NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
64
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
opinion of the Government of India, apply to all passengers by-
whatever class they are travelling and whatever their race. And it
will be necessary to establish at quarantine stations separate camps
for each day's arrivals as well as hospitals and to provide for ten
days' segregation. In other instances Government of India have, while
refusing to impose quarantine, given widest discretion to inspecting
medical officer to detain any person who may, by reason of his
symptoms, appearance, state of his clothes and effects or in any
other way, appear suspicious. Would not a strict regulation of this
nature with Commissioned Medical Officer at Jhatpat secure what
you wish ?
No. 33.
Telegram No. 109, dated the 30th March 1897.
From—The Agent to the Governor General, Baluchistan,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
Your No. 1123-Santary. Quarantine such as you describe seems
hardly practicable. There is little water at desert stations and
without aid from Government resources of agency would be insuffi-
cient. I am therefore taking immediate steps to carry out at Sibi
your last suggestion. Can you lend me Commissioned Medical
Officer for employment there ? One imported case plague reported
to-day from Sharigh.
No, 34.
Telegram No. 1270, dated Simla, the 12th April
1897.
J
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department,
To—The Agent to the Governor General, Baluchistan.
Continuation correspondence ending my telegram 1202, dated
5th. It is stated in newspapers that all third class passengers for
Baluchistan are detained for ten days and camp is therefore expected
to increase day by day until tenth day. Such an arrangement was
not contemplated in my telegram of 28th. Please telegraph if
newspaper report is correct and generally nature of arrangements
made at Sibi.
No. 35.
Telegram
No. 168, dated Quetta, the 13th April 1897.
From—The Agent to the Governor General, Baluchistan,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
Your 1270-Sanitary. Newspaper report incorrect. All third
class passengers are not detained for ten, days. There is rigorous
medical inspection at Sibi under supervision of Commissioned Medical
Officer and Assistant Political Agent and in exercise of their discre-
tion and with my approval medical officers detain, as plague suspects.
65
APP. VIII.]
spread of infection by land.
all native passengers from infected places in Sind unless they
produce certificate from Plague Committee of place of departure or
other proof that they have come from non-infected quarter. Other
passengers travelling in same carriage with plague suspects are
merely detained few hours for disinfection. Also as numerous refugees
from Sukkur were found alighting desert stations and fleeing Kalat
territory orders have issued stopping them alighting and requiring
them to proceed Sibi first for inspection. In my opinion no measures
short of this will prevent plague reaching Baluchistan. They have
worked well and are cordially approved by all classes of community
even by those whose families are detained. There has not been one
complaint and number in camp yesterday after fortnight's working
was only 304. This is maximum as exodus from Sind is decreasing.
Measures adopted are less rigorous than those taken by Bombay
Government in Sind towns like Jacobabad where local quarantine is
enforced and in interests of this province I strongly deprecate any
relaxation. If plague reaches Quetta we shall have much trouble
with Pathan population.
No, 36.
Telegram No. 1297, dated Simla, the 15th April 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department,
To—The Agent to the Governor General, Baluchistan.
Your telegram 168, dated I3th. Government of India approve
measures you have taken to prevent plague reaching Baluchistan and
do not wish them relaxed in any particular.
Correspondence regarding the Preventive Cordon at
Daman.
No, 37.
Telegram No. 1397, dated Simla, the 3oth April 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay.
Government of India will be glad to know if report in newspapers
that Daman has been isolated from all communication with sur-
rounding country is true, and if so, on what grounds this measure has
been justified.
No. 38.
Telegram No. M/273.p., dated Mahableshwar, the 4th May 1897.
From—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Depart-
ment, •
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
Your telegram 1397-Sanitary, 3oth. It is not true that Damati
has been isolated from all communication with surrounding country.
9
c 9
66
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
Communication has been restricted because part of Daman is very
seriously infected with plague. Letter follows.
No. 39.
No. M/370.p., dated Mahableshwar, the 14th May 1897.
3
From—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Depart-
ment,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
In continuation of my telegram No.M/273.p . , dated 4th May 1897,
I am directed to forward herewith, for the information of the Govern-
ment of India, extracts from reports regarding the observation camp
arid the cordon connected therewith on the frontier of Damaun. It
will be seen that no restrictions have been approved by the Govern-
ment of Bombay except such as are necessary to prevent Daman
infecting with plague neighbouring uninfected British villages.
No. B.p/472. dated Surat, the 23rd March 1897.
From—The District Magistrate, Surat,
To—The Commissioner, Northern Division.
I have the honour to forward herewith a correspondence which
has been handed to me by Mr. Judge, Assistant Collector of Salt
Revenue.
