NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
73
CHAPTER VI.
CAMPS.
Since August 1897 one chief object of the Plague Committee has
been to provide abundant and healthy accommodation in camps, both
for infected arrivals and for the evicted dwellers of tainted and unwhole-
some buildings in Bombay.
Experience in previous epidemics, both in Bombay and in the Mofussil,
has shown that the most efficient means of keeping Plague in hand is
to remove people, as much as possible, from infected areas into camps,
where the outdoor life and the healthy fresh air not only keeps them free
from the disease but also greatly improves their general health. For
this reason the Committee encouraged Private Camps in the case of the
well-to-do, and constructed Public Camps on available open spaces in
and about the City, in which to place the indigent.
To secure health in any Bombay Camp, especially in the low-
lying sites which are often alone available, special care must be taken
to provide not only a liberal, carefully designed and closely looked-after
system of latrines, but buckets or other appliances for storing and carry-
ing off slops and cooking-water, and drains and runnels for the removal
of bathing water. Large amounts have been spent on these appliances,
but the healthiness and popularity of the camps justify the outlay.
Protection against fire has also caused a large expenditure, which
could not have been avoided without running unjustifiable risks. It
is remarkable that though all the camps are made of matting and
palm-leaf, only two fires have occurred. One of these, at Modikhana
Camp, was the work of an incendiary who threw a lighted cheroot on
the thatched roof of a pavilion ; the other, at Modikhana Hospital,
began in a cook-hut far from the hospital, to which owing to the very
high wind the fire was conveyed across the European Plague Huts and
stacks of hay.
The camps provided by the Committee have been of four kinds—
Detention Camps, Contact Camps, Health Camps, and Private Camps.
In many instances however the same camps have served several
purposes either at different times, or even at one and the same time.
u
Hospitals have been converted into camps and vice versa, according to
the necessities of the moment and of the neighbourhood.
Detention camps are, properly speaking, those in which arrivals
from outside are detained under observation and surveillance, They are
sometimes called segregation camps, a term which is more properly
applicable to Contacts.
Narielwadi
Camp.
The Narielwadi Hospital, the Wari Bunder Hospitals for some
time, and the Modikhana Camp were those which served as detention
camps.
In August 1897, when at the close of the stormy season large
numbers of Hindu traders and others came from the badly infected
port of Mandvi in Cutch to Bombay, which was practically free
from Plague, it became necessary to make arrangements for detaining
arrivals either under observation or under surveillance. The hospital
at Narielwadi was therefore enlarged and turned into a detention
camp capable of accommodating 1,300 inmates.
The camp was opened on September 7th, 1897, and continued to be
used for the observation of persons arriving in Bombay until January
15th. 1898, when it was set apart for Evicts up to February 12th, after
which date it was converted into an hospital. All classes of persons,
irrespective of race and creed, were sent to this camp ; the total number
of admissions being 16,385, of whom 506 were Contacts and 585 Evicts.
The remainder were arrivals, principally from the Kathiawar Ports,
kept under observation. Forty cases of Plague were removed to hospital,
and two deaths occurred in the camp—one from asthma and one from
consumption. In addition to this 134 persons were put in Observation
Wards, but discharged as they did not develop symptoms of Plague.
The maximum accommodation of the camp was 1,300, and the
staff, which varied from time to time, consisted of a Resident Medical
Officer with one or two Hospital Assistants, and from 2 to 7 Medical
Students, 2 Nurses, 2 ayahs, 4 clerks, 10 ward-boys, with cooks,
dhobis, bhistis and sweepers, as required. Attached to the camp was a
steam steriliser worked by an Engineer with four coolies and supervised
by the Camp Medical Officer. A Fire Brigade manual engine was kept
in the camp with firemen always in attendance.
During September and early October the pressure was at times so
excessive that, to make room for new-comers, the full period of detention
of ten days had once or twice to be reduced to seven.
75
Even without this concession, no system of detention on so large
a scale could have worked without the help of a modified form of the
surveillance approved by the Venice Convention. Under this modified
surveillance, after a detention of 24 hours, during which the bulk of
infected cases declare themselves, and during which the clothes and
other belongings of infected arrivals were disinfected by being spread
in the sun or sterilised by steam, the inmates, after being photographed
in groups, and under the guarantee of a leading member of their
caste, were allowed to go to their homes on condition of appearing at
the camp for inspection twice during the next ten days.
