in the direction of Salt River, the occupants: of the house in which the outbreak occurred : being kept separate- from the remainder. V The removal of the live persons affected was accomplished within 'a hour of the notification. The others were disposed 'to resent ■ the action of the authorities hi causing Mem' to leave the premises, but they ultimately : yielded, and then transfer to the, camp v/m ; . : effected yesterday, i There are a tew women: and children among (those m removal, bj* up to the present hone (save the five first discovered have developed m? symptoms of,(lie disease. The authorities" intend to supply a bath of disinfectants to the map <jase«, ; ; and to destroy -their clothing to-dav. Meanwhile a strong guard,! drawn from Wood- - 1 slock Town Guard, ore stationed around the :i camp to prevent the possibility of anv.-of ■&&':". persons confined leaving. * '