43
POONA DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
Conservancy.— At the bottom of the lines there are two new latrines, one for the sepoys
of the left wing, and the other for the women of the Regiment; in addition to these the trench
system is carried out on the "maidan" at some considerable distance from the right wing of the
Regiment. Fresh trenches are made daily and filled in with earth every evening; in the hospi
-tal compound there are also two latrines for the accommodation of the patients, hospital
establishment, and quarter guard, the latter being stationed near the rear of the hospital com
-pound.
Quicklime is the disinfectant in general use in the Regiment for conservancy purposes;
it seems to answer very well, and is very cheap.
A great difficulty would arise amongst the sepoys in the use of the earth system of conser
-vancy, in consequence of their universal use of a large quantity of water for the purpose of
ablution. The Officer Commanding had a trial of this method some time ago, but found it a
complete failure on this account.
Water .—The water supply is good and abundant, it is entirely derived from wells which
are properly covered, and there is no soakage from cesspools or drains into any of them; they
are built of solid masonry, and the ground for some distance round is flagged and sloping in
every direction, so that water or rainfall very easily passes off.
It would be difficult to speak too strongly of the skilfulness and care displayed by the
Commanding Officer and Officers of H. M.'s 1st Grenadier Regiment N. I. in building the
new lines, and there can be no doubt that as far as habitations are concerned, the sepoys of
this Regiment are lodged in far healthier, and infinitely more respectable dwellings than
almost any other natives of the same class in this country.
A.M.'s 5th Regiment A. L. I.
Belgaum.—In Medical charge of Surgeon H. DAY, Strength 647.
In consequence of the revised nomenclature for this year, it becomes difficult to compare
this year with the last. Fever shows a decrease of 23, but there was one death; however, the
fever was of a mild type in most instances, and perhaps less in quantity than might be expect
- e d , o w i n g t o t h e c u l t i v a t i o n o f r i c e b e i n g s t i l l c a r r i e d o n c l o s e t o t h e l i n e s i n B e l g a u m , t o w h i c h
I have called attention on former occasions. Last year the admissions were 380, this year
348.
The Regiment may therefore be considered to have been very healthy during the year,
more especially as it marched soon after very heavy rain to Vingorla, and many of the men
have been living for three weeks on uncooked food on board the Queen of Australia.
Vaccination has been well looked after, and although small-pox prevailed in the lines of
the Grenadiers situated within a few yards of our lines, we have not had a single case.
D . M . ' s 7 t h R e g i m e n t A . E .
Dharwar.—In Medical charge of Assistant Surgeon R. H. BATTY, Strength 527.
The average strength of the Regiment during the past year was 527, and the average
number treated in hospital 493, giving a percentage of treated to strength 93.5. The average
number of daily sick was 24.1. Four deaths occurred during the year as follows:—
One from secondary syphilis.
One from general dropsy.
One from supposed disease of the heart.
The patient died suddenly in the lines before being brought to the hospital.