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October 13, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Deadly Don (HHR Revival)

It is a long run – some 5,000 miles – from Valparaiso, Chile to Papeete, Tahiti. In the late spring of 1841 the American bark Don Quixote, 260 tons burthen, plowed its way along this path. Captain John Paty was bound Honolulu via Tahiti, on the home passage of a round trip to Chile.

A few days out of Valparaiso it came – the sudden high fever and nausea, the blinding headache and the back pains, the dreaded rash, and finally, on the ninth day, the pustules that can turn a man into a mass of putrefaction.

Eight Hawaiians made up half of the Don’s crew. Six of them caught the pestilence; before Tahiti was raised they were dead.  Two lucky Hawaiians, already immunized, escaped the fatal virus.

On June 12 the Don Quixote made port.

Paty warned off the Pilot, who reported the sickness on board. Governor Paraita of Tahiti conferred with his advisers among the foreign residents. All agreed the vessel should stand off.

What happened next is in dispute.

Paty, reporting twelve years after the event, said that the Don Quixote lay under quarantine for fifteen days , that she stayed only three days after quarantine was lifted, that she employed a few Tahitians on board while in Papeete, and that about three days after she left, one of the employed men fell ill.

Samuel R. Blackler was the US consul at the Society Islands,. At the time he was locked in bitter controversy with the Tahitian authorities.

The Tahitians, trying to oust Blackler, told this story:

“When the sickness became known, Paraita urged that the Don Quixote stop at Matavai, a few miles east of Papeete.”

“Within less than a week Blackler declared the bark safe and demanded she be brought to Papeete, to discharge and copper.”

“Paraita refused, but the Don entered port.  The consul then insisted that cargo be landed.  Again Paraita refused.”

“On June 17 Blackler handed the governor a paper threatening a penalty of $40,511.”

“Paraita, though still withholding consent, relaxed vigilance.”

“On June 19 those aboard the vessel came ashore near Blackler’s house and discharged and sold goods.”

“Soon after the bark sailed a white man died of the pestilence, and two Tahitians soon shared his fate.”

“By August the disease was devouring the island.”

“Blackler, knowing the horror carried in the Don Quixote, was a deliberate killer.”

Paraita ‘s letter charged many other sins to Blackler’s account.

The consul attacked it as an ‘accumulation of falsehoods’, without making direct reference to the epidemic.

Just how long was the quarantine?

The evidence is inconclusive.

Blackler did issue the Don Quixote a bill of health, but as usual did not record the date of the fee.

Was the consul guilty of mass murder?

We know only that he survived the accusation.

This fact, however, is certain: In June of 1841 Honolulu’s deadly Don brought smallpox to Tahiti.

Click the link for the full listing.

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Deadly-Don-HHR-Revival-Greer.pdf

© 2021 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Smallpox, Tahiti

January 4, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Epidemics

It wasn’t until humans began gathering in larger populations that contagious diseases had the opportunity to spread to epidemic proportions. Infectious diseases have inflicted a great deal of damage throughout the centuries.

An epidemic is a disease “normally absent or infrequent in a population but liable to outbreaks of greatly increased frequency and severity,” or a “temporary but widespread outbreak of a particular disease.” A Pandemic is an epidemic on a very wide geographical scale, perhaps worldwide, or at least affecting a large area of the world. (Hays)

As humans expanded their territory, they came into closer contact with microbes they might otherwise have never encountered. By storing food, humans attracted scavenging creatures such as rats and mice, which brought more microbes. (Discovery)

Human expansion also resulted in the construction of more wells and ditches, which provided more standing water for disease-carrying mosquitoes. As technology allowed for wider travel and trade, new microbes could easily spread from one highly populated area to another. (Discovery)

Throughout recorded history, many towns, cities, countries and regions have been decimated by a particular epidemic – a high prevalence of disease attacking many people in a community at the same time. (Kohn)

In extreme cases, a single disease outbreak can have a significant effect on a whole civilization, as with the epidemics started by the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, or the outbreak of bubonic plague that killed 20% of the population of Europe over a seven-year period in the 1300s. (cornell-edu)

While the Hawaiian Islands are the world’s most-isolated, populated-place, exploration and trade in the Pacific – and eventually “contact” – ultimately exposed Hawaiʻi to the ills already circulating around the globe – and added it to the points of contact for the spread of various diseases.

The maʻi ‘ōkuʻu (believed to be cholera) struck the islands in about 1804. Some reports note about one-half the population (175,000) died, however, some feel that is quite likely that close to 5,000 Hawaiians died from it. (Schmitt) It affected Kamehameha and his planned invasion of Kauaʻi.