2. I am informed from various source's that plague is spreading
fast through Daman territory.
There is, therefore, a great likelihood that the Pardi Taluka will
be infected if immediate steps are not taken.
3. Mr. Judge has been good enough to offer the assistance of the
whole of his Daman Frontier Guard.
This guard is stationed along the Kolak river and the railway line
and therefore commands the fords and the level crossings.
It could, to a great extent, if not entirely, prevent the ingress and
egress of any one to and from Daman territory out of or into the
Pardi Taluka except as regards a few villages west of the railway
line, which would have to take care of themselves.
4. As part of the Daman territory (Nagar Haveli) lies east of the
railway line, I would suggest that Portuguese Government officials
going to and fro should not be stopped unless actually suffering from
plague. Thus the administration will not be interfered with and the
chief objection from the Portuguese point of view removed.
5. But officials apart, I respectfully, but urgently, ask your sanction
to the establishment of a cordon by means of the Daman Frontier
Guard round Daman territory and the bit of the Pardi Taluka lying
West of the railway line.
67
APP. VIII.]
spread of infection by land.
It is not enough to say that our villages can protect themselves.
For though they may prevent strangers from infected places
entering their limits, they will not prevent their own inhabitants from
resorting to Daman territory to drink (as they do daily in crowds)
and returning home, thus bringing infection with them.
6. As you will remember, Dr. Lowson, Plague Commissioner,
during his visit to Surat, spoke strongly in favour of cordons,
I hope, therefore, you will see fit to sanction my present proposal
at an early date,
No. 102-Police, dated the 25th March 1897.
From—The Commissioner, Northern Division,
To—The District Magistrate, Surat.
The District Magistrate's proposals are sanctioned. It is under-
stood that the Daman Frontier Guard has charge of the Thana
District frontier also, and if so, the cordon should extend there also.
Mr. Moore will kindly ask Mr. Judge to inform the Commissioner
demi-officially about this.
No. 508-B. P., dated the 26th March 1897.
From—The District Magistrate, Surat,
To—H. M. JUDGE, Esq.
Forwarded with compliments to H. M. Judge, Esq., Assistant
Collector of Salt Revenue, together with a copy of the undersigned's
report to the Commissioner, Northern Division, for information,
guidance and favour of action.
2. Messrs. Dart and Smy, the Inspectors, Daman Frontier, and
Mr. Valabhram Sarkarkun Kunta are hereby appointed plague
authorities for their charges as far as contained in the Surat District.
Mr. Judge himself is hereby appointed plague authority for the whole
district of Surat.
3. Mr. Judge will note that Portuguese officials, bearing passes
signed by His Excellency the Governor of Daman, should not be
stopped by the cordon.
4. The District Superintendent of Police has been requested to
co-operate with Mr. Judge in forming the cordon.
Charges of disobedience to the accompanying order should be
lodged before the Mamlatdar and 2nd class Magistrate, Pardi.
Extract paragraph 3 of a letter from the District Magistrate, Surat, No. 523-B.P.,
dated 27th March 1897.
"Information having been received that plague was spreading
fast through Daman territory and fears being entertained that it would
68
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
affect the Pardi Taluka, I requested the Commissioner, Northern
Division, to sanction the establishment of a cordon by means of the
Daman Frontier Guard of the Salt Department round Daman
territory and the bit of the Pardi Taluka lying west of the railway
line. My proposals having met with the approval of the Commis-
sioner, I have arranged to stop all intercommunication from Tuesday,
the 30th instant. I beg to append copies of my letter to the
Governor of Daman and of my notification. I may add that the
notification has been published in Guzerati in all the villages which
will be affected by this measure."
Extract, paragraph I, of a-letter from the District Magistrate, Surat, No. 631-B.P.,
dated the 3rd April 1897.
" I have the honour to report that during the week ending 2nd
instant, the cordon stopping all intercommunication between all places
lying within and on the Daman side of the Daman Frontier line of
the Salt Department and all places lying without and on the other
side of that line was established. The Governor of Daman having
asked me to arrange for the importation of mhowra flowers into
Daman, his request was complied with on condition that the mhowra
flowers be carried in British carts from the Daman road station to a
certain place on the cordon line and there be transferred to Portuguese
carts."
Extract, paragraphs 1, 5,6, 7, of a memorandum from the Commissioner, Northern
Division, No. 130-Police, dated the 12th April 1897.
" 1. As plague is raging in Daman and the arrangements there
are quite disorganised, the District Magistrate of Surat has, with the
sanction of the Commissioner, prohibited intercommunication between
Daman territory and eleven villages of the British taluka of Pardi
on the one side and the rest of the British territory on the other.
