20
Worli.—The mortality was distinctly high throughout the year.
The epidemic began about 13th December 1898, rose for 12 weeks to a
maximum death-rate of 121 in the week ending 14th March 1899, and
then fell to the close of the year— a total period of 24 weeks. It was,
however, at the end of the year still considerably above normal. The
epidemic exceeded both its predecessors in intensity ; the total mortality
(2,030) being greater than that of 1897-98 by 887 and than that of
1896-97 by 487.
This large district constitutes the suburbs of Bombay, and includes
a number of villages of various sizes. The disease appeared in epi-
demic form first in Parel during the latter half of December ; Elphinstone
Road and Jacob's Circle were next attacked in the beginning of Janu-
ary ; Bhoiwada, Naigaum, Sewri and Worli, during February, and
Dharavi not till the end of March. Elphinstone Road and Jacob's
Circle were clear by the beginning of April, but cases continued to
occur elsewhere except where it was possible to evacuate the entire
infected localities. The epidemic seemed to follow no regular course,
but would jump from one locality to another and subsequently return
to intervening areas in an entirely arbitrary manner.
General Re-
marks regard-
ing the loca-
lities attacked
by pla g-ue.
Lieutenant Brackenbury in charge of Mandvi and Chukla makes
the following interesting observations :—
** Except in a few instances, up to the middle of March, the disease attacked the
" people not the houses. Those people escaped whom the landlord compelled to live
" under sanitary conditions, and only in those houses where no one was allowed to
" come and live without being asked where he came from. In this way they pre-
" vented the infection being introduced, or, when it was introduced, spreading.
" During the months of March and April, when the disease attacked the houses
" (through rat?), scarcely any of the houses built over godowns escaped. These
" godowns and the houses over them are always infested with rats. It was most
" remarkable that in Mandvi while all the people were coming to me with tales of
" rats dying, and I was finding how useless it was sending only patients out of
" the house to stop the spread of the disease, in Chukla I heard no such stories, and
" I found that if I sent the patient to hospital as I had been doing, this measure
" was quite sufficient to prevent further cases. There are no godowns underneath
" the houses in Chukla. When the disease attacked houses, it seemed to attack all
'' alike,—badly ventilated, dark overcrowded chawls in which poor Ghattia live
" as well as the large airy buildings of the richer merchants."
So much for Mandvi and Chukla. Speaking of Bombay as a whole
the epidemic seems to have begun this year smouldering in insanitary
spots, then laying hold of them—first one, then another—gradually
tightening its grip upon them—making little excursions from them and
then suddenly flaring up into a general blaze all over the district
attacked. There is a consensus of opinion among the District officers
that want of light and ventilation, overcrowding, filth and dampness, and
defective drainage—in a word defective sanitation—were almost universal
characteristics of the localities chiefly attacked, but exceptions to this