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Effect of the epidemic.
(c) Mr. Silcock writes :—
Effect on the general prosperity of the district.
" The effect of the epidemic on the towns was an utter paralysis of trade for the
time being, but this only lasted from about
the 1st of March to the 15th of May, and the
effects have not been permanent. At present a stranger would not be aware that there had.
been an epidemic.
"In villages the interruption of business or agricultural operations was not very
marked : the harvest ripened almost at the height of the epidemic, and the crops were in all
instances harvested without any apparent difficulty: in cases in which all the male members
of a family had died, the neighbours gave the necessary help.
" Considerable difficulty was experienced at several places where the death-rate
was high, notably at Jagraon and in a lesser degree at Ludhiána, in obtaining cloth for
robing the corpses or wood for burning them. All the cloth and wood available were
quickly exhausted in the towns and large villages, the shop-keepers and contractors who
usually provided these articles had closed their shops and godowns and fled : special arrange-
ments had consequently to be made and supplies obtained from other sources.
" It is not anticipated by the Tahsíldárs and Revenue officials that any difficulty will be
experienced in paying the present revenue or in cultivating the ground for the kharif crops.
Sowing is in progress all over the district, and no difficulties have been reported. The
number of mutations which have been rendered necessary through plague mortality is 8,868.
Such a large number undoubtedly must have made very considerable changes in the village
life, but it has not been necessary to take any action except with regard to children who
were left orphans. These number 1,000 and in all cases arrangements have been made
through the nearest relations or (where no relations can be found) through the Zaildárs and
Lambardárs for the custody of the nersonal property and cultivation of the land.
State of litigation and crime.
" During the months of March and April civil litigation almost ceased. No one who
could possibly avoid it came to Ludhiána
during those months : the civil institutions for
the four months of February to May this year were only 1,886 as against 3,851 in 1901,
a decrease of more than 50 per cent.
" Crime on the other hand increased very considerably, chiefly in burglaries and thefts
from unoccupied houses in the half-deserted villages. The number of offences against
property reported during the same four months as attributable to plague is 186.
" Under the circumstances it is impossible to take any preventive measures, and it has
been almost signally impossible to obtain convictions or to trace the offenders, since in most
cases the thefts, &c, were only discovered long after their occurrence when people re-opened
their houses.
" There are several cases of thieves, who had broken into infected houses, having
caught the disease and died."
Precautionary measures.
(d) Almost the only measure adopted by the people themselves to prevent outbreaks
of plague in infected villages was the adoption of
quarantine. Orders were issued on December
14th to all Lambardárs informing them they were authorised to detain all strangers outside
their villages for 10 days.
Mr. Silcock notes: —
Village quarantine.
u Threes-hundred and thirty-six villages made arrangements to exclude strangers
from their limits, and of these 140 escaped
plague, while in 196 the efforts made were
unsuccessful,. These efforts were however of a very incomplete nature, and in many of the
villages though actual strangers were excluded, yet the relations of any resident of the
village, fleeing from an infected village were after more or less obstruction allowed in,
especially if the person asking admittance happened to be the relation of a Lambardár or
other influential person in the village.
"The want of union in the village, the ignorance of how far they would have been
justified in law in forcibly opposing entrance, the absence of any distinct order from Govern-
ment that entrance should be refused, and the absence of any provision for appointing or
paying chaukídárs were great obstacles in the way of success.
" On the other hand, again there were many villages where during the height of the
epidemic there was a regular state of seige and not even a Kánúngo or a tahsil chaprási
could obtain admission. These villages generally escaped infection."
Arrangement for obtaining information.
(e) At first Medical subordinates were sent to infected villages and were required to
maintain registers of plague cases and deaths
and to submit daily returns to the Civil Sur-
geon. As plague spread, however, the Medical staff was unable to cope with the duty of
reporting plague occurrences, which was then arranged for by the Civil authorities. Patwárís
were then required to submit daily plague reports. At first these-were submitted to the
Civil Surgeon, but in spite of the entertainment of temporary clerks the office of the Civil