Plague / Its Cause and the Manner of its Extension, Its Menace, Its Control and Suppression, Its Diagnosis and Treatment

by Thomas Wright Jackson

Not until rat plague invaded the special district of Tondo, in Manila, in March, 1913, did the opportunity present itself. Theretofore the Manila cases had generally appeared in houses of the so-called "hard material districts," where house construction is entirely unlike that with which the Java workers dealt. With the invasion of Tondo, however, the Java and Manila conditions became similar. I quote the descriptions of Javanese house construction from the report of Dr. J. J. Van Loghem, "Some epidemiological facts concerning the plague in Java," Batavia, 1912.

The Javan Village House.—In substance, he says that the Java village house, as a general type, is a one-storied structure with its roof sloping to the front and back, i.e., with its ridge parallel with the front and back aspects of the building. It is not elevated above the ground by supports or palisades and has no separate floor, the earth serving as the floor.

The outer frame is of strong bamboo poles and the inner frame is also constructed of bamboo. These bamboo timbers are perforated at various points to permit of framing with other pieces of bamboo and for the entrance of pegs, etc.

The roofs of these houses are often made of tiles, but at times the familiar thatched roof is seen. In both cases the supports or rafters are bamboo poles. The principal piece of furniture is the "bale bale," or bedstead, usually made of bamboo, except in the houses of the well-to-do. Small storerooms are often located in the houses, and stables are sometimes built against them. In many cases the family provisions are kept in the house and the cattle are housed here as well.

Manila Light Material Houses.—If, now, we turn our attention to the average Tondo (Manila) light material house it will be apparent that the description given for the Java village house fairly describes the Tondo house, except that the Philippine house is commonly elevated 2 metres or more above the ground upon bamboo supports (see photographs). The basement is usually enclosed in a manner similar to the principal room of the Java house and the basement room may fairly be compared, structurally and in the matter of its floor, with the one-story Java house. In the Manila house, however, the floor of the upper room takes the place of the roof of the Java house and like it is supported by bamboo timbers.

Here, then, in our enclosed basement story, we have a practical replica of the one-storied Java house.

Here, also, the principal piece of furniture is often a bamboo bed, practically identical with the Java "bale bale," if we may judge from photographs.

In the Java houses the favorite nesting places for rats were found to be the interiors of horizontal bamboo pieces of the roof, house frame and bedstead.

The rat usually gains entrance by gnawing through the natural partitions between the bamboo sections near the outer end of the pole. Our Manila photographs show both the natural open ends of such timbers and the rat-gnawed perforations in the partitions.

In Java, rats also nest in the thatched roofs, as they occasionally do in the Philippines.