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Last visit of His Excellency Lord Sandhurst to the £fa$pital.—His Excellency
Lord Sandhurst on the eve of his departure paid a last visit to the hospital on the
7th February 1900, when he declared open the new wards, and was presented with
ail address by the Mahratha Committee. The address was well decorated and
enclosed in a silver Cutch-work casket and a Kinkob Khalita (bag). Copy of the
address and the reply by His Excellency aro annexed for information.
Visit of His Excellency Lord Northcote.—Lord Isorthcote was pleased to pay
a visit to the Hospital on 22nd February 1900. His Excellency was escorted by the
Municipal Commissioner and Col. "Wilkins and was received at the hospital gate
by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. DuBoulay, Sirdar Mir Abdulalli, Khan Bahadur,
and the Members of the Mahratha Committee. His Ecellency went round all
the temporary and permanent wards and expressed a great interest and sympathy
with the patients and was pleased to make a munificent donation of Rs. 1,000 to the
hospital for providing certain comforts to the patients. His Excellency was
garlanded and left amongst cheers and acclamations of the bystanders.
Visit of fJis Highness the Maharaja of Kolhapur.—His Highness the Maharaja
of Kolhapur paid a visit to the hospital on 12th January 1900. His Highness was
received by Sirdar Mir Abdulalli, Col. Wilkins and the Mahratha Committee. His
Highness was much pleased at the arrangements for keeping the relations of the
patients in the hospital compound and gave a donation of Es. 1,500 to the Hospital
and Us. 500 for an orphanage. The party left after the distribution of garlands and
pan snpari.
Nursery.—Plague patients sent to the hospital often brought with them their
children, who became orphans on the death of their parents, and having no one
of their kith and kiu, remained in the hospital unclaimed. About the beginning
of March we had 16 such children on hand, and although they were fed in the
hospital, no one particularly looked after them and they were often found wandering
in the plague wards or other places in the compound. What to do with these
orphans became a serious and important question. The Chief Medical Officer, in
consultation with Col. Wilkins and Sirdar Mir Abdulalli, thought it safe to open a
nursery and keep the children in the charge and care of some responsible person.
A shed was therefore made ready and fitted with the requisite furniture, and all the
children were lodged therein on the 24th March 1900. One man has been engaged
to feed and look after these children, the expense of feeding the children is borne
by the hospital, while the pay of the man in charge and expenses of clothing of the
children are defrayed by private subscription. Lately two of these children have
been claimed by some of tho relations and have been given in their charee, two
children died from bronchitis and diarrhcea, and now there are ten remairuno-
53
in nursery. Out of these four boys who are old enough to attend school are sent
to the Municipal Primary School.
Disinfection.—The permanent wards are washed daily with phenylo solution
and the old mud floor wards aro sprinkled with lime and sanitas powder twice a
day and swept, while the walls are v»lute-washed as often as necessary. All soiled
clothing is removed from the wards and put in a largo tub kept outside each ward
containing disinfecting solution. It is taken out every morning and evenincr
and washed by the mehtars and then handed over to the dhobi for final washing.
During the epidemic of small-pox the clothing of the small-pox patients
were washed separately by the mehtar and taken to Arthur Road Hospital
for disinfection by sterilization, and were then, given to the dhobi for washin^.
Disposal of the dead of Small-pox Patients.—The unclaimed bodies of the Hindus
wore removed to Worlee Cemetery by the corpse bearers of the hospital, while
thoso of the Mahomedans and low castes were removed in a cart sent from the