109
NORTHERN DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
The lines are clean and are kept in a good sanitary condition, but the buildings themselves
are decidedly bad ; they are built on the old standard plan, and the
space accorded to each man is much less than the allowance sanctioned
by the Government of India, namely, 70 superficial feet for each single man, and 120 super
-ficial feet for each family. On one occasion I measured 12 rooms, occupied by single men,
and found the average superficial area of each to be about 48 square feet; the average area
of the rooms occupied by families approaches nearer to the Government allowance, but in many
instances is also very deficient. The huts, too, are very low, being only ten feet high in the
centre, and there is no system of ventilation in the roof. The streets between the blocks of
huts are wide and exposed to the influence of the wind and the rays of the sun. The lines
are unprovided with any system of drainage, and, with the exception of a tree or two here
and there, are utterly devoid of shade.
The quarter guard is a large and suitable building; the solitary cells, two in number, are
also good, being 10 feet square and 15 feet in height; they are each
provided with a small urinal, and are well ventilated. No additions to
the line buildings have been made during the year.
These have been kept in a good sanitary state during the year, no additions have been
made, but the following great improvement has been effected. In
the month of January, when the Major-General Commanding the
Northern Division of the Army inspected the regimental hospital, I called his attention to
the absence of any system of ventilation in the roof, and recommended that the ridge system
should be applied ; my suggestion received due attention and the work was performed in the
month of April. This has been a very great success, and there is now a very marked difference
in the air of the hospital in the early morning, especially in the cold weather, when most of
the doors and windows have been closed all night.
Two or three times during the year it has been necessary to use the cookhouse of the old
artillery hospital for the treatment of cases of small-pox, and on each occasion it has been
thoroughly purified and whitewashed directly the patient was discharged.
The compound of the hospital was carefully cleared of all redundant vegetation after the
rains.
The hospital accommodation proved inadequate during October and November, when the
daily average number of sick was 115 and 163 respectively ; and many men who were still
unfit for duty were consequently permitted to live in the lines. As I have on a former occasion
fully described the hospital, it is not necessary to do so again, but I may mention that in the
event of a recurrence of such a sickly season, I can, by making use of every available space,
accommodate about 70 patients ; this, of course, includes the old artillery hospital, and also
fifteen beds placed in the verandah of the regimental hospital.
In the month of December, consequent on the receipt of an order to that effect from the
Major-General Commanding the Northern Division, the Dry-earth system of conservancy was
adopted in the hospital latrine, as it had only been in use for a week at the end of the year :
any special remarks upon the system are unnecessary.
The following table shows the increase and decrease in the regiment during the year :—
Recruits joined during the year . . .
38
Transferred to 20th N. I. from 21st N. I. . . .
1
Invalided as unfit for further service . . .
24
Deserted and struck off . . .
2
Died in hospital . . .
2
Died out of hospital and on leave . . .
4
The new recruits were mostly from tho Koncan; speaking generally, they were of good
development and fair average height.
Of the men invalided, as unfit for further service, 21 were over fifteen years' service, and,
therefore, entitled to pension ; the causes which led to their being sent before the general
Invalid Committee, were as follows :
—
One subedar of 30 years' service was a constant sufferer from rheumatic pains in the loins
and limbs, and was said to have sustained an apoplectic seizure while on furlough in Hindoostan
a year before.
A jemedar of 35 years' service was proposed on account of loss of memory, the result of
long service and advancing age, which rendered him no longer fitted for the responsible posi
- t i o n o f a c o m p a n y o f f i c e r .
Of the non-commissioned officers and men, 13 were invalided on account of infirmities
common among sepoys of long service, namely, chronic rheumatism, shortness of breath,
general debility, and presby-opia. The others were as follows :—
Lines.
Quarter Guard.
State of hospital buildings.
28 s