The bulk of the arrivals from Gutch were Bhatias, Banias, Lohanas,
and other well-to-do Hindu traders of good caste. No ordinary arrange-
ments could have met the requirements of their high standard of eating,
and their exclusiveness, and in certain cases their extreme religious
punctiliousness. The wealth and the business habits of their caste-
fellows in Bombay came to the assistance of the Committee, and with
the aid of Sheth Govandji among Bhatias, of Sheths Manikchand Kapur-
chand and Damji Lakhmichand among Shrawaks, of Sheths Karamsi
Damji and Kesavji Nathu among Lohanas, and of Sheths Tribhowandas
Mangaldas and Khanji Devji among Banias, satisfactory arrangements
were made for the cooking and other special requirements of all high-
class inmates. With few exceptions the guarantors were careful and
trustworthy. The chief difficulty lay in the wealth of the inmates
which, before arrangements were in order, led to occasional corruption
of the subordinate staff of the camps, and the escape of inmates.
Modikhana
Camp.
In November, in consequence of the seriously infected state of Surat
on the B. B. C, I. Railway, and of Nasik, Poona, Sholapur and Satara
011 the G. I. P. Railway, arrangements were made to detain arrivals
by rail. To lodge these arrivals, a large camp, capable of holding
2 500 inmates, was built at Modikhana, to which a portion of the sea pas-
sengers and the whole of the G. I. P. Railway arrivals were daily taken
under guard from the bunders and railway stations. (Arrivals by the
B. B. C. I. Railway were accommodated in Wari Bunder.) During
December the pressure of railway arrivals continued severe, occasioning
at times as many as 2,500 inmates at Modikhana. Towards the end of
January, in consequence of the increase of Plague in Bombay, the
number of arrivals by train slackened and on January 24, 1898, detention
of arrivals by train ceased.
The camp as per plan No. 6 attached was constructed on the
Mody Bay Reclamation, in a convenient situation contiguous to Carnac
76
Bunder and the Victoria Terminus. It was surrounded by a bamboo
mat fence and divided into two parts, so that one part could be used
independently of the other. Further, a part was set aside for low-caste
people, and detached buildings were erected for members of certain
special communities. The drainage arrangements were complete and
consisted of convenient washing-places and of open drains which
discharged into the harbour.
The camp was opened on the 21st of November 1897 ; it was capa-
ble of holding 2,500 people. From the date of its opening until the
loth of April 1898, when it was closed, it served four purposes.
The camp was first intended for the detention of passengers arriv-
ing in Bombay by sea or rail from infected areas. When Bombay
became a badly infected area, the camp was also used as an
Observation Camp, and people who wished to leave Bombay were
required to remain in it for a period of from seven to ten days under
medical observation, after which they were given a certificate of good
health and allowed to go. It was first used for this purpose on the
16th of January 1898 and continued until the 6th of April.
From the 21st of November 1897 till the 15th of April 1898
the number of inward and outward steamer passengers who passed
through the camp was 12,678, and the number of railway passengers
was 9,717. The bulk of the inmates consisted of labouring Marathas
from the South Konkan and Deccan. These people during their enforced
stay were fed in the camp at the cost of the Plague Funds.
From the llth of December 1897 till the 5th of March 1898 a
portion of the camp was used for Contacts from A Ward. The number
of Contacts who passed through the camp was 328. From the 14th
of February 1898 till the 4th of March a portion of the camp was
utilised for Evicts from infected houses in A Ward, there being
no other camps then ready to receive them. The number of Evicts
who passed through the camp during this time was 1,285. They
were required to stay in the camp until their houses had been disin-
fected and rendered fit for habitation. Tickets were given to Evicts
which allowed them to go out of the camp during the day for their work,
returning in the evening. Cooking-places were supplied in the camp
for all castes. There was a Bania shop at which all necessaries
could be obtained.
The number of people of every description who passed through the
camp was 24,330.
