NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
23
and afterwards moved to the new and well-equipped ward in the re-built
Modikhana Hospital.
Movements of
the people.
FEBEUARY...
Arrivals—
Kail ...
Road
Sea
Departures—
Rail
Road
Sea
... 53,503
... 56,609
... 15,566
... 59,896
... 62,002
... 39,8(57
•
—
125,678
161,765
Excess.
36,087
MARCH.
Sickness and
mortality,
The first week in March shewed an increase in total mortality from
2,080 to 2,184, followed in the second by a very slight fall (2,137). The
third week shewed a rise to 2,269, and the fourth again a fall (1,938).
Plague mortality during these weeks stood" respectively at 1,496, 1,467,
1,611, 1,269.
Registration of
deaths. Corpse-
inspection.
Early in March the question of the registration of Plague deaths re-
engaged attention. The question of corpse-inspection had been examined
with great care by the Plague Committee. Corpse-inspection had been
useful in Karachi and in Poona. A section of native opinion in Bombay
declared that no objection existed in Bombay to corpse inspection.
The Committee however decided that this opinion was not in
agreement with the customs and feelings of any class in Bombay, that
any attempt to enforce corpse-inspection was likely to give rise to active
ill-feeling, and that the possible advantages from the practice were out-
weighed by the certainty of discontent.
The Committee held that all that could be insisted on was the
address from which each funeral party started. Towards the end of
February as the number of deaths referred to " unknown causes " con-
tinued high—about 70 a day—an effort was made to obtain a statement
of the cause of death, in cases attended by practitioners. The leaders
of the different Committees were consulted, with the result that whether
from misapprehension or misrepresentation, the story was spread that
the Committee were arranging for corpse-inspection.
Riots.
On the morning of the 9th of March a Julaha or handloom-weaver,
one of a class of North Indian Musahnans, whose poverty and excitable-
ness make them ready tools in the hands of the disaffected, refused to Jet
his daughter, a girl of about twelve, be removed to hospital. The girl
was seen by a nurse who believed her to be suffering from Plague. The
24
Hakim or Musalman practitioner who managed the special Julaha Hospital
was not allowed to see the girl. A band of youths came out with
sticks and drove him and the Choudhari or head of their community out
of their quarters, threatening to take their lives because they had helped
in Plague operations. The crowd of Julahas increased and, refusing to
disperse, and having wounded the Magistrate severely with stones, were
fired on.
The rioters fled to Kamathipura and to Paidhowni where they were
joined by local bad characters, both Hindus and Musalmans. The
mob fired the Grant Road and Musalman Hospitals, burned down the
Plague Office in Nagpada, and committed many grievous and some
fatal assaults on Europeans. Before dark however all rioting had ceased,
and on the next day no attempt at disorder was repeated. During the
mornings of the three following days the Committee, with the help of
the military, arranged, in the parts of the city where opposition was most
likely, for searches of large areas.
These searches were most successful. No attempt at disorder or
opposition was encountered, and indeed few signs of displeasure were
evinced, though a large number of cases were found and taken to hospital.
Local Volun-
teer Commit-
tees.
To whatever extent irritation with Plague measures and annoyance
at the failure of the measures to reduce the death-rate were the cause
of the riot of the 9th March, its effects on the progress of Plague
measures was most serious. The extreme ill-feeling shown by the
rioters and the strike among cartmen and dock-workers on the 11th
March hurried on a change which had been already under contempla-
tion—the replacing of medical search-parties by the formation of a
large number of volunteer Committees.
The new scheme was generally indicated in a speech by His
Excellency the Governor at the Town Hall to the assembled justices and
prominent citizens of Bombay, It prohibited search by the District Staff
in any house which had not been notified as Plague infected, unless
other circumstances caused it to be a gravely suspected house. His
Excellency's hope was to secure a sufficient number of zealous workers
to allow of parcelling sections of the city into divisions so small,
that the members of the local Committees would bo able to know every
case of death, and even of sickness, within their boat.
The Plague Committee in conjunction with the District Officers at
once called meetings of influential residents at the different District
Plague offices.
25
Each, district was sub-divided into several small areas, and for each
area a Committee was formed of gentlemen living in or near that area.
Gentlemen who were not present, but whose names had been given
at the meeting, as likely volunteers, were communicated with later by
the District Officers. Each Committee was asked to hold meetings for
the purpose of electing a Chairman and Secretary, and the duties
expected of them were at first verbally explained.
The rules shortly afterwards promulgated will be found in the
Appendix.
