NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
134
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. V1II.
Baroda and Central India Railway, Shikarpur and Paño Akil and all
stations south of them to Dabheji on North-Western Railway via
both main line and Kotri-Rohri chord ; also all stations on Hyderabad-
Shadipalli Railway.
No. 87.
No. 176, dated I7th March 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government, North-Western Provinces and
Oudh,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Public Works Depart-
ment.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No.
224-R.T., dated the 6th March 1897, intimating that the names and
addresses of all passengers by rail from certain areas in the Bombay
Presidency and Sind should be recorded on arrival in these Provinces
at places other than those at which a medical inspection of passengers
is being carried out.
2. I am to say in reply that the names and addresses of all pas-
sengers from the Bombay Presidency and Sind, who alight at the
twelve stations in these Provinces to which medical officers are ap-
pointed are at present being recorded in accordance with the orders
of the 26th February 1897, of which a copy is enclosed. These orders
were issued in accordance with the views of the Home Department,
as expressed in its telegram of 2oth February. His Honour did not
propose to extend this system to other places in the Provinces partly
because at such places the only person to make the record would be
a Railway Police officer or (where there are no Railway Police) a
railway official, over whose action there would be little or no control
and partly because a system has been organized in these Provinces
for reporting in every village and town the arrival of a person from
the Bombay Presidency or Sind. The record at twelve stations of the
names and addresses of passengers was supplementary to this system,
and the experiment has not proved a success. It is found that pas-
sengers give false names and addresses, and that there is no means
of detecting this at the time. The provision of taking names and
addresses is so far quite useless and a mere waste of time in the vast
majority of cases.
3. For the reasons above stated, the Lieutenant-Governor and
Chief Commissioner would prefer not to extend the system in the
manner indicated in your letter under reply.
APP. VIH. ]
spread of infection by land.
135
No. 88.
No. 29Ö-R.T., dated the ist April 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Public Works De-
partment,
To—The Secretary to the Government of the North-Western Provinces
and Oudh. Sanitation Department.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 176
(Sanitation Department), dated the lyth March 1897, stating that, for
the reasons given, the Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Commis-
sioner would prefer not to extend the already existing system of
recording names and addresses of passengers in the manner indicated
in the Government of India letter No. 224-R.T., dated the 6th March
1897.
2. In reply I am to say that that letter was intended to provide
for railway administrations affording such assistance as is in their
power to whatever staff the Local Government might appoint at
railway stations, it being- entirely optional with the Local Govern-
ment to name the railway stations where this assistance should be
called for.
No. 89.
No 1575-76-Medí., dated Calcutta, the 2ßrd March 1897.
From —H. H. RISLEY, Esq., C.I E., Secretary to the „Government of
Bengal, Financial Deparlment,
To—The Inspector-General of Police.
In continuation ot Government Order No. 13^6-Medl., dated the
12th March 1897, laying down certain instructions for the guidance of
village chaukidars in reporting cases of death and arrivals, from the
direction of Bombay, of Marwari or other traders in the villages within
their jurisdiction, Í am directed to forward the accompanying copies of
From the Govern-
ment of India, Public
Works Department,
No. 224-R. T., dated
6th March 1897, and
enclosure.
From the Govern-
ment of India, Public
Works Department
No. 250-R. T., dated
15th March 1897.
From the Govern-
ment of India, Home
Department, No. 917,
dated nth
March
1897.
letters trom the Government of India, noted in
the margin, regarding the arrangements to be
made to watch the movements of passengers
arriving from infected areas. In the Lieutenant-
Governor's opinion it will be sufficient to arrange
that at Chapra, Dinapur, and Chakardharpore, the
stations where tickets are checked, the Railway,
Police should take down the name, address and
destination of any person holding a ticket from
any one of the infected stations (a list of which
is given in the letters from the Government of
India, Public Works Department, quoted above),
and should report these particulars to the District
Superintendents of the Districts for which the
passengers are bound. I am to request that
you will issue orders accordingly.
. £ß6
Measures to prevent iJie
[ APP. VIII.
Correspondence regarding the Disinfection of
Baggage.
DISINFECTION OF THE BAGGAGE OF PASSENGERS
TRAVELLING BY RAILWAY FROM PLAGUE-INFECTED
AREAS.
No. 90.
No. 970, dated Calcutta, the 6lh March 1897.
Ni
prom—j t p. HEWETT, Esq., C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of
India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Department.
I am directed to state, für the information of the Governor in
Council, that the Government of India have been considering the
subject of the disinfection of the luggage of passengers travelling by
railway from areas in which plague prevails. Infection maybe spread
as easily by the contaminated clothes and personal effects of passen-
gers as by the passengers themselves, and the disinfection of suspi-
cious articles is therefore a necessary adjunct to the medical inspec-
tion of passengers which is made at the principal railway stations •
alonar the lines of communication from infected districts. I am to
O
convey the following remarks regarding the nature and extent of the
disinfection which is required in order to be effective, and the
manner in which it should be carried out.
