HYDERABAD SUBSIDIARY FORCE.
87
European and Native details. —There is but little calling for remark in the statistics of the
small bodies of European and Native details. The general health of this class has been, on the
whole, good. Out of an average annual strength of men 32, women 23, and children 16, there
have been 32 admissions with 1 death, that of a warrant officer of the Medical Department
(Mr. Apothecary Scott) from general dropsy.
The average annual strength of the Native military details at Secunderabad has been
55.41. Under this heading are included all Native military, fighting and non-fighting men
arriving at the station on sick certificate. There were 13 admissions into garrison hospital
amongst whom occurred two deaths, one from phthisis pulmonalis in a sepoy of the 24th
Regiment Native Infantry, and the other from general debility in a sepoy of the 27th Regiment.
Conservancy of Secunderabad town.—The usual attention has been paid to the conservancy
of the bazaars and cantonment, but no special progress has been made as to drainage and
water-supply. Large numbers of Native huts have been removed from the cantonment, and
followers' lines have and are now being put in lines to assist sanitation.
Alleged Causes of Sickness and Mortality.
The amount of sickness among the Native troops occupying Secunderabad was a little
more than in 1875, but much less than in 1874. The mortality was considerably higher during
the year under review than in 1874 or 1875.
The following table shows the percentage of admissions to strength and the deaths in
hospital to admissions for the last three years :—
Conservancy
of Secunder-
abad town.
European
and Native
details.
Years.
Admissions to
Strength per
100.
Deaths to
Strength per
100.
Deaths to
Admissions
per 100.
1874 ...
...
141.44
0.98
0.69
1875 ...
...
78.17
0.88
1.12
1876 ...
...
84.14
1.21
1.44
Fever was more prevalent in three of the Native corps than in 1875, but less so than in
1874. The 29th, 40th, and 1st Native Infantry furnish the largest number of admissions.
A special report on the increase of sickness under this head in the 29th Regiment was forwarded
to the Surgeon-General, Madras. The 3rd Regiment Light Infantry, which suffered most in
former years, was this year singularly free from fever, having had only 166 admissions this year
a gainst 268 in 1875 and 567 in 1874. The 1st Cavalry shows a slight increase of admissions, 47
against 39 in 1875 and 31 in 1874. There is also a slight increase in the G, H, and K Companies
Sappers and Miners, 190 against 159 in 1875, but a decrease as compared with 1874. Cholera
may be said to have been prevalent more or less in Secunderabad, in the city of Hyderabad, and
in the Hyderabad Assigned Districts during the greater part of the year. The epidemic may be
regarded as a continuation of the epidemic from the previous year. There were 53 attacks
with 26 deaths among the Native troops, families and followers. In the cantonment of
Secunderabad there were 173 attacks among males and 144 among females, with 93 and 75
deaths respectively.
Six cases of small-pox were admitted into the hospital of the 40th Native Infantry and
1 into that of the 3rd Light Infantry. The disease was of a modified type, and all made good
recoveries.
The state of the huts, sanitary defects, imperfect drainage, and want of latrine arrangements
in the lines of the 3rd Light Infantry were brought to the notice of the Surgeon-General,
Madras, in a special report from my office, and are now under the consideration of His Excellency
the Commander-in-Chief, Madras. The lines are condemned by the committee which was
ordered to report on their condition, and a new site has been recommended on which to build
new lines. The expense attending the alterations proposed by the Surgeon-General, Madras,
to improve the defects complained of, will no doubt prove a bar to their being carried out ; and
the alternative plan of an abandonment of the lines will, in my opinion, in the end be the most
economical one for Government to follow.
The conservancy of the station generally is fairly satisfactory, but a complaint was made
towards the end of the year by the Staff Surgeon, Dr. Rogers, anent the insanitary condition of
the cantonment and suburbs as regards conservancy and the state of the public latrines. The
Cantonment Magistrate was communicated with on the subject, and remedial measures were at
once adopted to rectify matters in this respect.