Reprints of articles contributed to medical journals, 1895-1909 / by John D. Gimlette.

  • Gimlette, John D. (John Desmond), 1867-1934
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Reprints of articles contributed to medical journals, 1895-1909 / by John D. Gimlette. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    80/160 (page 76)
    It was therefore a typically new country, with new mines, and, beri-beri being such a well-known local scourge among Chinese, some anxiety was felt in the early days of the Company as to the health of the newly imported gangs of coolies that were necessary to carry on the work of underground mining. Chinese labour is universally employed for this purpose in the Malay Peninsula, but, curiousty enough, this mining district in Kelantan (afterwards referred to as the Sokor district), remained at first remarkably free from beri-beri. No cases were diagnosed in 1903. Mining operations were commenced in the interior of Kelantan, in a valley some seven miles distant from a small station on the River Sokor ; the general welfare of the Company’s coolies was quite as well, if not better, cared for as compared to that in similar mining districts ; the meteorological conditions—all very favourable to the formation of moulds—were found to be more or less the same as those in other parts of the Malay Peninsula ; the coolies were fed upon im- ported Rangoon rice, as is customary in other mining camps in this part of the world. Rangoon rice is more liable to be attacked by moulds and weevils than any other kinds of imported rice [3] ; it is also more difficult to clean for cooking as it soon becomes broken in the necessary process of kneading and washing, but it is cheap and is in common use. The supply was mainly obtained by the Company from Singapore, because the conservative Chinese do not care to purchase rice which is grown locally and only roughly husked by indolent Malays for retail ; moreover, the Company had endeavoured to store Kelantan rice, but found that this was im- practicable, as it very quickly deteriorated after it had been husked by hand and stored. As there was no market in the Sokor district it was necessary to stock a comparatively large amount of rice for the Chinese miners ; this was all kept, at first,