r31 LOCK HOSPITALS, MADRAS PRESIDENCY.
hope it may strike the readers of this report that a necessity for the compulsory registration
exists of all who shall henceforward be convicted of illegal intercourse, for this is a measure I
would strongly advocate.
Extract from the Annual Medical Report of the Lock Hospital, Tonghoo,
by Surgeon T. C. H. SPENCER.
The Commissioner of the division and all others in authority in Tongboo are agreed that the
building is badly situated ; it is at the extreme end of the Native town, and at a considerable
distance from any other public building, such as the jail, or dispensary, or police-station, and is
therefore free from any and all supervision. The result of this is that during the year some of
the women while undergoing treatment in the hospital made their escape, and were assisted in
so doing by men from outside, The average strength of British troops for 1876 was 458; durin
g the year there were 73 admissions for venereal disease ; out of this number 17 men contracted the
disease elsewhere, leaving 56 due to Tonghoo.
During the year 1877 the average strength of British troops was 417, the admissions for
venereal disease were 45 : this shows that the working of the Contagious Diseases' Act has not
made much progress during the last year. I think every allowance should be made for a frontier
station like Tonghoo, which is open to infection from all sides, Spans, Kareens, and people from
Upper Burmah and also from the south daily come into Tonghoo ; and that these people import
the disease into the district is proved by some of the men who are infected, seeking admission
to the Civil Dispensary for treatment. Shoaygheen, where there is a detachment of the 17th
-Regiment Madras Native Infantry, and Wenjan, a large Native town a short distance from the
British frontier, are two well-known sources of venereal disease. Amongst the registered women
n Tonghoo there have been 63 admissions during the year ; the cases were of a mild nature and
readily yielded to treatment. A few days suffice to render them healthy, and, as a rule, the women
at the weekly examination present a very clean appearance, so much so that I am very pinch
inclined to think the British troops do not contract disease altogether from these women, but
occasionally from the camp-followers and others in the bazaar, who call themselves respectable
married women. It is a noteworthy fact that all the registered women are Burmese, not
a single native of India being on the register, although there is a considerable population of the
latter class in Tonghoo. A fresh batch of these women (camp-followers) arrive in the station
with each relief of European troops, There is no doubt that the British troops consort with
some of these women, but it is extremely difficult to prove the fact, there being no European
Inspector of Police to watch the movements of the suspected ones.
When I assumed charge of this hospital in March 1877, there were 15 women on the
register. At the present time there are 72 on the register. They present themselves every
Friday morning for examination, and are personally inspected by the Surgeon in charge of the
hospital. During the year 27 women were reported to the Cantonment Magistrate for non
-attendance at the weekly examination, and punished accordingly by fine or imprisonment. I
think the former mode of punishment is felt more by these women than imprisonment.
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