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Arrangements for the proper disposal according to caste of all unclaimed bodies
and of those of the very poor were not lost sight of. Through the kindness of the
Honourable Dr. Bhalohandra his central organization, first started for the Maratha
Hospital, has been extended to the Arthur Road and Modikhana. His staff under-
take the disposal of the bodies of all unclaimed or poor Brahmins and goldsmiths
(Sonars), the staff being called by telephone direct from the hospitals. A staff of
Maratha bearers was organized, paid by the Relief Fund, and these dispose of the
bodies of all poor and of all unclaimed Hindus of caste exclusive of Brahmins.
Relief.
Free rations to
attendants on sick.
All friends attending on the patients are, if poor, granted daily rations from the
hospitals as they are unable to work while nursing the sick. These rations are now
charged to the Relief Fund and they add much to the popularity of the hospitals.
Thus if a wife comes to nurse her sick husband she does not starve or fall ill from
want of food, to buy which she may have no money, now that her bread-winner is
unable to work. These attendants are kept in a camp for ten days after the death
or convalescence of their sick friend.
Thus a Mahomedan, Papamia Shetkarim, lost his brother in the General
Mahomedan Hospital. He was unable to earn anything while attending on his
brother, he was given daily rations, and on leaving Rs. 3 for food till he should
find work.
Another example was furnished by the case of Mathalahubai, a Mahomedan
woman, dependent on her husband for support. The latter was taken to the General
Mahomedan Hospital with plague and the woman was soon reduced to grent straits.
The sick man was attended by his brother and has since recovered. Meanwhile, the
woman, who remained at home, was given Rs. 5 for her support till her husband's
discharge, when further help was given to him, as they were miserably poor.
As no attending friend or convalescent can be discharged, as above stated,
without my being given 24 hours' notice, it has been possible to enquire into the
affairs of all as they departed and to relieve their distress if necessary.
Money relief
how given.
Patients sent
home to their
villages on reco-
very.
Thus if a poor patient is discharged and is too weak to work and wishes to
remain in Bombay he is given sufficient rupees to support him for as long as
the doctor thinks necessary. If, as is usually the case, the patient wishes to go to
his native village and the same is within the Bombay Presidency, he is furnished
with money for a ticket by rail or steamer, as the case may be, and with sufficient
money for food en route, and if very poor or weak with money to keep him for a
week or two on arrival home. Often a long journey has to be taken in a bullock
cart in addition to the journey by steamer or railway, if so, funds are provided to
defray the cost. The great majority of the poor plague patients in our hospitals
have but one desire, viz., to get home to their villages in the country as soon as they
are able to leave the hospitals. Means to enable them to proceed home are, there-
fore, a very acceptable and popular form of relief. The payments are properly
assessed according to the cost of the journey, length of time it takes, &c., &c. To
ensure that the money is really being spent on tickets, &c., a trustworthy messenger
(peon) from the hospital accompanies the person to the railway station or pier and
brings back the numbers, &c., of the tickets. Any number of examples of this form
of relief might be given : a few typical cases are quoted below :—
Examples.
Nana Saula, Mhár, aged 10, was a bright youth who appeared with his mother
and grandmother Bhagu Madu. He had lost his father in the Arthur Road Hos-
pital of plague. They were quite helpless, but had friends near Indapur and
desired to go there owing to the approaching confinement of the mother. They
were given from the fund Rs. 5 for railway tickets and Rs. 5 for cart-hire, food, &c.
Total Rs. 10.