His Excellency's-
cy's letter to
the President
of the Munici-
pality.
5
Already Military ward orderlies had been supplied to the Munici-
pality, and there was a general impression that Government were about
to take some special steps to stamp out the disease before the rains
commenced. Not much surprise, therefore, was manifested when the
Government order appeared appointing the following Plague Committee
for the City of Bombay :—Brigadier-General W. F. Gatacre, C.B., D.S.O.,
Chairman ; P. C. H. Snow, Esq., i.c.s. Barrister-at-Law (Municipal
Commissioner) ; Surgeon-Major H. P. Dimmock, T.M.S., and C. C.
James. Esq., A.M.I.C.E. (Municipal Engineer). Surgeon-Lieut.-Col. Weir,
Executive Health Officer to the Municipality, was at once appointed
as Chief Medical Officer to the Committee.
Accordingly, in a letter addressed to. the President of the Municipal
Corporation, His Excellency the Governor of Bombay said that so
thorough had been the cleansing operations carried out by the Municipal
Executive that the continued existence of the plague in the City was
conclusive proof that it could not be stamped out by any measures of
disinfection. " Larger and different measures " were therefore needed to
brine 1 it under in a reasonable time. The first thing to be done was to
search for and discover the cases, and provide hospitals for each caste in
convenient places, and to watch persons who were living in the same house
with a sick person. The plague had spread to many places outside
Bombay. To deal with it now the efforts put forth required to be far-
reaching and systematic, and to aim above all things at the suppression of
the epidemic, before the rains. This was why Government had decided
to take the management of the epidemic into its own hands, to system-
atise and direct the efforts of individuals and bodies, and prevent
dissipation of energy. No slur was intended on local administration
or self-government ; the appointment of the Committee was u an Imperial
necessity " which should meet with the support of all the citizens of
Bombay. On the same day the following letter was addressed to
Brigadier-General Gatacre by His Excellency the Governor :—
DEAR GENERAL GATACRE,
It is desirable that I should supplement the Notification appointing
your Committee by some definite written instructions as to the' course
of action that you should take. This Notification empowers you to
cirry out the measures to be taken to suppress and prevent the spread
of babonic plague. These measures should comprise an organisation
for—
1. The discovery of all cases of plague.
2. The treatment of all cases in hospitals.
3. The gradual segregation, as far as possible, of the probablv
affected—that is, of those living in the same room with, or
in close attendance on, a person'who is found to have
the plague.
These are the objects to the attainment of which your energies
should be directed. I am sure I need not do more than indicate that
in all cases of obstinacy or misunderstanding on the part of those whom
it is our endeavour to benefit, persuasion and gentleness should be used ;
that the privacy of women should be disturbed as little as possible, and
only by women ; and that the caste and religious usages of the people
should be treated with all consideration.