Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1879

No. 299.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Evarts.

United States Legation,
Tokei, Japan , August 8, 1879. (Received September 4.)

No. 929.]

Sir: Referring to my No. 925, of the 26 ultimo, in which I reported the revised quarantine regulations issued by this government to prevent the importation by vessels of cholera, I now have the honor to inclose for your information the report of the sanitary bureau of the home department, as published in the Japan Daily Mail of the 5th instant, of the number of cholera cases, together with the rate of mortality therefrom up to the 25th ultimo. Referring to this report, it appears that there is no publication of cases in the report, as the table shows, later than the 11th of July, and that up to that date the whole number of persons attacked was 31,759, 18,017 of whom died within that period, showing the rate of mortality to have been 56.73 per cent.

Of the whole number of deaths, as above stated, but 60 are reported to have occured in Tokei and Kanagawa (Yokohama). Omitting these two places, and including the other places named in the table, where nearly the entire mortality occurred, I estimate their population at not more than 2,000,000 people.

In concluding this note I beg leave to observe that an examination of this official report shows that the entire mortality caused by Asiatic cholera occurred between the 22d of April and the 11th of July last; and that from the 22d of May to the 11th of July 5,031 persons died in the city of Osaka of this scourge, the whole population of the city being estimated at about 600,000. The rate of mortality was 77 per cent, of the persons attacked.

I have &c.,

JNO. A. BINGHAM.

[Inclosure in No. 929.—Extract from Japan Daily Mail, August 5, 1879.]

Table of cholera cases reported up to July 25 from different localities.

Name of fu and ken.	Date commenced.	Patients.	Died.	Cured.	Under treatment	Percentage of mortality.
Osaka	From May 22	6,478	5,031	935	512	77.66
Kiyoto	From June 6	700	482	118	100	68.86
Sakai	From May 30	5,205	2,874	598	1,803	55.22
Hiroshima	From April 23	3,157	1,867	283	1,007	59.14
Yamaguchi	From May 15	1,956	1,015	42	899	51.89
Okayama	From May 22	3,768	1,883	399	1,486	49.97
Wakayama	From June 2	915	423	6	486	46.23
Yéhime	From April 22	2,962	1,495	171	1,296	50.47
Kochi	From June 7	159	80	9	70	50.31
Oitah	From April 23	2,512	1,224	950	338	48.73
Nagasaki	From June 11	52	7		45	13.46
Kumamoto	From May 24	36	11		25	30.56
Kajoshima	From April 30	308	157	58	93	50.97
Fakuoko	From May 21	691	276	64	351	39.94
Shiga	From May 25	133	88	16	29	66.17
Miyi	From June 15	47	29	7	11	61.70
Kanagawa	From June 19	9	6	1	2	66.67
Aichi	From July 2	24	16		8	66.67
Gifu	From June 30	3	1		2	33.33
Ishikawa	From June 23	181	75	3	103	41.44
Shimane	From June 19	3	1		2	33.33
Shidzuoka	From June 26	6	3		3	50.00
Tokei	From June 19	82	54	4	24	65.85
Yamanashi	From June 26	9	3	5	1	33.33
Gunba	From July 2	4	1	3		25.00
Chibah	From June 27	1	1
Ibaraki	From June 29	1	1
Niigata	From July 8	13	3		10	23.08
Soldiers under army:
Osaka garrison	From June 17	80	22	19	39	27.50
Himeji garrison	From June 27	10	4	6		40.00
Hiroshima garrison	From June 2	6	3	2	1	50.00
Matsuyama garrison	From June 28	23	6	13	4	26.09
Marugame garrison	From July 2	5	2	3		40.00
Kokura garrison	From June 29	16	7	2	7	43.75
Fuknoka garrison	From July 11	6	2	4		33.33
Kanazawa garrison	From July 23	1			1
Kumamoto garrison	From July 11	13	3		10	23.08
Otsu garrison	From June 29	1		1
Fushimi garrison	From July 6	2	1		1	50.00
Total		31,759	18,017	3,731	10,011	56.73

Infected localities:

Osaka, under the jurisdiction of Osaka fu.

Kobe, under the jurisdiction of Hiogo ken.

Shimonoseki, under the jurisdiction of Yamaguchi ken.

Collected by sanitary bureau, home department, on 26th July, 12th year of Meiji.