108
" of Banias and Bhatyas, not counting a small number of Marwaris, Guzeratis, etc.,
"as well as Ghnttis and Kolies in Koliwada. Amongst these high caste Hin-
" dus it is only men of the very greatest influence who dare enter houses belong-
"ing to other castes. It is necessary here to state that in Mandvi people of differ-
" ent castes do not live together in the same house. In one house will be found
" only Lohanas, in another only Bhatias ; and so on. It is not, therefore, to be won-
" dored at that this Committee failed to detect many cases. To meet these difficul-
" ties a Bania Committee was formed in November, and in January the Bhatyas
" organised a Committee. It was also found in Chakta that Mahomedans and
" Hindus did not work together satisfactorily, and separate Committees were formed.
" Thus at present the volunteers are thus organised :—
Name of Committee.
Lobana ...
Bania
Bhattias ...
Khoja
...
Beni-Israel
Hindu
Mahomedan
Section.
Mandvi
"
"
"
"
Ohakla
„
Chairman.
|
. Rao Bahadur Caramsy Damjee
. Mr. Ranchordas Haridas
. The Hon'ble Fazalbhoy Visram
. Khan Saheb David Solomon
. Rao Saheb Gopaldas Kooshaldas
. Khan Saheb Kazi Mahomed Ali Moorgay .
Total ...
Number of
Members.
14
10
12
2
2
5
9
54
The different Committees worked as follows :—
" Lohana.— A list of all the Lohana houses according to streets was made.
'' To each member was allotted about a dozen houses. Care was taken that as far as
" pobbible a member was given those houses which were situated in the immediate
" vicinity of Ms own home. The duty of the members was to keep a watch on the
" health of the tenants of these houses. He was at liberty to examine the houses
" when and how he liked. This system was popular among the members.
" Bania and Bhattias.—At first it was arranged that these Committees should
" work on the same lines as the Lohana. But the Banias, on account of factions in
" the caste, could not be induced to work without the presence of the District Officer
" and staff, and the Bhattia members, on account of fear of the plague by the middle
" of February, had all left Mandvi. The members were, however, replaced by the
"caste servants, who were ordered by their employers to take note of all sickness
" they happened to see when visiting the houses for caste purposes. The great
" feature about this system of working is that the people are unaware that they are
" being watched. The appearance of these servants excites no curiosity among their
"own people. Among the Bhattias, I am sorry to say that the leaders sometimes for-
" bade their servants to speak the truth, and some deaths from plague were put
" down to " heart disease " or some such convenient malady.
" Khoja.—As a Committee, it did not exist. Mr. Fazalbhoy Visram, Mr.
"CMnoyand Mr. Habibbhoy could, howtver, always be depended upon to give in-
" formation of plague cases when they came to their notice, and as the community
" is very small no case conld possibly happen without it coming to their notice.
" This only relers to the Khojas who live in Mandvi—a very small number.
" Beni-Israel.—Khan Saheb David Solomon is the only working member of
" this Committee. However, no other was necessary. I have always found him to
" work so well that I never now do more than mention what I want done, knowing
" full well he will do all I request him.