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In Chawal the local Brahmins were opposed from the first to all. plague opera-
tions, and it was only by the personal exertions of Inspector Brady that the work was,
done at all. When he began the work, the villagers, incited by the Brahmins, turned
out armed with sticks to oppose his men by force, and he had some trouble to pacify
them ; afterwards the Bombay coolies returned to Bombay and local labour, was
obtained for the work. Many of the villagers gave a written guarantee that they
would carry out the necessary disinfection under the superintendence of Mr. Brady,
and accordingly were then not interfered with by the Committee's coolies.
Obstruction was also met with in Rewadanda and Uran, but in most of the
towns and villages in which work was done the people came forward after a time and
actually assisted in the operations and expressed their gratitude to the staff for their
exertions. When all was finished they were allowed to return to their houses.
With the exception of Uran, where there are still a few cases, and which is
reported to be in a thoroughly insanitary state, the district of Kolaba is reported by
Mr. Atkinson to be free from plague, and the people have been allowed to return to
their houses. The main object which the Plague Committee set before themselves,
therefore, when they undertook the work has been attained, viz., the execution of the
necessary disinfection in time to allow the people to get back into their houses before
the rains.
Mr. Atkinson speaks very strongly of the insanitary state of Uran and Panwell.
The Municipality of the former town appears to have neglected its duty for some time
past. The plague has not yet been eradicated from it, while cholera has broken out
there lately, and guinea-worm is reported to be extremely prevalent. On such places
as these a mere disinfection can make only a temporary impression ; and if they are
not to become hotbeds of plague in the future, it seems that some further steps are
required to complete the cleansing process.
The report of Surgeon-Captain Collins, which follows, gives a full
account of the history of the outbreak of the plague in this district, and
of his own work there.
First Cases.
The first case of bubonic plague in the district, so far as I can ascertain,
appears to be that of one Kashinath Sundarji, who acquired the disease in Bombay
and died in Alibag on 27th December 1896. The second imported case occurred
on 7th February in Alibag, and the third on 17th February 1897.
The
first indigenous case was reported on 24th March- Between 18th February and
23rd March six deaths were recorded from fever. Some of these were very probably
due to plague, but were not so returned, as the Municipal authorities did not get
sufficiently early information to permit of their inspecting the dead bodies before
disposal. Isolated imported cases also occurred in Mangaon, Mahad, and Roha.
Fortunately owing to the dryness of the soil, distance from the sea-shore, and
absence of luxuriant vegetation, which makes the climate damp and malarious, or,
probably to some other unknown cause, the villages in which these single cases
occurred did not furnish a fruitful soil for the plague bacilli to develop in. In
every case the infection died with the patient, and did not spread so as to affect
others. No very strict or scientific methods of segregation and disinfection were
adopted, but the natural conditions of the villages seem to have been so favourable
to the prevention of the disease from spreading, that the contagion did not travel
beyond the imported case, and there has been no indigenous victim to the epidemic
in any of these villages.
In the village of Wadawli, however, in the taluka of Mangaon, an
instance occurred in which the contagion was directly conveyed to another person,
who soon died from its effect. A man suffering from plague arrived in Wadawli
from Bombay ; the villagers believed that by removing the blood from the bubo