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support. The most frequent course, however, is for the sick man's friends to come
and borrow an ambulance to take him to hospital. A similar increase of popularity
is also apparent at the other hospitals.
When we compare this state of affairs with the dread of the neglected hospitals
of 1896-97, we see how much the benevolent methods of Government have accom-
plished in popularizing our plague hospitals.
OSVALD V. MULLER,
(Volunteer) Official Plague Hospital Visitor,
Professor at Elphinstone College, Bombay.
10th April 1899.
Use of the Funds
in the Districts.
The discretional relief fund played an equally conspicuous part
in the work of the District Officers in their districts. The following
note by Lt. Warneford shows how it was utilised :—
" This has been found most useful in promoting the efficiency as well as the
popularity of plague measures. In C Ward a large amount, varying from
Es. 2,500 in February 1899, to 600 or 700 in May 1899, has been expended. In
such a large district it was found impracticable to keep the actual distribution of
relief and of compensation in the hands of the District Officer alone, and accordingly
out of the total standing advance in the hands of the District Officer, small standing
advances were made to each of the Assistant District Officers and to the Section
Medical Officers. These standing advances varied from 25 to 35 each according to
the number and class of the population of each Section. On the removal of patients
to Hospital, or the despatch, of their relations to a camp as contacts, or on the burning
of the clothing or bedding belonging to a plague case or found in a plague infected
room, the Officer present paid immediately a small amount to the persons concerned—
that is, to compensate them for the wage-earning time lost to them by their
removal from their home, or for the expenses they would probably be put to by
such removal, or for the value of their property destroyed or in fact for any loss
which would be entailed by their temporary disturbance from their ordinary work
and residence.
" A list of the amounts thus expended—giving full details as regards the cause
of the expenditure, date, time, and place, and names of the persons—was submitted
by the paying officer to the District Officer every Friday morning. This list was
checked by him, and if approved, the amount expended was refunded to the paying
officer next day, thus making his standing advance complete again. Then again on
occasions when a large number of people, three or four hundred say, were being-
removed to a camp on account of their houses or their immediate neighbourhood
being badly infected the District Officer was usually present personally to distribute
relief. It was found expedient in such cases to give an amount of money to each
family sufficient to compensate the wage-earning members of it for the loss of a
few hours or of a day's work.
" In all cases the carts or coolies required to transport contacts or evicts and
their property to camp were also paid for, and this was done in the following way :—
In order, as far as possible, to check fraud or waste on the part of subordinates, the
officer or his inspector when despatching a loaded cart off to camp noted down on
a slip of paper the address from which it was sent and the exact time at which the
cart was first hired. The camp-master having had the cart unloaded added the
exact time of unloading on this slip and sent the cartman off to the District Office,
where he was paid the correct amount due to him in the presence of the District