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afforded. The matter was seen to be one in which charitable people might well be
induced to assist; accordingly they were asked and gave most liberally in money,
food, and clothing.
It is necessary to place on record the fact that, whilst inoculation was being
pushed as I have described, there was at bottom, amongst the people, a real fear to
undergo the operation as the detractors of inoculation had set afloat the most absurd
lies as to the evil effects of it. These men did not hesitate also to work upon the
religious feelings of the people, and in many instances persons actually were not
only threatened but outcasted for having got themselves inoculated. There was a
time, moreover, when ugly rumours were maliciously set going that inoculation was
to be made compulsory, and some of our staff complained of being threatened by
unknown persons. To obviate this, some 200 placards were kept ready, printed in
vernacular, stating that no compulsion, but voluntary, inoculation was the policy of
Government. I am glad, however, to say that the placards have never been found
necessary to use, the year having passed without any kind of trouble. Much
useful work was done also by private practitioners ; and in the Central District the
Mahomedan Hakims, who had the most induence amongst the people, and who from
the first opposed inoculation, were taken in hand and lectured to by Dr. Mayr of
the Parel Laboratory. The latter with the greatest patience and perseverance took
great pains to make them understand ; but results have proved that money with
them comes first and conscience takes a back seat. They have dono nothing despite
their promises of assistance. Similarly nothing resulted from the meetings held
amongst the Cutchi Memons and Hallai Memons, though K. B. Abdur Rahman and
K. S. Shumar Patel arranged them. In all the meetings and lectures held as
described above, I found K. S. Dr. Fazl Ahmed an invaluable assistant. With a
good knowledge of English and also of the subject, he was always the chief speaker
at these meetings; he was in fact my right-hand man in all this work, and much of
the success that attended the cause of inoculation was due to his unflagging zeal,
constant perseverance, and the tact and ability he showed in the work. Working
abroad day and night, he yet found time to write an excellent pamphlet on the
subject of inoculation in Urdu, which was published and distributed to the public.
The Mahomedan community declared Dr. Fazl Ahmed an infidel for the writing of
the pamphlet, and the Native papers criticized it in every way,
I append a list of contributions made by charitable persons to encourage the
people to get themselves inoculated. The first and foremost among them comes
Sirdar Kassim Mitha, who sot an example which was afterwards followed by others
all over Bombay. It is in a great measure due to his work in this respect that the
Central District heads the list of all the Districts in the total number inoculated
(about 25,000). As regards special assistance I wish to record that rendered
by Kasam Bhai Moosa, who induced the Khojas of Umarkhadi tobe inoculated. In
a similar way valuable assistance was given by Messrs. Mehramji and Valubji, and in
both tho abovementioned cases Dr. Miss Corthorn officiated at the inoculation of
the females of these communities. More would have been done by these gentle-
men but caste prejudices stifled their efforts. Also Messrs. Sita Ram and Devji,
of the Central Hindu Committee, arranged meetings and set the example by being
themselves first inoculated, but, this community being wedged in amongst the mass
of the Mahomedan community, they shared the same feelings of sullen opposition
to the cause of inoculation.
In 2nd Nagpada, K. B. Hakim Dyem and his assistants, Messrs. Abdur Rahman
and Mahomed Hussein, rendered most conspicuous service in support of inoculation.
In Khara Talao, Messrs. Hassan Ali Hakimji, Abdul Ali Kuvimbhoy, Abdul
Hoosain, and others of his community. In Byculla our only worker was K. B
Abdur Razzak, who worked very hard.