4. By the Dresden Convention of 189^, the principles of which
are being supported by the delegates of Her Majesty's Government
of India at the Conference at Venice, disinfection is obligatory for
dirty linen, rags, clothes and other goods forming part of luggage
being conveyed from a contaminated district, provided that the local
sanitary authority considers such articles to be contaminated. The
most effectual method of disinfection is to boil the articles to be
disinfected in water or to subject them to the action of steam. At
Khana on the East Indian Railway, where special arrangements have
been made for the disinfection of baggage, the Government of India
are informed that the steam is generated by a large engine on wheels.
The steam is passed-through apipe into a 400 gallon water tank,
inside of which are twelve iron rods on which the articles to be
disinfected are suspended. Access to the interior of the tank is
obtained through a manhole at the top, The tank is provided with a
safety valve and a tap for the purpose of letting off the water which
accumulates. A cooking range is about to be added to the apparatus,
and the Sanitary Commissioner of Bengal hopes to have a disinfector
on the latest approved principles constructed within three weeks.
Until arrangements can be made for disinfecting by boiling water or
APP. VIII. ]
spread of infection by land.
137
steam, articles of luggage can be disinfected by placing them in a
solution of two parts of hydrochloric acid and one of corrosive sublimate
to 1,000 parts of water for an hour and then drying them in the sun or
by artificial heat, preferably the former method. It is not necessary to
disinfect in this manner the clothes and personal effects of persons
•who are not themselves suffering from infection or show suspicious
symptoms unless such clothes and personal effects are dirty or in such
a condition as to raise a suspicion that they may be contaminated. In
all such cases, however, disinfection should, the Governor General
in Council considers, be carried out at a railway station near the
frontier of the Bombay Presidency and Sind on each of the railway
lines leading from those Provinces to other parts of India, and the
medical officers at places where disinfection takes place should be
instructed to exercise the widest discretion so as to render it quite
impossible that articles which may be contaminated shall be passed
without being disinfected. It is very desirable that the disinfection
should take place at some station at which the train arrives during
the day, amongst other reasons because sunlight itself acts as a strong
disinfectant.
3. In cases in which the disinfection necessary under these orders
cannot otherwise be completed, it will be necessary to detain a por-
tion of the passengers until the departure of the next train.
No, 91.
Telegram No. 1388-?., dated the gth April 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Depart-
ment,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
Your letter 970 of loth March about disinfecting clothes con-
sidered by our Surgeon-General and special Medical Committee
who report that any disinfection scheme will entail detention of pas-
sengers for at least 24 hours in observation or quarantine camp,
and think detention should extend to seven days as Director General
states is done at Khana. Are Government India prepared to impose
suitable and sufficient restrictions on railway booking at stations on
both sides of disinfection stations ? Otherwise disinfection and
detention can be easily evaded by alighting at another station and
taking short land journey before re-booking, and it would be wasteful
and useless to buy apparatus, employ staff and establish observation
camps proposed by Surgeon-General. As to duration of delay caused
by disinfection, our experience shows it takes four hours at Karachi
and less than one hour at Ahmedabad.
c 18
138
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII
No. 92,
Telegram No. 1302, dated Simla, the isth April 1897.
1
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Deparlment.
Your 1388 of 9th. Government of India understand that Bom-
bay Government do not accept view of their Surgeon-General and
Special Medical Committee that disinfection scheme will entail deten-
tion of passengers for twenty-four hours. Time taken in disinfect-
ing will, it appears to Government of India, depend on amount of
plant used. It will now be probably impossible to make prompt ar-
rangements for disinfecting by steam, and the Government of India
suggest the simple plan of boiling all suspected articles. Boiling pro-
cess should not take more than quarter of hour and drying process
an hour. Orders as to description apply only to articles regarded by
the medical officers as suspicious and will be carried out at places
where medical inspection of passengers takes place. It is not
necessary to detain train or all passengers while this is being done.
Passengers with suspicious effects must be detained till disinfection
is complete, unless it is considered that they are themselves suspi-
cious, when they should be detained until the medical officer is satis-
fied that they may proceed. Government of India trust that arrange-
ments will be made as soon as possible to carry out disinfection.
They recognise that some people may evade it, but no scheme
for stopping progress of plague is free from this objection. With
reference to Bombay Government's suggestion as to imposition
of restrictions on booking at stations on both sides of disinfecting
stations, would it not meet Local Government's wishes if names of
all suspicious persons leaving train at stations within twenty miles
of disinfecting stations on one side were taken and given to station
masters at stations within twenty miles on the other side with ins-
tructions not to re-book them ?
