15
Quality
of
water
sus-
pected
on
occurrence
of
the
cholera
outbreak.
66. "When the outbreak of cholera occurred on the night of the 24th May,
suspicion immediately fell upon the quality of the water used,
but the theory subsequently advanced by Dr. Anderson, as
to the possible effects of the disturbance of the soil of the old
buildings, seems to have directed inquiry away from this important subject.
Dr. Cowen, Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, Hydera.bad Subsidiary
Force, in his letter, No. 924, of the 26th May 1871, to the Inspector-General,
British Medical Service, observes :—·
" There is a report that the puckallies (water carriers) have been supplying,
at night, water from a well which has been condemned for drinking purposes, but
as yet we have not been able to satisfy ourselves that such has really taken place."
Subsequent enquiry failed to elicit any facts on this subject.
67. The well alluded to as condemned" was the one described in paragraph
59 within the barrack enclosure. On comparing the amount of readily putrifiable
organic matter in the “condemned " well with that of the water actually in use,
it was plain to me that the Regiment had, at great trouble and expense, been pro-
curing a dubious supply from a distance, when a cleaner water, and one less liable
to extraneous pollution, existed at the barrack doors. What the relative con-
dition of these waters may have been on the 24th May I do not know, but on
the 28th June one litre of the filtered water drank by the Hussars took grms.
00004 of oxygen to destroy the putrid organic matter, while the water of the
old condemned well took only half the quantity in the same time.
68. There is really no trustworthy evidence as to the exact source from which
Nο
evidence
to
show
that
water
had
been
obtained
from
any
other
source
than
the
parade
ground.
the
drinking water of the Corps was obtained on the 23rd and
24th May. The suspicion that the puckallies, to save them-
selves trouble, had brought water for night use from a nearer
source than the parade ground, arose amongst the men of the
Corps, and was probably well founded, though no evidence could be obtained to
show positively the source of the water. The native in charge of the water carts,
supposing that water from a nearer source had been taken, would naturally
endeavour to conceal the circumstance, his duty being to see that the supply
was brought from the parade ground well. There were nearer sources close at
hand, i.e., the well in the horse lines, and another near the horse keepers* huts,
both of which are within an easy distance of the Chilkulgoodum village, where the
cholera camp of bandy drivers was detained on the 23rd May. Either of these
wells might have been used by people with cholera, and have supplied the water
for night use in barracks on the 23rd or 24th May, but the evidence for or against
this view of the question is wholly untrustworthy. It is plain that a suspicion
existed at the time of outbreak that the water had been taken from an impure
source, though no one seems to have suspected that the ordinary source of
supply might have been temporarily contaminated by cholera matter.
69. Yet nothing could be more probable or easier of accomplishment. The
Parade Ground Wells
all
liable
to
contamination .
wells
on the parade ground are all open-mouthed, and
unprovided
with the simplest appliances for raising water.
They are crowded all day long by people from the neighbouring bazaar, who
bring their own ropes and chatties to draw and carry water. The chatties
are constantly washed at the well, and any foul matter adhering to the outside
would be pretty certain to find its way into the well waters. It is quite possible
that chatties from an infected house, soiled with cholera matter, might have been
washed at the wells. Cholera had been brought into the bazaar not later than