From 1818 to 1825, Don Francisco de Paula Marin recorded numerous occurrences of colds and flu among the Hawaiians, noting that people had died. 1826 saw an epidemic of coughs, congested lungs, sore throat, bronchitis and influenza. (Van Dyke)

As visits by whalers, traders and others increased, other serious diseases started arriving from Europe, American and Asia.

The measles deaths of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu in London in 1824, likely acquired visiting a large children’s home, was a forerunner of the devastating impact of measles upon Hawaiians 24 years later. (nih-gov)

Before 1848, measles was unknown in Hawaiʻi. Several epidemics struck Hawaiʻi in late-1848, beginning with measles and pertussis, then diarrhea and influenza. Measles arrived at this time from California, spreading from Hilo through all the islands; 10% to 33% of the population died. (nih-gov)

No one knows for certain when, where or how the smallpox virus first appeared on earth; we do know that it has circumnavigated the planet multiple times over many centuries, invading every place of human habitation. By the eighteenth century, smallpox was killing an average of 400,000 people per year in Europe alone. (ucpress)

Smallpox hit Hawaiʻi in 1853; the first case arrived in Honolulu, on the ship Charles Mallory. When the epidemic ended late in January 1854, the estimated number of islands-wide cases was 6,400 – 9,100 and an estimated 2,500 – 5,750 deaths.

A sweeping influenza pandemic passed through Europe in late-1781 and 1782. It was first noticed in Russia; then the disease moved from east to west. Millions of people, perhaps three-fourths of the population of Europe, fell ill in the first eight months of 1782. Deaths in Europe may have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. (Hays)

Influenza struck again in Europe in 1847 and over the next two years spread into worldwide impact. In Paris, between one-fourth and one-half of the population was affected; in Geneva, Switzerland not less than one-third. (Peacock)

At that same time, a succession of deadly epidemics struck the Hawaiian Islands. Measles, whooping cough, dysentery, and influenza raged across the kingdom. An estimated 10,000-persons died from these causes, more than one-tenth of the population. In total mortality, the combined 1848-1849 epidemic toll was one of the most devastating in Island history. (Schmitt-Nordyke)

The bubonic plague (“Black Death”) was first noticed in Hawaiʻi on December 9, 1899. Its presence caused pause in the opening months of 1900 and was on everybody’s mind, with good reason; the same disease had decimated a third of the world’s population during the fourteenth century.

The spread of plague on O‘ahu was traced to the railroad linking Honolulu with the plantation towns of Aiea, Waipahu and Waialua. The Honolulu epidemic was not halted until March 31, 1900, during which time a total of 71 cases of plague were diagnosed, leading to 61 deaths.

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe in the mid-1300s, and killing between 75-million and 200-million people. It was thought to have started in China or central Asia. It then travelled along the Silk Road and was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships.

Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population. All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450-million to a number between 350 and 375-million in the 14th century.

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than World War I, at somewhere between 20 and 40-million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe” the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. (stanford-edu)

The influenza pandemic circled the globe. Most of humanity felt the effects of this strain of the influenza virus. Outbreaks swept through North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Brazil and the South Pacific. The average life span in the US was depressed by 10 years. (stanford-edu)

The epidemics of infections diminished Hawaiʻi’s population from approximately 300,000 at the time of Captain Cook’s arrival in 1778 to 135,000 in 1820 and 53,900 in 1876.

Death by disease continues. Today, according to the World Health Organization, across the world, every day 8,000-people die of AIDS-related conditions; about 1.7-million people die each year of tuberculosis; more than 500-million people suffer from acute malaria and each day close to 3,000-children die of this disease. (Kohn)

Every year, the human death toll from infectious diseases around the world far exceeds that from hurricanes, cyclones, floods, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes, droughts and other natural disasters. (Kohn)

Influenza, cholera, tuberculosis, dengue, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other epidemic diseases have not gone away. The possible spread of disease epidemics has grown because of the ever-increasing human population, rapid international transportation and travel, disease resistance to medicines, insect resistance to pesticides and, occasionally, complacency. (Kohn)

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Filed Under: General, Hawaiian Traditions, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Plague, Cholera, Epidemics, Influenza, Smallpox

June 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Smallpox Epidemic – 1853

Smallpox was introduced to Hawai‘i by an American merchant ship, the Charles Mallory, sailing from San Francisco and arriving at Honolulu Harbor on February 10, 1853.