The members of certain Committees asked to be supplied with
Police or Military sepoys to accompany them on their rounds of inspec-
tion. But they were told that they had been chosen as persons
possessing personal influence over the inhabitants of their sections, and
that it was the desire of Government that an attempt should be made to
work the new visiting machinery without any show of compulsion.
The first Committees to get to work were those in Phanaswadi in
C Ward (South).
A Ward, which comprises Colaba, Esplanade and Fort, was
divided into two parts—Colaba, and the remainder of the ward. In this
ward the members did not elect Chairmen from among themselves, but
preferred to let the District Officer act as Chairman. This ward was
the last to be re-organised, but when started it at once began to work
well.
B Ward, consisting of Umarkhadi, Dongri, Ghakla and Mandvi,
was divided into 9 sub-sections. This, though an exceedingly
difficult ward to work in, soon settled down to the new system with
the exception of the Committees of Memon Moholla, which never worked
at all, and West Chakla, and a portion of Mandvi which did very little.
For these last-named Committees a great many residents gave their
names as volunteers, but very few ever appeared for work. The most
satisfactory Committee in the ward was the Khoja Committee.
C Ward (North), consisting of Kumbharwada, Khara Talao and
Bhuleshwar, was sub-divided as follows :—Kumbharwada into 7 Com-
mittees, Khara Talao into 6, and Bhuleshwar into 6.
This district is exceedingly hard to work in ; it is very thickly
peopled, mostly by Mahomedans, and was at the time in a very un-
settled state. By the 15th of April all the Committees were either
working or making an attempt to work, with the exception of one in
26
Khara Talao and one in Kumbharwada. The results were not satisfac-
tory, though the reports stated that a great many houses had been
visited, and though the cemetery reports proved a number of deaths
from this ward.
G Ward (South), including Phanaswadi, Dhobi Talao, and Market
was divided up into 18 Committees—Phanaswadi 4, Dhobi Talao 8, and
Market 8. Almost all the Committees in this ward soon set to work
and worked systematically, especially the Committees in Phanaswadi. In
the Market District, two Committees were slow in commencing
Taking into consideration, however, how thickly this ward is peopled the
Committees worked exceedingly well. In their favour is the fact that
the people were not of such a troublesome class as those in C (North)
most of them being Hindus.
D Ward (East), which comprises Girgaum, Khetwadi and Chowpati
was divided into 8 Committees. Of these, the Chowpati and Girammi
Committees were the first to start and have worked well. These two
sections are mostly inhabited by high-class Hindus. The Khetwadi
Committees were slow in starting, the reason being that influential
men did not at first offer their services. In this section there are a
great many Mahomed ans.
D Ward (West), consisting of Walkeshwar and Mahalakshmi, was
divided in the same way as A Ward, the Native members preferring 1
to work in the localities in which their houses were situated and not to
form Committees.
E Ward, which is the largest ward in Bombay, comprising
Nagpada, Byculla, Tardeo, Kamathipura, Mazagon and Tarwari, was
apportioned among 10 Committees—2 in Tardeo, 2 in Nagpada, 1 in
Kamathipura, 3 in Byculla, 1 in Mazagon, and 1 in Tarwari. Of these
Committees, the two in Tardeo did the best work ; next to them the
Kamathipura Committee. Two of the Byculla Committees and one of
the Nagpada Committees have done very little. These last-named
districts were very difficult to manage in, being mostly inhabited by
Julaha Mahomedans, who frustrated the endeavours of the Committees
as much as possible.
F and G Wards, comprising Parel, Dadar, Matoonga, Sion,
Mahim, Worli, and Sewri, were divided into 15 Committees. Of
these, two Committees in Dadar immediately got to work and have
worked exceedingly well from the commencement. The remainder
27
have also worked well, with the exception of the Mahim and Sewri
Committees, who did nothing. These last localities are not thickly
peopled and are surrounded on all sides by stretches of open country
which give every facility for segregation.
A list of Native Committees will Le found in the Appendices.
Movements of
the people«
MARCH ...
Arrivals—
Rail
Road
Sea
,
Departures—
Rail
Road
Sea
66,296
61,849
19,977
61,520
61,849
39,215
148,122
162,587
Excess.
14,465
APRIL.
Sickness and
mortality.
As the decline in the epidemic continued, Plague cases fell from
1,117 during the last week in March to 899 during the first week in
April, and estimated deaths fell from 978 to 871. The second week
showed a further fall to 676 Plague cases and 620 Plague deaths. The
decline continued in the third week to 604 Plague cases and to 541
Plague deaths, and in the fourth week to 546 Plague cases and to 499
Plague deaths.
