Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 10, 1 October 2021 — When Bubonic Plague Came to Honolulu [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

When Bubonic Plague Came to Honolulu

y ha'i mana'o v ^ OPINION *

By 'Anakala Hinano Brumaghim

For the record, China eonnected with Hawai'i onee before as the source of an epidemic of Bubonic Plague that reached Honolulu. The plague originated in South Central China (ca. 1870) and moved to the China coast by 1900 via well-used trade routes. In 1893, it was in Canton. In 1894, it was in Hong Kong before continuing toward the Indian subcontinent. In 1895-1896, it moved to the Middle East. In December 1899, it arrived in Honolulu. In the beginning, Hawai'i authorities had no idea what disease confronted them. Not until two doctors - Kitasato Shibasaburo and Alexandre Yersin - correctly diagnosed huhonie plague and the micro-organism "versina pestis," was a plan put in plaee to fight the disease. Honolulu was susceptible due to heavy international traffic, while treatment to combat the plague was unknown. Two ships were suspected of bringing the plague to Honolulu: the Nippon Maru in June/August 1899 and the Manchuria in October 1899. The first victim (You Chong) died Dec. 12, 1899. Honolulu Board of Health staff and doctors devised a plan to rid Hawai' i of the plague by seeking/ destroying areas deemed infected with fire - after first emptying the area of people. This "controlled

burning" technique had been used successfully elsewhere: San Francisco (1900), Kobe, Japan (1901), Berlin (1902), Mexico (1903), and Manchuria (1910). The area identified was Honolulu's Chinatown (bordered by Nu'uanu Stream, Nu'uanu Street, Kukui Street and the Wharf ). The first hloek was burned Dec. 31, 1899. A second hloek fire was started on Jan. 20, 1900. But what started as a "controlled burn" quickly got out of hand due to high winds coming down from the Nu'uanu Pali. The fire burned for 17 days, scorched 60 acres, and killed 54 people. In the aftermath, the Honolulu Board of Heahh learned that rats by themselves cannot cause the plague. They were/are the reservoirs for the plague, however, it was actually mosquitoes that spread the disease from rats to humans. 6,000 refugees from Chinatown were detained on the grounds of Kawaiaha'o Church and 'Iolani Palaee. Never before, or since, has Honolulu seen a fire like that of Jan. 20, 1900. ■ Wayne Hinano Brutnaghim is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, and the University ofMaine where he earned a BA in mathematics/engineering. He served in the U.S. Air Force and lived on the continent until 1984 when he returned to O'ahu to carefor his mother. He retired from the Sheraton Waikīkī in 2005 and returned to school at UHMānoa, earning both BA and MA degrees in Hawaiian studies in his 6os. Brumaghim resides in Papakōlea.