Displaying a yellow flag indicating a serious infection on board, the ship berthed in isolation on a reef off Kalihi.

One of the passengers had smallpox.

When the period of quarantine ended in late-March, no new cases had been reported, the smallpox patient was recovering and the ship set sail and left.

In May 1853, the disease reappeared.

Two native women were stricken; their homes and the adjacent properties were cordoned off and their infected clothing and grass huts were burned.

This time smallpox spread rapidly; cases were reported from most of Honolulu’s districts.

In response to the growing impacts, June 15, 1853 was declared a national day of mourning, prayer and fasting.

The epidemic was at its worst in July – August with the island of O‘ahu recording more than 4,000-cases and 1,500-deaths.

Despite efforts to contain it, smallpox spread to Kaua‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i, killing at least 450-people.

The people on Ni‘ihau, Moloka‘i and Lāna’i remained protected because of their remoteness, stricter quarantine and better vaccine quality.

Missionary Dr. Dwight Baldwin was the government physician for Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna’i during the smallpox epidemic. Due to his vigilance, the number of smallpox deaths on these islands was only 200 deaths.

Statewide, during an eight-month period, about 8% of Hawai‘i’s population died of the disease.

When the epidemic ended late in January 1854, the estimated number of statewide cases was 6,400 – 9,100 and an estimated 2,500 – 5,750 deaths.

The intensity of the epidemic led the Hawaiian legislature to make vaccination mandatory for both residents and visitors in 1854.

Smallpox is a serious and contagious disease due to a virus, causing illness and death wherever it occurred. It mainly affected children and young adults. Family members often infected each other.

Smallpox localizes in small blood vessels of the skin and in the mouth and throat. In the skin, this results in a characteristic rash, and later, raised fluid-filled blisters.

After a twelve-day incubation period, patients developed severe headaches and backaches, a high fever, and chills, followed by a severe rash, a return of the fever, and bacterial infection. Death came by infection of the lungs, heart, or brain. The entire course from infection to death usually took five or six weeks.

Smallpox spreads easily from one person to another from saliva droplets. It may also be spread from bed sheets and clothing. It is most contagious during the first week of the infection. It may continue to be contagious until the scabs from the rash fall off.

It is reported that the Honuakaha Smallpox Cemetery (near South Street and Quinn Lane in Kakaʻako) has more than 1,000 burials from the 1853-1854 smallpox epidemic.

This is near the present Honolulu Fire Department Headquarters stands, adjoining the former Kakaʻako Fire Station. (Some suggest, because of this, the Kakaʻako firehouse is haunted.)

Because of the smallpox epidemics a Small-Pox Hospital opened. Likewise, over the years a small island in the reef across from Downtown Honolulu was used as a quarantine site.

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'View_of_Smallpox_Hospital',_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Paul_Emmert,_c._1853-59
‘View_of_Smallpox_Hospital’,_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Paul_Emmert,_c._1853-59
Honolulu_Harbor-Reef_Titles-Reg1471 (1885)-Note_'Quarantine_Island'-(present_day_Sand_Island)
Honolulu_Harbor-Reef_Titles-Reg1471 (1885)-Note_’Quarantine_Island’-(present_day_Sand_Island)
Smallpox
Smallpox
Kakaako Fire Station, Hook & Ladder Building, 620 South Street, Honolulu-LOC-218878pv
Kakaako Fire Station, Hook & Ladder Building, 620 South Street, Honolulu-LOC-218878pv
Kakaako Fire Station, Hook & Ladder Building, 620 South Street, Honolulu
Kakaako Fire Station, Hook & Ladder Building, 620 South Street, Honolulu
Hawaii_Small_Pox-tally
Hawaii_Small_Pox-tally
Hawaiian officials documented statistics of the smallpox epidemic, O‘ahu, 1854
Hawaiian officials documented statistics of the smallpox epidemic, O‘ahu, 1854

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hawaii, Downtown Honolulu, Kakaako, Honolulu Harbor, Dwight Baldwin, Smallpox

January 31, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Timeline Tuesday … 1850s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1850s Kuleana Act, Smallpox Epidemic, death of Kamehameha III and growth in rice cultivation. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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Timeline-1850s

Filed Under: Place Names, Economy, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Kamehameha IV, Post Office, Alexander Liholiho, Timeline Tuesday, Rice, 1850s, Chinese, Fort Kekuanohu, Mormon, Kuleana Act, Kamehameha III, Esplanade, Smallpox

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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