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try to mislead us for fear of plague measures, and hence no reliable data are available, except
where well-to-do and intelligent people have vacated their premises and removed to suburbs
or health camps at Dadar or Matunga, and on enquiry the cause of their shifting is generally
found to be that dead rats were repeatedly found on their premises.
In the following examples a definite history was available.
1. R. S. Manaji Ragojee, a volunteer member, vacated his premises in Kamati-
pura 3rd Street, No. 99, and went to live at Bandra about the middle of January.
Before he left dead rats were repeatedly found, but a Bhaia remained in charge, and
a fortnight after, this man was attacked with plague and succumbed.
2. Mr. Gaula, practising in this district, vacated his quarters in Kamatipura 3rd
Street, No. 130, about the beginning of April 1901, as several dead rats were found
in the chawl. His rooms were disinfected, but the grain dealers residing next door
protested, denying that dead rats were ever found on their premises. Their rooms
were not disinfected. A week or so after one of the inmates was attacked with plague
and died on 18th April 1901.
3. A plague death occurred in Kamatipura 12th Street, No. 67-73 on 6th
February 1901. When the place was disinfected several dead rats were found. They
were sent to the Parel Laboratory for examination and declared full of plague bacilli.
There was another plague death on the 8th and a third on the 9th February, and
subsequently the chawl got badly infected, plague cases almost occurring everyday
until the inmates were induced to vacate the premises when the chawl was thoroughly
disinfected.
Dr. Khote, Sectional Medical Officer o£ Tardeo, states that there was
only a slight monsoon recrudescence before the epidemic broke out.
During the fifteen weeks the latter lasted it is noticed that the attacks were
more numerous, but the deaths were smaller in number than last year.
He reports as follows on the localities attacked :—
As for localities that were attacked, it may be said that the whole of Tardeo section was
infected with the exception of the following parts:—(1) Gilder Street Cross Lanes, (2)
Foras Road portion extending from the junction of Gilder Street and Foras Road, and
running by the side of Grant Road station, (3) Grant Road portion, (4) Falkland Road
portion extending from the Dharamshala to the Arab Lane excluding chawls Nos. 390
and 410. The chawls that were badly infected were Bapty Road No. 227, Gilder Street
No. 27, Gilder Street No. 51-53, Gilder Street 1-21, Gilder Street Nos. 108 and 4
Jairajbhai Street Nos. 2 and 3, Foras Road Nos. 49, 79, 84 and 120, Bahrain Street
Nos. 410 and 3. The people residing in these challs were mostly Mahrattas, Ghatis, Vanjaris
and Mahars, who suffered very severely.
Remarks on Localities Attacked.—It has been generally found that insanitary and over-
crowded chawls are usually infected, and that most of the chawls that were attacked during
the previous years had a renewed visitation and infection this year. It should be noted,
however, that some of the chawls that were badly infected last year had few attacks this year
although no sanitary and structural improvements have been made. Such chawls are Arab
Lane No. 3, Suklaji Street No. 40, Suklaji Street No. 120-120, Falkland Road No. 23
Gilder Street No. 42-58. People in these chawls did not leave their rooms during the
course of the epidemic.
Further, it has been observed that though sanitary improvements were made last year
in some parts of the chawls, yet they were again infected this year. These chawls were
Balaram Street No. 410 and Foras Road No. 78.
E Ward,
Wari Bunder
District.
The decline of the epidemic previous to the one under report may
be said to have been completed by the end of June 1900, from which
month up to October the district was practically free from Plague. The
usual recrudescence was slight and by November its effects had abated to
normal conditions.