BUBONIC PLAGUE IN THE SOUTH
WEST
by Akita Olsen
Did you know that there were cases of the dreaded
Bubonic Plague in the south west? The plague stuck
nearly one hundred years ago in Bunbury.
According to the old newspaper
"The Southern Times", the cases of
plague were noticed on 23 April 1903 when the
Norwegian bargue named Lingard arrived from
South Africa into the port of Bunbury.
The alarm was raised when the acting quarantine
officer, Dr Flynn, went on board. The Captain
had informed him that two of his men were
sick. The doctor examined them and found the
cases to be very suspiciously like plague.
One of the men had become ill when the ship
was within nine days of Bunbury, and the second
man became ill about a week after that. The
doctor immediately quarantined the ship. A further examination of the ship
led to the discovery of a number of dead rats.
Dr Flynn deferred his inspection of the dead
rats at that time due to the urgent tasks necessary
to arrange proper attention to the patients
and for safeguarding the rest of the crew.
Unfortunately, before the alarm was raised by the
doctor, the Harbour-master Captain Abrahamson (who
had piloted the vessel into port) had returned to
his home unaware that the ship was contaminated. A
precautionary measure was taken and Captain Abrahamson
and his family were detained in quarantine in their
home. Sergeant Smythe, acting in accordance with instructions
from the doctor, placed a Constable on guard at the
Captain's house. Another officer was placed on duty
at the jetty to see that there was no communication
between the ship and the shore.
Several meetings of the Board of Health were held,
and amongst other things, comment were made such as:
"The present mode of treating the cases on board
the ship, with all those people crowded there, is
a very improper one, and there is always the danger
of some of the other men sickening. If the plague
breaks out amongst the other men and they are kept
on board the ship they will probably die like dogs."
However, going by newspaper reports, it seemed that
finding a quarantine station at the time was a bit
of a drama, as the old quarantine ground was unsuitable,
and there was great opposition to the use of the Smallpox
Hospital. Dr Flynn suggested that the easiest solution
to this problem would be to send the ship to Fremantle,
where they had a proper quarantine station. The question
was whether Fremantle people would object on the grounds
that their port, which had only recently been declared
clean, would then be considered to be infected again.
The Board of Health also discussed the special police
patrol which had been placed at Captian Abrahamson's
house. It was suggested that if the Captain would
give his word not to leave his house, or to allow
any of his family to do so, it would meet the quarantine
requirements, and the police officer could be removed,
thereby saving the Board 30 shillings per day.
After completing a seven day quarantine period and
showing no signs of the disease, Captain Abrahamson
and his family were able to leave their home.
The sailors on board the quarantined ship were not
so lucky. After six days of arriving in Bunbury one
of the ill sailors was the first victim to die on
Wednesday 29 April 1903. The unnamed Norwegian man,
aged 23 years was said to of been in a critical state
and had succumbed in the afternoon, and then later
that night the body was cremated on the north shore.
The day after this first death a quarantine station
was erected, also on the north shore, and patients
were transfered there from the ship soon after.
So what was the cause of the outbreak? Dr Flynn stated
that the Captain of the vessel informed him that the
port of East London, from which the ship originally
sailed, was an infected port and was infested with
fleas. The Captain's theory (which appeared to be
very plausible), was that the fleas infected the rats
on the ship, and the disease was then contracted by
the men during the voyage.
There have been comments to indicate that several
people died from this plague outbreak - we hope to
complete further research and bring any more details
and stories to you in upcoming editions.
September 2002
