MYSORE DIVISION.
47
the great and pressing subject of sanitation is securing the attentive consideration of all author
-ities, whether military, civil or medical, and that fair, though not always rapid, progress is being
made in reducing the principles of the science to practice. Beyond the heavy expense involved
there are few or no difficulties experienced in applying the laws and principles of sanitary science
to European troops in India, but it is different with Native troops, whose habits and prejudices
run counter to many of the arrangements and restrictions necessary to secure the required health
state of their houses and lines. As regards the new lines which have lately been built, as in the
case of the Sappers and Miners, or which are being constructed as in the case of the 36th
M.N.I. at Bangalore, the prominent defects of the old lines have been avoided, and arrangements
have been made for the due conservancy of the huts, as well as for the drainage and cleanliness of
the lines.
It is a matter of some difficulty and of constant labour to keep the old lines and huts in a
satisfactory state of sanitation. The huts, generally speaking, are small, constructed of mud,
defective in ventilation, in light, in the arrangements required for latrines and lavatories, and
defective also as regards drainage. The streets of the lines are frequently much too narrow, and
the total absence of artificial drainage leads necessarily to the extreme sulliage of the soil and to
the inevitable pollution of the water of the neighbouring wells.
The lines of the 23rd Regiment W.L.I. afford a good illustration of the objectionable
features of these older lines. Still it must be admitted that these evils are reduced considerably
by the constant supervision of military and medical officers, and by the constant activity of the
conservancy department. I am of opinion that the sepoy should be hutted by Government;
that his hut and lines should be erected on proper principles; that especial care should be taken
in the erection of the hut, privy and lavatory and of the regimental latrines; that overcrowding
of the hut should be forbidden; that artificial drainage should in all cases be adopted; and that
simple but efficient sanitary arrangements should be enforced. All this can be done without
interfering with the innocuous habits of the native, interference being only necessary when these
habits and customs are followed in an objectionable and insanitary manner.
The unit of sanitary administration in civil life is the house, in military life the sepoys' hut,
and until these houses and huts are placed in a sanitary condition, the mere sanitation of sur
-roundings will have but little influence upon the mortality and sickness ratios. The tendency
of our sanitary arrangements is chiefly centripetal, and sanitation has a tendency to stop short
outside the house or hut; it would be well in my opinion if there were also a centrifugal tendency
carrying sanitation from the house towards the surroundings. The regimental lines at this
station are, with the exception of the eastern hutting lines, good. Those at Bellary are old and
susceptible of improvement. The lines at the French Rocks are clean and well conserved ; those
at Mercara are still incomplete, at least as regards the left wing huts.
The following points deserve attention:
—
1. The necessity of adopting some uniform plan of arranging the domestic latrine and
lavatory of the sepoy's hut.
2. The necessity of providing properly-constructed regimental latrines for the two sexes.
3. The expediency of instituting experiments touching the comparative merits of the
"dry-earth" and "dry-ash" systems.
4 . T h e n e c e s s i t y o f e f f i c i e n t a r t i f i c i a l d r a i n a g e o f t h e l i n e s .
The principal difficulty is that of expense. The sepoy purchases and keeps in repair his hut,
and he has no pecuniary margin for improvements, or for special yet necessary sanitary arrange
-ments. This system acted well enough in days when food was cheap, and when sanitary science
was in its infancy, but its supersession by a better system is urgently required now, when the
value of human life is better understood, and when Government has taken upon itself the great
responsibilities of its conservation.
The sanitary condition of the two great military stations of this administrative circle is
upon the whole satisfactory. The great wants of Bangalore briefly stated are insufficient water
-supply and defective sanitation of the cantonment, bazaar, and of the Pété. Steps are being taken
to remove the former and something is being done to remedy the latter. Much has been done
to improve Bellary. The risks of a water famine have been lessened by the admission to the Fort
ditch reservoir of water from the Alipore tank, and the Municipality are steadily exerting them-
selves to secure the efficient conservancy of the Cowle bazaar and of Bruce Pété; money is the
great want everywhere.
Barracks.— The barracks of native corps are generally used as places-of-arms. They have
also accommodation for the native officer on duty and a lock-up for defaulters. As a rule they
are clean and well ventilated.
Guard-rooms.— The guard-rooms are in some instances large and airy, in others small and
indifferently ventilated. Any evils which may be expected to result from deficient space are
minimized by the practice which obtains of members of the guard not on sentry sleeping in the
verandah.
Barracks.
Guard-rooms.
Prison cells.— The prison cells in this administrative circle are clean and well conserved.
They have also arrangements, in a small recess separate from the cell, for normal voidances. The
Prison cells.