The eleven British villages have been included with Daman, because
they were for convenience left on the other side of the Salt Depart-
ment Preventive line which has been utilised for the purpose of a
cordon. The object of the department was to get a straight line,
and with this view they sacrificed a corner of British territory and left
it outside.
*
*
* * * *
" 5. The Commissioner is convinced that these people have a real
case and that the cordon cannot be kept on just as it is. The whole
difficulty can be removed for the present by shifting the preventive
line, i.e.) the cordon, on to the territorial frontier line, instead of the
artificial course which it now takes. Mr. Judge has been good
enough to consent to arrange for this.
69
APP. VIII, ]
spread of infection by land.
" 6. This line will be longer and involve more strain on the men.
The Mamlatdar should therefore instruct the patels and people of the
II villages to assist by patrolling their own borders. If they allow
people to go from British territory to Daman villages to drink or
for any other purpose, or to come from Daman into British villages,
the old cordon will be reverted to. They should also assist in build-
ing temporary huts for the salt guards.
" 7. The only expense involved will be in erecting these temporary
huts, and if the people assist, the cost will be very small. It is
impossible to estimate what it will be at present, but probably not
more than one or two hundred rupees. It is hoped that Government
will be pleased to sanction this expenditure and approve of action
being taken at once."
No. 716-B. P., dated the 10th April 1897.
From—R. A. L. MOORE, Esq., District Magistrate, Surat,
To—F. S. P. LELY, Esq., Commissioner, Northern Division.
I have the honour to forward herewith copies of the whole corre-
spondence that has taken place about the cordon that has been
placed round Daman territory and that part of the Pardi Taluka
that is west of the railway line and south of the Kolak river.
2. It will be perceived that I imposed the cordon under rule 29
of the rules under the Epidemic Diseases Act after obtaining your
sanction.
3. The object of the cordon was to prevent the spread of plague
from Daman, where it is admittedly raging into British territory.
Plague is stated by the best authorities, e.g. t Dr. Lowson, Plague
Commissioner, to be contagious, and a cordon is the surest way to
prevent contact.
4. The accompanying papers will show that I have treated the
Daman authorities with due courtesy and have made every conces-
sion possible without making the cordon futile.
5. The concessions now demanded by His Excellency the Governor
of Daman are such as, if granted, would render the cordon entirely
inoperative.
Moreover, they are not necessary as supplies can be brought to
Daman by sea.
It is true that I have made a concession by which mhowra flower
may be brought from the Damaun road station to the cordon in
British carts and taken from thence in Portuguese carts to Daman.
But I have only done this in order to avoid any show of discour-
tesy to the Portuguese administration, and to prevent the possibility
of difficulties arising between them and their Abkari contractor.
70
Measures to prevent t-he
[ APP. VIII.
It would be highly inadvisable to extend this concession to
materials, such as rice, grass and firewood, for this would mean
continued streams of traffic from British territory and from Daman
meeting at the cordon.
Carters mixing at the meeting place would become subject to
contagion, and undoubtedly facilities would be afforded to persons
wishing to slip across from Daman into British territory.
6. I beg to invite your special attention to the proposals of His
Excellency the Governor of Damaun—
(a] that persons should be allowed to take supplies into Little
Damaun where he admits plague is raging from and
through British territory and should be allowed to return
into British territory, though the Portuguese have them-
selves entirely cut off communication between Little and
Big Daman ;
(3) that the dhobies of Little Daman should be allowed to wash
clothes (sometimes probably plague stricken) in British
rivers while they are debarred from using the river that
flows between Big and Little Daman.
Translated into plain English, this means that to save certain
Portuguese subjects from inconvenience, British subjects are to under-
go risks that His Excellency of Daman himself and the rest of the
Portuguese subjects refuse to face.
7. As for the statement that plague is confined to Little Daman,
this is doubtless accurate at present, but what certainty is there that
it will remain so?
Moreover, how can the frontier guard distinguish between persons
coming respectively from Big and Little Daman?
8. I should like to point out in conclusion that the cordon imposed
surrounds not only Portuguese territory, but also a portion of British
territory, namely, that part of the Pardi Taluka lying west of the
railway line and south of the Kolak river.
It cannot, therefore, be said with truth that foreign territory has
been more harshly treated than our own. •
Perhaps, I may add that there seems to be an error in the popula-
tion of Daman territory as stated by His Excellency the Governor
in his letter under report (vis., 70,000, seventy thousand) ; the popula-
tion of the adjoining Pardi Taluka which has four times the area of
Daman territory numbers in round figures 60,000 (sixty thousand)
only.
