57
streets, as otherwise in the great majority of cases they would do, and so add to their comfort, if not
to their health. If not incompatible with the practice of Government, I would feel thankful for a
copy of the Proceedings referred to.
It will be seen that Mr. Kearns lays much stress on the planting of trees,
on the preservation of the purity of drinking water, and generally on systematic
village conservancy, all of which had been practically supervised by himself in
past years.
78. After the very general prevalence of cholera in the district in 1870, it
occurred to me to inquire what the condition of Puthiamputtur and the neigh-
bouring villages had been in regard to cholera. Mr. Kearns, in reply, was good
enough to inform me that the village had preserved its immunity, though one
inhabitant took cholera in returning from the Trichendoor feast and died in the
village. On my further request, Mr. Kearns obligingly undertook the investiga-
tion of the condition of other groups of villages which had been subjected to
inundation; and, as the results have an important bearing on the influence of
village conservancy and sanitation, I give his reports, in extenso, below. I wished
particularly to ascertain the condition of the water-supply of the exempted villages,
and of those which suffered from cholera. Mr. Kearns' description of the water-
supply of Puthiamputtur, and the villages near it, is sufficient to show that the
people drink a pure water, and my own observations of surface water in black
cotton soil districts, enables me to corroborate him in describing such water as
abounding in organic impurity, and probably also in the germs of guinea-worm.
Such water is indeed very unsuited for the maintenance of health.
Letters from the Rev. J. S. Kearns, on Cholera in the Tinnevelly District (Puthiamputtur.)
No. 1.
" In reply to your letter of the 22nd December 1870, I have the pleasure to inform you that, as
you requested, I have made an exact inquiry respecting the population of this and adjacent villages,
and the deaths from cholera which occurred in them from 1st January to 1st December 1870,
inclusive ; and the results of my inquiry, I now give you in detail, viz. :—
Puthiamputtur.
Puthiamputtur contains 2,104 inhabitants, and, during the period noted above, and, of course,
during the recent epidemic of cholera in Tinnevelly, it was free from cholera.
One man died in the village of it, but he contracted it at Trichendoor, whither
he had gone to attend the festival, and was brought in here in a dying state, and survived but a
couple of hours. Puthiamputtur stands upon a limestone conglomerate, and the red quartz soil
runs down upon its western side, and on the north and east the well known
black cotton soil touches it.
Geology of Puthiam-
puttur.
Pure water-supply.
It has drinking water of the purest quality, a luxury which few places
around us possess.
Rasamin covil.
Rasamin covil is a village about half a mile to the eastward of us ; it
contains 300 inhabitants ; there were no deaths from cholera during the above-
mentioned periods.
Swaminathum.
Swaminathum is a village one mile to the eastward of us ; it contains 1,311 inhabitants, and
there were no deaths from cholera during the above-mentioned period. In
former years both these last named villages suffered much from cholera.
Sanitary improve-
ments.
About three years ago, I induced the head man of Swaminathum to plant the streets of the
village with Margosa and other trees. The main street has now a number
of handsome trees in it; there is a small grove to the east of the village, and
about two furlongs of road leading to the north have also been planted. This
village has entirely altered for the better in every respect, and, although there is not a Christian in
it, the principal men of the place are always ready to carry out any of my
plans for improvement into effect. I should remark that there is no drinkable
water in those villages ; all water for drinking purposes they obtain from
our wells.
Water obtained from
Puthiamputtur.