Upon March 22, 1913, I directed the following letter to the Director of Health:
Sir: I have the honor to state that Estaban Masibac, aged twenty-two, laborer, who died at 140 Perla of bubonic plague, slept upon the ground floor of this house upon a bamboo bed. All these basement dwellers in this district now infected with rat plague are in considerable danger.
The roving rats which wander over these ground surfaces from house to house come into pretty close contact with these basement dwellers, and it would appear that they visit the upper stories of the houses rather infrequently, unless food is stored there. Upon the ground they forage upon the food dropped there by the residents of the houses.
I would like to have authority to order the vacation of these basement rooms which are almost invariably unfit for human habitations.
I look upon this measure as an important one at this threatening time and believe it should be enforced in every square or block where plague rats have recently been found. If this authority is granted it will be used judiciously.
Very respectfully,
[Signed] T. W. Jackson,
Medical Inspector in Charge of Plague Suppression.
Upon March 24 I received the following letter of authorization:
Sir: Confirming my verbal instructions of yesterday I have to request that, in accordance with the recommendation contained in your letter of March 22, that on account of the danger of the spread of plague in the district in which plague has appeared extensively, the basement dwellers in blocks, or squares, in which plague has been found, should be ordered to vacate.