153
(f.) Tanjore Jail.—An old building in the heart of the fort ; interior kept
scrupulously clean ; conservancy perfect ; water from wells on the premises ;
strength of prisoners 177 ; no cholera.
Tanjore Town.—Cholera epidemic from January to March ; population
36,941 ; cholera deaths 96.
(g.) Vellore.—New Central Jail outside the town ; locality raised ; clean
soil ; water good; wards clean and airy ; strength 576 ; no cholera.
Old Jail in the Fort.—Building old, but kept clean ; no overcrowding ;
water good; strength of prisoners 152 ; no cholera.
Vellore Town.—Population 30,529; cholera deaths 67; cholera prevailed all
over the neighbourhood in the beginning of the year, and again in May and June
and in December.
(h). Salem.—Jail built in 1861 on elevated ground, three miles out of the
town ; water from wells, good as regards organic impurity, but otherwise hard ;
conservancy and ventilation good ; soil red, with gneiss rock underneath ;
strength of prisoners 466 ; no cholera since 1866.
Town of Salem.—Cholera prevailed in the town from September 1869 to
February 1870, and again in July, August and December ; population 33,072 ;
total cholera deaths 98. The town lies in the bottom of a basin between high
hills ; its water-supply is of doubtful quality ; soil abounding in nitrates ; cholera
always lingers in this natural basin near the river banks ; the river water is defiled
by the washing of dirty linen, and by human excrement.
(i.) The present and past condition of the village of Puthiamputtur, as
detailed by Rev. Mr. Kearns, may be adduced as another instance of the benefit
of sanitary control, in diminishing liability to cholera.
214. These are merely a few instances of contrast, in which the sanitary
conditions, as to site and cleanliness of air, soil, and water, have apparently
favourably predisposed limited communities to withstand the cholera contagium
lurking about them.
The old and new jails
at Salem compared.
215. I shall now illustrate this point at greater length by taking the history of
the old Salem Jail, a notorious haunt of cholera, and comparing
with it the history of the new Jail, in so far as the liability of
the residents to cholera is concerned.
Old Jail, Salem.
216. The old Jail occupied a site which is thus described in the Medical Topo-
graphical Reports of the Madras Presidency, published in 1842.
" The Jail is situated on the left bank of the river, in close
approximation with the town ; its site is low, damp, and confined ; the soil is black
earth, resting on an argillaceous calcareous base. * * " The floors were raised
a few inches by bricks being laid edgeways in 1823, but they still continue damp."
When I first saw this jail it had been abandoned. The walls of the building, up
to a height of four or five feet, were covered with nitrous earth, and the flooring
also. The wards were small, badly ventilated, and badly lit.
Water-supply.
Only brackish and undrinkable water was obtainable on the premises.
The prisoners used river water, taken habitually from below
a spot where a large number of the towns-people defecated,
and washed their clothes, on its banks. How the inmates of this building
became liable to cholera will be evident from the following tables :—