77
The staff of the camp in the month of January, when it. was at its
fullest, was : 1 Resident Medical Officer and 8 assistants, 12 clerks,
5 nurses, 2 office peons, 5 ayahs, 20 ward-boys, 2 ambulance-bearers,
2 lampmen, 2 bhistis, 1 dhobie, 6 cooks, 2 military pensioners,
17 limewashers, 21 sweepers.
The number of Plague cases which occurred in the camp during its
occupation was 64. Of these, 1 case occurred among inward steamer
passengers, 52 cases among outward steamer passengers, and 5 among
railway passengers. Two cases occurred among Evicts, and 4 cases
occurred among Contacts.
A steam disinfector was erected at the south-west corner of the
camp in February 1898. Efficient fire arrangements were kept up in
the camp, but they were only once called into requisition, and on that
occasion a large mandap and a ward were burned down; set on fire,
it is believed, purposely by an inmate of the camp.
Wari Bunder
Camp.
This camp was originally the Wari Bunder Hospital, In Septem-
ber 1897, to prevant danger from infected arrivals through the ports of
the South Konkan, the two neighbouring hospitals at Wari Bunder, of
which one had been handed over to the Committee by the Port Trust,
were turned into one camp with room for 1,300 inmates.
These inmates were of two classes : (1) Inward sea passengers
arriving in Bombay from ports within afiected areas in Colaba and
Ratnagiri, and (2) Passengers leaving Bombay who were detained at
the outward harbour inspection. This arrangement continued until about
the 20th November, after which the seven days' detention was applied
to passengers coming into Bombay by rail, and the Wari Bunder Camp,
the capacity of which had been extended to nearly 2,000, admitted most
of these in addition to the sea passengers. But as the number of in-
mates rapidly increased the construction of the Modikhana Camp was
started, and that camp was completed by the middle of December. The
Wari Bunder Camp then admitted the majority of the sea passengers,
together with those of the railway passengers who arrived in Bombay by
the B. B. & C. I. Railway. By the middle of January, in consequence
of the great increase of Plague, it was considered advisable to reserve
the Wari Bunder Camp entirely for Contacts, the Modikhana and
Narielwadi Camps having sufficient accommodation for passengers.
The Wari Bunder Camp worked well ; there was little wish to leave,
and hardly any attempts were made to corrupt the staff. It is true
that no large number of Plague cases developed in the camp. At the
78
saine time, on arrival the bulk of the inmates were in a reduced state,
the result of famine or high-priced grain. The rest, the good food, and
the healthy condition of life in the camp were of great value to inmates
of this class before passing to the hard work and unwholesome sur-
roundings of a Bombay labourer.
The total number of steamer passengers, outward as well as
inward, who were passed through the Wari Bunder Camp from its
opening until it was turned into a Contact Camp, was 23,542, giving a
daily average admission of about 175. The number of railway passengers
who were passed through the camp during the months of November,
December and January was 4,096, mostly from the B. B. & C. I. Railway.
Thus, the total number passed through the camp, while it was a Detention
Camp for passengers, may be placed at a little over 27,600. The capa-
city of the camp was 2,000, the average number of inmates was over a
thousand, and the maximum 2,100.
On admission each passenger was registered and supplied with
a note bearing his register number and date of admission. They
were then detailed to different wards (males and females separately), as
far as possible according to their different caste or community. High
temperature cases were kept in Observation Wards, apart. The number
of inmates in camp was counted every morning and evening, when they
were also medically examined, and any suspicious cases were removed
to the Observation Ward.
Sleeping mats were given to all on admission, and to those
requiring them, blankets for use while in camp. As far as possible,
respectable families were accorded separate rooms, being allowed to live
together, and to use any available cots.
Most of the inmates of the camp received free rations accord-
ing to the following scale : —
Rice.
1 lb.
Per head
Wheat.
Flour.
1/2 lb.
per day.
Ghee.
2 0z.
Dhall.
4 oz.
Vegetable.
6 0z.
and besides this, salt, condiment, tea, sugar, and milk for babies; the
flesh-eating people also received mutton every other clay. They
received either dry rations or cooked food, according to their choice.
Some of the passengers made their own arrangements for food.