No. 93.
No. 1366, dated Simla, the 27th April 1897.
From—J. P. HEWETT, Esq., C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of
India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Department.
I am directed to address you, in continuation of my telegram
No. 1302, the 15th instant, on the subject of disinfection of the lug-
-gage of passengers travelling by railway from areas in which plague
prevails.
2. It was stated in my telegram that it will now be probably im-
possible to make prompt arrangements for disinfecting by steam,
139
APP. VIII. ]
spread of infection by land.
and that the Government of India suggest the simple plan of boiling
all suspected articles. It was also stated that the boiling process
should not take more than a quarter of an hour and the drying pro-
cess another hour.
I am now to furnish the following details of the procedure re-
commended in the cleansing of infected articles, which, if carried out
thoroughly, will, the Government of India are advised, afford practical
security :—•
(1) All articles which the medical officers considered to be in-
fected or suspicious, subject to the exceptions noted in clauses (2), (3)
and (4), should be boiled for ten minutes in a solution of carbolic
acid (1—40).* The temperature of the solution will of course be
temporarily lowered by each article that is plunged into it, so that
precaution is necessary, not only to see that each article is so un-
folded as to be exposed in every part, but that every part is sub-
jected to the boiling temperature for the full ten minutes. On re-
moval from the boiler, articles should be dried in the sun for at least
an hour.
(2) Articles made of leather, of wood and glue, etc., which would
be injured by boiling, should be soaked in, or thoroughly mopped
with a solution of perchloride of mercury t and dried in the sun.
When it is considered necessary, such articles may, in addition, be
washed with a warm 5 per cent, solution of carbolic acid and soft
soap.
(3) Metallic articles, which may be unsuited to treatment by
boiling, should be washed and scrubbed with a warm 5 per cent,
solution of carbolic acid and soft soap and dried in the sun.
(4) Articles capable of conveying infection, which cannot be
treated in any of these ways, should be burnt.
* Carbolic acid solution for boiling should be of the strength of 2 1/2 per cent.,
and that for washing 5 percent. The carbolic acid should be of good commercial
quality and free from admixture with tar oils.
† The solution of perchloride of mercury should be of the strength of 1 —1,000
with either 10—1,000 of common salt or 5—1,000 of hydrochloric acid added. It
should be coloured blue with aniline or indigo, to prevent accidents, and should
not be exposed to contact with metals. It is desirable to make the solution fre-
quently, in comparatively small quantities at a time, and with as pure water as
possible. A good solution recommended by the English Local Government Board
can be made as follows : —
Half an ounce of corrosive sublimate, one fluid ounce of hydrochloric acid and
5 grains of commercial aniline blue, in three gallons of water (strength, 1 of mer-
curic chloride in 960).
140
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII
3. The question of the size and cost of boilers has been consider-
ed in connection with the supply of boilers for disinfecting the kit of
European soldiers. It has been found that a boiler of 15 cubic feet
contents is sufficient for the disinfection of the kit of a single soldier
and that a 15 cubic feet boiler could be constructed for Rs. 120, a
27 cubic feet boiler for Rs. 170 and a 40 cubic feet boiler for Rs. 200.
The effects of a native railway passenger will on an average be much
less than the kit of a European soldier, and the Government of India
have no doubt that the Government of Bombay will not find it diffi-
cult to determine the size and number of the boilers to be provided
at the stations where disinfection takes place.
4. In the rainy season the boiling process may, owing to the
difficulty of drying the clothes, be less easy to carry out. It may
then be necessary to construct an apparatus for artificially drying the
clothes, and the Government of India will be glad if the Govern-
ment of Bombay will take this question into consideration now, so
that arrangements may be made before the rains begin.
No. 94.
Nos. 1367—74, dated Simla, the 27th April 1897.
j
From—J. P. HEWETT, Esq., C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of India,
Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Madras, Local and Municipal
Department.
„ The Chief Secretary to the Government of the North-Western Prov-
inces and Oudh.
„ The Chief Secretary to the Government of the Punjab.
„ The Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces.
„ The Chief Commissioner of Coorg.
„ The Chief Commissioner of Ajmere-Menvara.
„ The Agent to the Governor-General of Baluchistan.
„ The Secretary to the Government of Bengal, Financial Department.
