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offered the whole for the accommodation of his afflicted country-people, at the same time
giving them their food out of his own pocket. The Mahomedan Hospital was con-
veniently situated also outside the walls and on the bank of the river, and was previously
used as a Dispensary. It was capable of accommodating about 30 or 40 people, and was
in every respect a suitable place for an hospital. When I arrived at Mandvi on the
29th, there were 53 cases admitted into the Hindoo Hospital the previous day, and a
few cases in the Mahomedan Hospital. I will speak of the hospitals further on.
Methods adopted.—On going over the town I saw that the first thing to be done
was to get the sick out of their houses into the hospital and then to cleanse the whole
town, removing as many people as possible into temporary sheds.
Search Parties.—For the removal of the sick we formed search parties in the city,
and we had very difficult work getting at these, as the people were very reluctant to have
their sick taken away to the hospital, and every endeavour was made to evade the search
parties. However, a great many cases were found daily ; a greater number died in their
houses. In our visitation to the houses many cases were found either dead or dying,
and all feeling of humanity amongst the people seemed to be blunted, as on several
occasions we unlocked doors closed from the outside and found cases left to die, chiefly
women. This house-to-house visitation was instituted at once and is still going on, at
the necessity for removing every infectious agent still remains, and the people are so
apathetic or ignorant that they prefer the risk of infection in their own houses to the
removal to the hospitals. The Plague Committee had sent three ambulance carriages
with me, and we had to obtain five others from Bombay to enable the sick to be removed
in comfort. The country carts used with the ambulances were rather a rough method
of transport, but, strange to say, some of the people preferred these bullock-carts to the
ambulances.
The nest thing to be done was to cleanse the houses, and this seemed a very
formidable affair, since, as stated before, the whole place was very densely crowded
with houses, and very dirty. I could not obtain coolies in the city or suburbs, as the
men were afraid to do the work, and so I had to telegraph to Bombay for 200 coolies
and a couple of capable European inspectors ; also for a large quantity of lime and
materials for disinfection. These demanda were promptly attended to, and on the
4th of May the men were set to work at the really arduous work of cleansing the
town.
The usual measures were taken, viz., opening out the rooms as much as possible
to light and air, and removal of a part of the tiles, taking out all rubbish and clothes
and burning them, the use liberally of disinfectants, and, finally, hot lime washing the
whole premises.
Mr. Atts, my energetic and capable inspector, found that the addition of about
12 oz. of carbolic acid to half atub of lime made it more biting and gave the microbes
less chance, and he also found out that equal quantities of red carbolic powder and
chloride of lime placed in an earthenware receptacle and left in a room produce a
most pungent and powerful deodorising effect, cleansing the atmosphere in some of
these rooms, locked and left for many weeks with dead rats, &c., in a very short time.
The Bombay cooliea and inspectors being men accustomed to the work in
Bombay were very efficient, and the work proceeded quickly. I was eventually able to
replace these Bombay men by local men who took heart on seeing the plague
decrease, I gradually increased my gang of coolies by local men, and as the Bombay
men were a great expense to the State, I eventually removed them all except 20 men
and my inspector, Mr. Atts. They left on the 20th May, and I regret to say that 8
men were attacked and died of the plague.