After the fair season had set in, all the clothes of passengers were
disinfected by careful exposure to the sun from four to six hours. In
addition to this, all woollen and dirty clothes and bedding were
79
disinfected by immersion for an hour in a tank filled with perchloride
solution of 1 in 1000. The tickets of persons whose property was thus
disinfected were marked. All the inmates were disinfected on
admittance, and again before discharge, and they were not allowed to
leave the camp unless their tickets showed they had been disinfected.
All inward passengers arriving at the camp were detained for a
period of seven days except, which rarely happened, when the pressure of
new-comers on the available space made it necessary to discharge inmates
in good health who had undergone five or six days' detention. Outward
passengers sent for observation were detained till they had been free
from any rise of temperature for 48 hours, and were then discharged.
Passengers, if free from any rise of temperature or other suspicious
signs, were allowed, after they had remained 24 hours in camp, to
leave with surveillance tickets, on the surety of one of the leaders of
their communities. The total number of persons discharged on
surveillance was about 2,500, most of whom reported themselves for
inspection regularly on the appointed days. Only some 20 defaulters
failed to report themselves, and the surety of those persons who had
stood responsible for these was not again accepted.
People going out on a surveillance pass were photographed before
discharge, and, at the time of inspection, they were compared with
their photographs. The inspections, which were usually two or three
in number, were fixed on alternate days. Only one case of Plague is
known to have developed amongst those discharged on surveillance—a
Kapol Bania from Baroda, who showed suspicious signs of Plague on
his last inspection-day. He was detained in camp and subsequently
transferred to a Plague Hospital, where the case was diagnosed as
one of Plague.
From October to 15th January 120 cases were transferred to
Plague and other Hospitals. Out of these, about 90 showed symptoms
which were suspicious of Plague ; the rest were diagnosed as other
diseases and transferred to General Hospitals for treatment.
Contacts came mostly in families or groups of families, each with
all its removable luggage and furniture. As cases of Plague constantly
occurred amongst them, it was thought necessary to segregate each in-
dividual family as far as possible; and with this object the camp was refitted
to meet the requirements of this arrangement. Each of the general
wards was divided by matting partitions into rows of small com-
80
partments, with a central passage down the centre of the ward. Each
compartment would accommodate eight to ten persons. A part of the
camp was railed off and reserved for the accommodation of suspicious
cases, iucluding Temperature Cases and Re-contacts. This part of the
camp was called the Observation Ward, and its inmates, besides being
kept under closer observation, were not allowed to mix with the others.
In January 1898 the Wari Bunder Camp was set apart for Contacts
and under the management of Surgeon Knapp, R. N., very careful
arrangements were made for the bathing and the steam sterilising of the
clothes of all inmates before their admission into the camp, and also
for the segregation and treatment of the immediate companions of any
inmate who sickened after admission. The securing of the proper
number of Contacts has been a difficulty which the Committee has failed
to overcome. The greatest number of Contacts in the Wari Bunder
Camp was 1,061, March 10. During March, when it was found advisable
to relax certain of the Committee's measures, and when the decline of
the epidemic seemed to permit of concessions, the law regarding Contacts
ceased to a great extent to be enforced. By the end of March the total
inmates of Wari Bunder had fallen to 157, and by the middle of April
to 103.
After the camp was made a Contact Camp, a more convenient and
thorough method of disinfection was felt to be necessary, and an Equifex
Disinfecting Stove was put up in front of the camp, OD a piece of ground
kindly lent by the G. I. P. Railway Authorities. The Contacts, as soon
as they arrived, were taken to the disinfection yard and disinfected with
all their kit before they were admitted into the Camp Proper. They were
then medically examined—males by Medical Students and females by
a Nurse—and their temperatures noted on their tickets. After medical
examination they were taken to the bath-rooms and there told to bathe
first in clean water and afterwards in Phenyle Solution, a ward-boy and
an ayah being on duty to help them. They were then supplied with
camp clothes and taken to the other side of the yard, where they
waited till they received their own disinfected apparel,
In the meanwhile all their kit was collected and put loosely into
gunny bags which were-numbered, similar numbers being given to the
owners, and the gunny bags placed in the disinfector and sterilised. All
articles of furniture were disinfected with Perchloride Lotion and then
exposed to the sun. The Contacts, thus disinfected, had their tickets
stamped " Disinfected," and were taken over to the camp. Temperature
and suspicious cases wore placed in the Observation Ward, and those
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found suffering from ailments other than Plague were kept in Hospital
Wards till the period of segregation was over.
