98
Perhaps a still inore unfortunate case was that of Gimne Vithu, an old blind
widow, who lost her son in the Maratha Hospital. He was her sole support. She
was left with a grandson, aged 10, and implored me to beg Government to send her
away from Bombay, a city of misery and death to which she and her son had come
a short month ago, hoping to earn high wages. She was sent with her grandson
her home near Poona, being given altogether Rs. 10.
Orphans.
In the case of orphans relations are hunted up, if in Bombay, or written to, if
any exist, elsewhere. Meanwhile the children are supported by the Fund in the
hospital camps and when the relatives arrive, if poor, their expenses are defrayed and
the children are fitted out with clothes and money for their immediate support. To
quote some examples, Luximan and his wife were brought to the Arthur Eoad
Hospital, where they died of plague, on succesive days, 15th January 1899. Four
little children—Vithal 8, Ragú 5, Gungi 6 and Tani 2—were left in the camp
attached to the hospital and were maintained by daily rations.
Tani, the youngest girl, developed plague and died at once on 17th January
1899. Enquiries led to the discovery of a maternal aunt in the service of the
Health Department at Colaba, and a grandmother at Sangameshvar in Ratnagiri
Gungi, the eldest girl, developed plague on 18th January 1899 and died on 21st
January 1899. The aunt conducted her funeral, her husband also appearing.
They, however, were poor and had children of their own. Further enquiries led
me to discover a maternal uncle, Piraji, coachman to Mr. R.—of Byculla. His wife
was in his country, he had no children, his brother and mother lived with him. His
pay was Rs. 16 and he looked a good man. He, therefore, was given the two
survivors after their ten days' quarantine. For clothes, &c., Rs. 5 were granted for
each child as their family had lost everything they possessed.
Another case was that of a little girl Krishna (12) who was admitted to the
Arthur Road Hospital, on 28th November 1898, and was unconscious for 12 days
but finally recovered. Her father had died of plague in the town, her mother
died of the same complaint in the hospital, ard her little brother, aged 3, was admit-
ted to the relapsing fever ward. After two months I discovered a maternal uncle
who took away the boy now well at Once, while little Krishna was handed over to
him on 9th February 1899 with Rs. 5 for her outfit and support.
The families of a plague patient are usually taken to the hospital contact camps,
and if poor are there supported while their bread-winner is sick in the hospital. If
the wife or children have not been brought owing to absence from home when the
case occurred or the like, they are fetched to the hospital camps and maintained by
being given daily rations.
Such is the nature of the various reliefs given when once the deserving cases
have been picked out. When the number of cases in the hospitals began to
increase at first slowly then rapidly till they numbered close on 800 it became
necessary to frame some regular scheme by which the deserving cases could be
brought to my notice without the necessity of enquiring personally into the circum-
stances of every patient rich or poor.
Ma t h ods for
ascertaining cir-
cumstances of
patients.
The aid of the hospital authorities was therefore enlisted. The Doctors,
English Nurses, Assistant Surgeons and Hospital Assistants and Compounders,
all helped to call my attention to deserving cases. In time, however, the mere
writing down of the particulars of deserving cases, brought to my notice by these
various agencies or through my own enquiries, took far too long when several
hospitals had to be visited during the morning. Finally the information required