POONA DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
27
H. M.'s Poona Horse.
SIRUR.—In medical charge of Surgeon ALEX. K. STEWART.
Average Strength
455.2
Deaths in Hospital
4
Do.
Present
424.1
Do out of do.
0
Admissions
.
226
Invalided .........................
18
Daily Sick
10.2
Sick Leave
10
Years.
Stations.
Rate per cent. to Avenge Strength
Present of
Admissions.
Daily Sick.
Deaths in
Hospital.
1874
Sirur
48.1
2.1
0.2
1875
Do.
80.8
3.1
1.0
1876
Do.
69.1
3.1
0.4
Average
66.0
2.7
0.5
1877
Sirur
53.7
2.4
0.9
Location and movements.
The head-quarters of the regiment are at Sirur, and with the exception of a march into
and from Poona on the occasion of the Viceroy's visit, when
they were absent nine days from the 18th September, they
have been stationary since the last report. There is a detached squadron of 150 men sta-
tioned at Dhulia.
Lines and their surroundings :
present condition, hygienic and
otherwise.
The lines are situated too near the town : hence any outbreak of epidemic disease is very
apt to be transmitted to the regiment, and when the town is in
quarantine it is very difficult to prevent the men going into it.
They are situated north and south, so that the prevailing south-
westerly winds readily pass through and ventilate the open
streets. The new magazine, which has been built close beside the hospital and to the south
central aspect of the lines, is far too close to be consistent with safety. The room used as a
lock-up room or cell is, as has before been reported, unfit to confine a man in for more than a
single day: it is worse than badly ventilated, and the sun striking on the two back walls
makes it a perfect oven.
Conservancy.
3. The present dry-earth system is scarcely quite satisfactory, as it is not properly
carried out, the fluid and solid excreta being deposited in shal-
low pits which are cleaned every day, and though by this
means comparative cleanliness is obtained, yet the fluids soak into the earth, and the corner
of the yard in time becomes saturated with urine. To obviate this I propose having elon-
gated "koondies," which can be obtained very cheaply, or long iron pans. The night-soil is
utilized by being deposited on land under cultivation some distance to leeward of camp.
Water supply.
4. The water supply is obtained from the river Goreh, about half a mile distant, and is
fairly good and plentiful, though the pernicious habit of grow-
ing water-melons in the river-bed is very much practised by the
natives both of Sirur and the villages higher up,—quantities of human excreta, more than
of other manures, being in request for this culture. As regards the effect of the water on the
troops no harm seems to be produced, and according to an analysis by the late Surgeon
Gordon, though there is a considerable quantity of salts and suspended impurities in it, it
seems not to be an unwholesome water on the whole.
Food.
5. Owing to the famine during the past year, food . has been very dear, and many of the
men, especially those with large families, must have been sorely
pinched, since grain compensation is only given per man, and
not in proportion to the family he possesses. Food has, however, always been obtainable,
and the men can get it at cheaper rates in the new regimental bazaar than they could in the
town itself. During the most pressing time grain was obtained from beyond Nagar and
other places.