Improvements in the City of Manila 



l 95 



■6oo houses were remodeled, cleaned, 

 and made habitable, and hundreds of 

 shacks burned to the ground.- In- ad- 

 dition to all this, a systematic effort 'was 

 made to immunize the susceptibles of 

 Manila against bubonic plague by means 

 of the Shiga, antipestic vaccine. The 

 work was begun on the 1 5th of January, 

 1902. From that date until the i5thof 

 March over 25,000 persons were inocu- 

 lated. The lower classes, including the 

 Chinese, cocheros, laborers, servants, 

 peddlers, etc., with their wives and chil- 

 dren, who are the occupants of the lower 

 floors and nipa houses, were especially 

 selected for immunization. The gov- 

 ernment laboratory furnished from two 

 to three hundred doses of the antipestic 

 vaccine daily, but on account of the 

 large number requiring immunization, 

 it was necessary to cable Professor Ki- 

 tasato, of Tokyo, for additional vaccine, 

 and 50,000 doses were received from 

 that source. The work was performed 

 by native physicians, under the direc- 

 tion of Dr J. V. Tormey, medical in- 

 spector. 



This long fight without rest day or 

 night had told on Dr Meacham. When 



the battle was over and the plague had 

 been driven from its last haunt, he col- 

 lapsed. His strength was exhausted, 

 he was unable to fight for himself, and 

 died on April 14, 1902. It is unfortu- 

 nate for the United States that the man 

 who freed the Philippines of bubonic 

 plague, Dr Franklin R. Meacham, and 

 the man who freed Cuba of yellow fever, 

 Dr Walter Reed, should both pass away 

 the very moment their great work had 

 been accomplished. 



The plague had barely been defeated 

 when Asiatic cholera attacked the city. 

 Strict quarantine of infected districts 

 and the burning of them when the dis- 

 ease became too violent, the closing of 

 wells, a careful inspection of all vege- 

 tables, and a continuation of the cleans- 

 ing of the city habitations checked the 

 ravages of the disease, but could not 

 prevent its spread. The water supply 

 was kept from contamination by the 

 rigid patrol of the United States Army, 

 or conditions would have been many 

 times worse. Several thousands died 

 in Manila and about 100,000 in the 

 provinces where the disease could not 

 be controlled. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CITY OF MANILA 



NO city was ever more in need of 

 playgrounds or recreation fields. 

 The natives of the islands take 

 readily to games, and with little encour- 

 agement would become keen rivals in 

 many of the sports at the present time 

 confined to the American and foreign 

 population. Owing to the lack of ordi- 

 nary healthful exercises and diversion, 

 the great army of clerks and officials and 

 the rapidly increasing American and 

 foreign population find but little to do 

 after office hours beyond going to clubs 

 or driving, and both are expensive 

 amusements. 



The board of public works is pre- 

 paring plans for converting the large 

 field in front of the Luneta, known as 

 Camp Wallace, into a recreation ground 

 open to everyone, where such sports as 

 baseball, football, cricket, polo, and 

 lawn tennis may be enjoyed. A part 

 of the field will be devoted to a chil- 

 dren's playground, modeled as nearly 

 as possible after similar places in the 

 United States. There is in preparation 

 a plan for a city park, laid out with 

 broad drives and walks, and also an 

 aviary and zoological reserve, and all 

 other elements of a modern park. With 



