31
POONA DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
Years.
Stations.
Rate per cent. to Average Strength
Present of
Admissions.
Daily Sick.
Deaths
in
Hospital.
1875
Poona
200.1
4.1
0.4
1876
,
Do.
191.6
4.1
0.2
1877
Do.
155.7
3.8
0.9
1878
Average......
182.5
4.0
0.5
Poona.
226.0
6.2
1.3
1. The Regiment was stationed at Poona until the 6th Nevember, when the head-
Locality and movements.
quarters and 427 rank and file marched for Satara, about 70
miles distant, which it reached on the 13th of that month
having made it in seven marches and one halt, made on the 10th (Sunday), to give the men
and families a rest. Nothing particular occurred during the march. On the 31st October a
detachment of one officer and 139 rank and file went to Bombay for garrison duty, and on
the 2nd November a detachment of one officer and 131 rank and file left Poona for duty at
Asirgarh fort.
2. The lines at this station are not at all good, as has been reported by the medical
Lines and surroundings.
officers in charge of the Troops stationed here for some years
back. They. are not built of brick and stone, but of wattle
and clay, and are not at all in a good state of repair. New lines for a full Regiment are I
believe sanctioned by Government, and will be built on a site near the present ones, which
is a very good one. The lines are to be built by the Public Works Department and not by
the sepoys of the Regiment, as has hitherto been the case. The close proximity of the
Sadder Bazaar to the lines is in every way objectionable, and the new ones will be situated
farther away. The huts have an average of 850 cubic feet inside, which is rather small.
The drainage is natural, and fair of its kind when properly looked after. Gutters run down
the sides and middle of the streets to carry off the storm water and sullage from the bathing
places; but as the gutters are not lined with brick or stone, the ground gets saturated. The
huts have no verandahs and no proper bathing places. There are no cells for keeping pri-
-soners in; at present the Quarter Guard room is used for that purpose. There is no regi--
mental bazaar for supplying food, and the men get supplies from the city and Sudder
Bazaar.
3. The lines are kept as clean as possible, under the superintendence of the Quarter
Conservancy.
Master. The latrines are on the trench system, but are not in
very good repair. There is one for the males and one for
females, of four or five seats each, and they are screened by bamboo matting on wooden
poles; they are much too small for the number of people who have to use them, and the
consequence is that a great many go to the fields for . the purposes of nature. The trenches
are looked after by the Regimental sweepers, and the night-soil is buried in pits dug near
the trenches. New and larger latrines are much required, which should be built on a better
system than the present ones.
4. The water is taken from wells and a nullah which runs near the lines; it is of fair
Water supply.
quality, according to an analysis made a year or two ago, but
contains carbonate of lime, and also sometimes vegetable matter.
Some of the wells contain water which is too brackish for drinking purposes, and the sepoys
only use it for washing. The water would be the better of being boiled and filtered before
d r i n k i n g . T h e w e l l s d r y u p c o n s i d e r a b l y d u r i n g t h e h o t w e a t h e r , a n d w a t e r h a s s o m e t i m e s
to be brought from the river Yenna, about a mile off. A better supply of water is much
needed for the city and camp, and a scheme for bringing it in from a distance is under
consideration.
5. Food has been dear this last year or two on account of the want of rain, and still
Food and clothing.
continues high in price, though plenty is to be got in the
bazaars. Rates at this station are much the same as at Poona;
some articles are dearer, as wood, wheaten flour, sugar, &c.; and others as rice, ghee, mutton,
much the same as at other places. No change has been made in the clothing of the sepoy
since last report; the boots still prove a cause of many admissions on the sick list, from