Cooked food and dry rations were kept ready for new Contacts, and
in one or other form, they got their food scon after coming to the camp.
Well-to-do persons paid for their food, which they bought from the
contractor's shop in camp. Children under two years of age were given
milk. Cooking-pots were also lent to those needing them. Lastly, high
caste Banias and others who would not under any circumstances take
their food in camp, were allowed to go out to take their food, returning
to the camp in the evening.
As many of the male and some of the female Contacts were daily
workers, they were furnished with passes to enable them to go out for
work and return to the camp in the evening. Most of these people had
their families with them, whom they left in camp, this being considered
a sufficient security for their return. A few others left their kit in the
camp.
Well-to-do persons without families in camp deposited Rs. 50 per
head as security, or some article of corresponding value, before leaving
the camp. Persons producing security from a Justice of the Peace or
a leading citizen, or servants producing letters of security from their
masters, were allowed passes. These pass-holders, as a rule, returned to
the camp regularly and faithfully, and only in a very few instances
failed to do so.
As Plague cases frequently occurred amongst Contacts, it was
necessary to have four medical inspections in the 24 hours. They
were twice carefully examined and their temperatures taken morning
and evening at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. respectively, the two remaining
inspections being made at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. If a case was only
slightly suspicious, it was simply removed to the Observation Ward.
Other cases were at once sent to a Plague Hospital.
After the transfer of any Plague or suspicious case to hospital, the
following procedure was adopted. All the occupants of that room
or compartment were removed with their things to the disinfection yard
to be disinfected a second time, and then placed in the Observation
Ward as Re-contacts ; they there had to undergo another period of seven
days' detention from the date of their being made Ee-contacts. The
mats in the room in which the case had occurred were burned in an incin-
erator. The room itself was thoroughly disinfected with H.P. lotion,
1 in 1000 strong, and exposed to light and air. After 24 hours it was
limewashed and closed for use for a period of seven days. The period
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of detention for Contacts was seven days. On the eighth day, if free
from suspicious signs of Plague, they were discharged. Certificates of
detention in camp were given to those who asked for them.
During January 1,104 Contacts were admitted into the camp for
segregation and observation, giving a daily average admission of 35·6.
During the month 42 cases were transferred ίο Plague and General
Hospitals. Out of these, 29 turned out to be Plague, 9 relapsing
fever, and the rest other diseases. Thus, out of the 1,104 Contacts
admitted, 29 or nearly 2·5 per cent. developed Plague.
During February 2,731 Contacts were admitted into the camp for
segregation, giving a daily average admission of 97·5, thus showing a
large increase over the number for January.
During the month 83 cases were transferred to Plague and General
Hospitals. Out of these, 47 turned out to be Plague, 9 relapsing fever,
6 chicken-pox, and the rest other diseases. Thus, out of the 2,731
Contacts admitted, 50 or 1·8 per cent. (including 3 under observa-
tion) developed Plague,
During the month of March 1,528 Contacts were admitted into the
camp, giving 49·2 as the daily average. During this month 80 cases
were transferred to hospital, out of which 55 turned out to be Plague,
and only 1 relapsing fever. Thus 3·6 per cent. of admissions developed
Plague. Most of these cases—fully two-thirds—developed symptoms
within the 48 hours after removal to the camp, and the number of cases
developing Plague was inversely proportional to the number of the days
passed in camp.
The following table shows this more clearly.
During the three months January, February and March, 131 cases
in all developed Plague. Out of these—
R.
R.
R.
39
30
19
13
11
9
6
C. 1
C.1
C. 2
131
cases
"
"
"
"
"
case
"
cases
developed symptoms
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
on the
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
day of admission.
first day
second
third
fourth
fifth
sixth
seventh
ninth
twelfth
after admission.
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"