11
The Limewashing Parties.
26. Particulars of the constitution and duties of the limewashing parties
will he found in the printed "Directions for limewashers " (Appendix 8).
These directions were approved by the Plague Committee on March 24th and
were published for general information.
27. For the first few days of the operations by the military a limewashing
party consisted of three European and one Native soldier, and one cart contain-
ing limewash and implements was assigned for two parties. The constitution of
the parties was as stated in the directions from March 22nd. In the first
instance two limewashing divisions of ten parties each were employed. The
number of divisions was however raised to three with effect from. March 22nd.
On April 1st. three parties were added to each division. On April 8th the strength
of the limewashers was reduced from 3 divisions of 13 parties each to one divi-
sion consisting of 15 parties.
28. The number of houses or portions of houses limewashed on each day
of the operations is given in Appendix 9. The total number limewashed from
March 15th to May 19th was 3,068.
29. The limewashing divisions usually worked in the portion of the town
in which the search and fumigation divisions had worked on the previous day.
Officers commanding limewashing divisions were furnished daily with lists of
houses for limewashing. All houses which had been disinfected, either by the
military fumigation divisions or by the Municipal staff, were included in these.
lists. Houses, which though not infected were found to be in a filthy state, were
also included.
30. It was found at the beginning of the operations that rather too many
articles wore at times destroyed as rubbish. Orders were accordingly issued on
March 26th to Officers commanding limewashing divisions to visit, if possible, all
houses to be limewashed and to decide what should be destroyed in each. It was
also laid down that when property of any value to the owners was destroyed by
limewashing party, the Officer commanding the division should note the approxi-
mate cost of replacing what had been destroyed in order that compensation
might afterwards be paid. In practice nothing was destroyed after the first fort-
night of the operations except in the presence of an officer.
31. When a house was limewashed any property of value which it contain-
ed was usually handed over to the neighbours for safe custody. When this
could not be arranged, which seldom happened, all valuables were sent to the
Plague Committee's warehouse, where they were kept till claimed by the owners.
The Segregators.
32. The work of removing to the segregation camps the apparently
healthy inmates of infected houses was performed by Native Infantry under the
command of a British, officer. A segregation party was present daily in the
section of the city where the search divisions were working. The segregation
of the inmates of houses where cases were found by the searchers was made in
accordance with, the instructions contained in the " Directions for searchers ''
(Appendix 2). A more laborious part of the duty of the segregators, however,
was the segregation of the inmates of houses where plague cases had occurred
which had come to light otherwise than through the agency of the search parties
or where deaths had taken place "which had not been certified by a Commissioned
Medical Officer to be due to some cause other than plague, The Segregation
Officer, Lieutenant Owen Lewis of the 14th Bombay Infantry, was furnished
daily with a list of such houses.
33. At the commencement of the operations segregation ceased to be carried
out in the morning at the time when the search was going on in the city. It
was found, however, that to avoid segregation the inmates of infected houses
commonly absented themselves from home during the ordinary working hours.
It was therefore found necessary in the later stages of the operations to vary the
hours of work for the segregators from day to day. The work of the Segregation
Officer was by no means easy, and it was often a matter of much practical diffi-