(a) L etter
in case of
Bengal,
In the letter of the Government of India in the Home Depart-
ment, No. 970, dated the l6th March 1897, to the address of the
Government of Bombay, a copy of which was forwarded to
the Government of Madras
His Honour (he Lientcnant-Governor (and Chief Commissioner) with this Department
en
dorsement (a) No. 971 to 977/977, dated 16th March 1897/18th March 1897on the subject of the
:
disinfection of the luggage of passengers travelling by railway from
areas in which the plague prevails, it was stated that the most effectual
method of disinfection is to boil the articles to be disinfected in water
or to subject them to the action of the steam. I am now to state
the Government of Madras
for the information Of His Honour the LiciUenant-Govemor (and Chief Commissioner) , the
your information
141
APP. VIII. ]
spread of infection by land.
following particulars with regard to the boiling process, which, if
carried out thoroughly, will, the Government of India are advised,
afford practical security :—
(1) All articles which the medical officers consider to be infected
or suspicious, subject to the exceptions noted in clauses (2), (3) and
(4), should be boiled for ten minutes in a solution of carbolic acid
(1—40).* The temperature of the solution will of course be tempo-
rarily lowered by each article that is plunged into it, so that precau-
tion is necessary, not only to see that each article is so unfolded as
to be exposed in every part, but that every part is subjected to the
boiling temperature for the full ten minutes. On removal from the
boiler, articles should be dried in the sun for at least an hour.
(2) Articles made of leather, of wood and glue, etc., which would
be injured by boiling, should be soaked in, or thoroughly mopped
with a solution of perchloride of mercury† and dried in the sun.
When it is considered necessary, such articles may, in addition, be
washed with a warm 5 per cent, solution of carbolic acid and soft
soap.
(3) Metallic articles, which may be unsuited to treatment by
boiling, should be washed and scrubbed with a warm 5 per cent,
solution of carbolic acid and soft soap and dried in the sun.
(4) Articles capable of conveying infection, which cannot be
treated in any of these ways should be burnt.
3. The question of the size and cost of boilers has been considered
in connection with the supply of boilers for disinfecting the kit of
European soldier. It has been found that a boiler of 15 cubic feet
contents is sufficient for the disinfection of the kit of a single
soldier, and that a 15 cubic feet boiler could be constructed for Rs.
120, a 27 cubic feet boiler for Rs. 170 and a 40 cubic feet boiler for
Rs. 280. The effects of a native railway passenger will on an
* Carbolic acid solution for boiling should be of the strength of 2 1/2 per cent.,
and that for washing 5 per cent. The carbolic acid should be of good commercial
quality and free from admixture with tar oils.
† The solution of perchloride of mercury should be of the strength of 1 —1,000
with either 10— 1,000 of common salt, or 5—1,000 of hydrochloric acid added. It
should be coloured blue with aniline or indigo, to prevent accidents, and should not
be exposed to contact with metals. It is desirable to make the solution frequently,
in comparatively small quantities at a time, and with as pure water as possible. A
good solution recommended by the English Local Government Board can be made
as follows :—
Half an ounce of corrosive sublimate, one fluid ounce of hydrochloric acicl and 5
grains of commercial aniline blue, in three gallons of water (strength, 1 of mercuric
chloride in 960).
142
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
average be much less than the kit of a European soldier, and the
Government of India have no doubt that the Government of Madras, etc./you will not
find it difficult to determine the size and number of the boilers to
be provided at the places where disinfection takes place.
4. In the rainy reason the boiling process may, owing to the diffi-
culty of drying the clothes, be less easy to carry out. It may then
be necessary to construct an apparatus for artificially drying the clothes.
No. 95.
Telegram No. 1780-P., dated the 29th April 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Depart-
ment,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
Your telegram 1302-Sanitary of I5th. Orders issued for carrying
out disinfection of passenger's clothing therein suggested at rail-
way stations, Hotgi, Bhusawal and Ruk.
REPORTS ON THE KHANPUR (PUNJAB) DISINFECTION
AND OBSERVATION STATION.
No. 96.
No. Disinfection/30, dated Khanpur, 13th July 1897.
From—LIEUTENANT J. G. CROSTHWAITE, Assistant Commissioner, Dis-
infecting Officer,
To—The Deputy Commissioner, Mooltan.
In compliance with the instructions contained in letter No. 366-S.,
dated 17th June 1897, from the Junior Secretary to the Government
of the Punjab, to the Commissioner and Superintendent, Lahore
Division, I have the honor to submit a comprehensive report on the
arrangements for disinfection of passengers at Khanpur, to which
Surgeon-Lieutenant Milne, Inspecting Medical Officer, has added a
supplementary report.
Preliminary
arrangements.
2. (a) In obedience to telegraphic orders received on the 4th
April, I left Mooltan and arrived at Khánpur on the 5th. Although
no definite orders had been received, I was informed by Surgeon-
Lieutenant Milne that it was intended to establish a disinfection
post in Khánpur. Pending receipt of orders I decided after consulta-
tion with Surgeon-Lieutenant Milne, to have the camp site cleared,
as it was covered with jungle. This site had already been selected
by Surgeon-Lieutenant Milne. Sardár Ata Ulla Khán, Chief Judge of
Baháwalpur, had arrived at the same time as myself. I arranged
with him that the State authorities should collect labour, as none was