14
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE
Extracts from the Annual Medical Report of the Lock Hospital at Kamptee,
by Surgeon-Major G. J. GIBSON.
The Cantonment Sub-committee which meets every month is composed of the following
officers :—
(1) The Deputy Surgeon-General, Nag-
pore Force.
(2) The Cantonment Magistrate.
(3) The Medical Officer, Lock Hospital.
The following measures were taken for the control of prostitution and prevention of dis-
cease : (a) no women were employed about the single men's barracks; ( b) women found loitering
about the neighbourhood of the barracks for the purpose of prostitution were handed over to the
Police; (c ) w o m e n i n t h e g r a s s c u t t e r s ' l i n e s , R . A . , w e r e p r e v e n t e d f r o m p r a c t i s i n g p r o s t i t u t i o n ;
(d) European soldiers admitted to the station hospital suffering from venereal were asked
to point out the women from whom they contracted the disease ; ( e) Soldiers arriving at, or
departing from, the station were examined for venereal disease ; (f) Soldiers stating that they
had contracted the disease from women on the roads or in the country, their statements were
forwarded to the Cantonment Magistrate, informing him when women were known to loiter
about a particular place.
Registration is not very efficient as there are only 47 women on the register, viz., 30 first
class, 17 second class ; this is a less number than 1885, and only 6 women have been newly
entered during the year. This is a very small number for a station with a strength of 1,000
European troops, 1 Native Cavalry regiment, 2 Native Infantry regiments, and a large civil popu-
lation numbering over 50,000 inhabitants. Those who are on the register represent only the
lowest and poorest class of prostitutes, and the number of uncontrolled prostitutes must be very
large. The area over which registration extends is seven square miles.
No registration fees levied.
The women have been regular in their attendance at the examinations, all women absent
are reported to the Police, and if in the station are punished. Thirty-seven women were reported
during the year for absence at the weekly examinations ; this is not many, as one woman who has
left the station may be reported five or six times before her name is removed from the register.
The total amount of fines levied during the year has been Rs. 9. The money is credited to the
Cantonment fund.
Thirty-nine women were admitted to hospital during the year. Most of the cases treated
were mild, and there have been no symptoms of secondary syphilitic disease amongst the women
on the register. No relation could be detected between the diseases in the European Station
Hospital and the women of the Lock. Women pointed out by soldiers for having given them
the disease are, when examined, invariably found to be healthy, and I believe soldiers point out
women when they really do not know the women they have had connection with, either it has
taken place in the dark or the soldiers have been probably stupid from drink.
One Dhai visits the women daily at their own houses ; she is paid by the cantonment.
The women on the register are carefully examined once a week, and the propagation of
disease must be due to unlicensed prostitutes and the Police ought to prevent this as far as
possible. I am aware that women are found loitering on the roads at night ; there is always some
man who comes forward and states that she is his wife. The same applies to grasscutter women
in the R.A. Lines, and it is therefore difficult to prove that they are living by prostitution.
Extracts from the Annual Medical Report of the Lock Hospital at
St. Thomas' Mount, by Surgeon-Major T. C. H. SPENCER.
There is no Cantonment Sub-committee.
Three head constables and 3 constables are detailed to watch the bazaar and the movements
of prostitutes.
The Regimental authorities also take steps to prevent women from frequenting the neigh-
bourhood of the barracks, but these preventive measures are inefficient as there is a large
amount of clandestine prostitution carried on, and women from Madras find their way to the
Mount and Pallávaram, especially when the troops come out from the musketry practice, and it
is not an unusual case for a soldier to charge a prostitute on the Mount register with having
diseased him, whereas the disease was contracted from some outsider.
Registration must be considered very inefficient, or the number on the register would greatly
exceed 30, and this is the total number of women from the three stations, St. Thomas' Mount,
Pallávaram, and Poonamallee. During the year there were only 7 cases registered, of this
number, 4 were fresh registrations and 3 re-registrations. There were 4 removals, from the
books, viz., 2 struck off by order of the Cantonment Magistrate and 2 absconded to propogate
disease elsewhere.
The women have been fairly regular in their attendance. There were 49 cases reported for
non-attendance to the Superintendent of Police. The cause of this non-attendance has not