15
6. Special attention was paid by Surgeon-Major Barry to the systematic
flushing of privies, moris and main drains. The disinfectants used for this
purpose were creosotive, and subsequently corrosive sublimate.
The work of the Bhangis was carefully supervised, and the regular removal
of nightsoil from privies was enforced. Nightsoil carts were repaired as far as
possible and efforts made to obtain new ones. None ready-made could however
be obtained on this side of India. Open spaces and lanes as well as the main
streets were systematically cleared of rubbish.
Steps were taken by the issue of notices under the Municipal Act and
otherwise to get insanitary privies put into a sanitary condition.
7. The city having been brought into a fair state of cleanliness the
special subordinate conservancy establishments were orderecl to be discharged
from May 16th. Twelve British non-commissioned officers and privates with an
equal number of English-knowing special sub-inspectors were however retained.
8. I am of opinion that the measures taken had the effect of materially
improving the sanitary state of the city of Poona, and that great credit for the
results obtained is due to Surgeon-Major Barry. There can be little doubt that
the city is now cleaner than it ever has been within the memory of living man,
and this is probably one of the causes that has kept down the general mortality.
9. Some particulars of the conservancy work done during the time the
military inspectors were employed will be found in Appendix 13,
VI.—WORK IN POoNA CANTONMENT.
The importance of taking stringent measures to check the spread of the
plague was recognized by the Poona Cantonment authorities long before indi-
genous cases of the disease had appeared in the cantonment. The matter was
referred to higher authority and finally the General Officer of the Bombay
Command, with the sanction of the Government of India, prescribed for Poona
Cantonment the temporary regulations contained in Appendix 14. These re-
gulations were published by the Cantonment Magistrate on 20th January 1S97.
Prior to this, however, special attention was paid to the whitewashing of houses
and the cleansing and disinfection of sewers and drains.
2. Towards the end of January the General Officer Commanding at the
request of the Cantonment Magistrate placed Surgeon-Major Donnet on special
duty in the cantonment to make a house-to-house visitation and to supervise
sanitary arrangements. This officer was attacked with plague in the perform-
ance of his duties, and going on leave was succeeded by Surgeon-Captain
Thacker, who has since been in medical charge of plague operations in the can-
tonment.
3. When the operations in Poona Cantonment were placed under the
Plague Committee's control that Committee, as already stated in Section II
of this report, delegated certain of its powers to Colonel Newnham Smith, Canton-
ment Magistrate. Thereafter all plague measures of a routine nature were
carried out under his orders, subject, however, to the Committee's general
control. The removal of the plague-stricken to hospital and the segregation of the
inmates of infected houses was systematically enforced.
4. Military search parties were employed in the cantonment from March
18th. In the first instance two parties of three British soldiers, each under a
non-commissioned officer, were sent there. On March 22nd the number of
search parties was increased to six. On April 9th, as the disease appeared to be
increasing in the cantonment, two divisions of 10 parties each were sent there.
Each party consisted of one British and two Native soldiers, and the search
divisions were commanded by British Officers as in the city. On May 13th
one search division was abolished, and the search was stopped altogether on
May 19th. The military search was conducted in the cantonment on substan-
tially the same lines as in the city except that in addition to searching for
plague cases the troops were employed on the destruction of rubbish found in
the houses searched. Only some 20 cases of plague were actually discovered
by the search parties, but search had the effect of causing prompt intimation of