Possibly His Excellency meant to write 7,000 (seven thousand).
This is an important difference when the subject of supplies has to
be considered.
71
ÁPP. VIII. i
spread of infection by land.
No. 127-Police, dated the I2th April 1897.
From —The Commissioner, Northern Division,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Department.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
3. It is to be noted that, however strict the measures of the Dis-
trict Magistrate of Surat, they are not more so than those adopted by
the Governor of Daman for protection against his own people.
Plague having broken out in Little Daman, he has shut himself up
in Big Daman and absolutely cut off all communication. It is
difficult to be sure of the facts, but it is credibly asserted that one day
last week there were 40 deaths in Little Daman, and that no
segregation is enforced. It is said there are isolated sheds, but no
one is removed there unless he has no friends. Things being thus
disorganised, it is only fair that the British authorities should protect
their own people as severely as His Excellency the Governor protects
himself.
4. His Excellency asks firstly that goods coming by rail for
Daman may be allowed to pass there from the railway station. At
present no person is allowed to enter Daman territory across the
cordon, except (1) postal runners, (2) Portuguese officials, (3) Portu-
guese subjects armed with a pass from the Mamlatdar of Pardi which
is only granted on a certificate from a Portuguese authority if he
comes from Portuguese territory or from a British authority if he
comes from British territory to the effect that he is a Portuguese
subject. This arrangement is not objected to by the Governor. The
importance to British interests of making it strict is that if large
numbers of persons cross the frontier, many of them will certainly
want to come back and will bring infection with them. More especi-
ally it is necessary to stop the crowds of people who go into Portu-
guese territory for the sake of the cheaper drink to be got there.
Unless they are kept at home, they will certainly bring in the plague.
5. No goods whatever are allowed to enter Daman territory,
except mhowra flowers which are allowed to be brought up to the
cordon in British carts and then unloaded into Portuguese carts.
This embargo against practically all imports is too absolutely to be
maintained. There are many well-to-do Parsi families and others in
Daman who in case of illness get such things as ice, fruit, medicine,
from Bombay and at all times will be much inconvenienced if shut
off altogether. The gross amount is likely to be very small and may
be allowed to pass without any real danger, just as mhowra now is.
Goods brought by rail from Bombay to Daman road railway
station should be brought in British carts to the cordon, and
then transhipped into Portuguese carts with separate bullocks and
72
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
drivers. With reference to the Collector's remarks that supplies may
be brought in by sea, it should be noted that this mode of carriage is
not always possible, and that in a few days more or less the sea route
will be made difficult by the monsoon winds.
6. Secondly, the Governor asks that goods may be sent out of
Daman viâ the railway station of Daman road under a pass
signed by his delegate. This concession is quite unnecessary. Con-
sidering the present state of Daman, it would be fraught with danger
to British subjects, and the embargo can cause little or no incon-
venience to Daman, from which there is little to export at this time,
and that little goes by sea.
7. Thirdly, he asks that firewood, grain and grass may be allowed
to pass from the outlying Daman Taluka of Nagar Havel i into
Damaun across the cordon. Now, this is a point to be carefully
considered. The Commissioner has held a conference at Wapi with
a number of persons with local knowledge, and has ascertained
that ordinarily a very considerable traffic in firewood, grain and
grass flows into Daman from the east. The Sirkarkun of Customs,
who has the best opportunities of knowing, estimates the carts at
100 per day, Now it is clear this cannot be entirely stopped for
long without causing keen distress. There are, however, some
facts on the other side, (1) a good deal of grain is not for local use
but for export by sea; and considering how little claim Duman
has to consideration, this might be stopped for a while without
compensation ; (2) it is said by those who ought to know that by
this time most of the season's grain and grass has already gone
into Daman, and that in April and May little goes except firewood.
Then, again, it is said (1) that firewood is selling at half the usual
price east of the cordon because large quantities are blocked up
here, and (2) that it is getting so scarce at Daman that there is
difficulty in burning the dead. The whole question seems to the
Commissioner to depend on what the facts are at Daman. If
the price of these three necessaries of life (grass, grain and fire-
wood) is going up to famine pitch, then we are bound to relax
the rule. It is very difficult to know the precise state of affairs
in Daman, but the Commissioner has instructed the Sirkarkun,
the Mamlatdar, and the Chief Constable to make independent
inquiries ; and when they report distinct signs of distress, one or all
of these commodities may be allowed to pass under the same precau-
tions as already adopted for mhowra flowers. If necessary, the
establishment must be increased and every arrangement made to
prevent confusion and evasion,