On March 18th the plague had reached its climax. After this
date it steadily declined until on April 30th only 33 deaths from
the disease were recorded.
Plague
mortality,
In the following table the Plague mortality of the 2nd half of
March is contrasted with that of the 1st and 2nd halves of April:—
A Ward
B „
C ,
D
„
...
E
„
F and G Wards
Totals...
March 15—31.
18
141
197
200
499
223
1,278
April 1—15.
10
89
72
59
222
198
609
April 10—30.
5
48
43
13
250
172
561
28
The chief feature of the administration of the month was the success
which attended Mr. Stewart's efforts in E Ward in moving 277 persons
from infected chawls into the Narielwadi, Marathi, Byculla and Foras
Road Camps. Mr. Müller also succeeded in moving 268 persons from
an infected chawl in Elphinstone Road into the Dadar Camp.
In B Ward and, to a less extent, in C Ward, as the fear of Plague died
out, the people showed less willingness to move into camp.
Health Camps.
As the decline of Plague and the increased activity in trade
made it probable that numbers from the Konkan and Deccan would
be tempted to come to Bombay, the Committee were anxious that as
many as possible of the new-comers should on arrival go into camp
and escape the risk of infection in crowded and unwholesome houses.
The scheme was approved by Government and letters were addressed
to the Chamber of Commerce and the Millowners' Association in Bom-
bay, and to the Collectors of Konkan and Deccan districts, asking them
to arrange that intending passengers for Bombay might be advised on
arrival to go into Health Camps. The first firm to take advantage of the
arrangement has been Messrs. Ralli Brothers. Three batches of
workmen with their families from Khandesh and Ahmednagar have
arrived in the Elphinstone Bridge Camp. They are excellent inmates
and are highly satisfied with all the arrangements.
Local
volun-
teer Com-
trustees.
The question of the working of the new volunteer Committees is
still somewhat doubtful. Several among them, especially in South C
and in E Wards, continue to work hard ; others are indifferent. One
notable result of the slackening of official measures has been the almost
complete stoppage of patients, especially of female patients, sent to the
Public Hospitals. This is a serious evil as, with a death-rate aver-
aging little below 150 a day, a very large number of cases must remain
concealed or treated at home.
The result is not so disappointing in the Caste and Community
Hospitals. The Maratha Hospital, which is nearly in the centre
of the most infected areas, continues to maintain a daily average of
about ten admissions. Both in the General Musalman and in the
Julaha Hospital in Ripon Road the numbers of admissions
continue fair. In the Private Hospitals in B and C Wards the number
of admissions has been small, but perhaps not greatly short of the
number of attacks. Except in E Ward, where it has been pushed
forward with vigour, the work of vacating infected houses has declined
to a disappointing extent,
29
Another unsatisfactory feature in the returns for the month is the
small number of Contacts who have been segregated in camp. It
seems unlikely that the number of Contacts will again increase.
Movements of
the people.
APRIL
1—15.
Arrivals—
Road
Rail
Sea
Departures—
Road
Rail
Sea
... 23,001
... 36,6G6
... 15,858
75,525
... 27,301
... 22,611
... 16,657
66,569
Excess.
8,956
After ebbing for nine months, the tide turned, and the number of
arrivals began to considerably exceed the departures ; while the very
high wages ruling among dockmen and other labourers, the great mass
of trade passing through Bombay, and the scanty cold weather harvest
in the Deccan combined to make a large inflow of labour probable
during the month of May.
30
CHAPTER II.
FAMINE RELIEF.
Of the general protective measures with which the Committee
concerned themselves to limit the recurrence and diffusion of plague
one of the most important was the treatment of arrivals from famine-
stricken districts.
As General Gatacre wrote in his Report of the First Epidemic
(page 127), roost of the inmates of Observation Camps arrived in an
emaciated condition. Some arrivals from famine-stricken districts
were detained in camp mainly to improve their condition by good
feeding. Had they passed into the city in the state in which they
arrived, they would have been highly susceptible to Plague or cholera.
Half-starved immigrants continued to arrive in large numbers in
July and August, and as the abnormal mortality was in great
measure due to them, the question of their employment became so
serious that, on the 20th August 1897, in a letter to the Chief
Secretary to Government, the Committee put forward the following
proposals :—
(a) That test relief works should be opened at Chinchpokli or
Ghorapdev, or, if necessary, at more places than one.
(b) That if the inflow of people in search of work became exces-
sive, the reduced and the improvident should be stopped
before entering Bombay, fed for a day or two at camps at
Bandra or Sion, and perhaps at Kalyan and Nagothna, and
sent back to their homes.
(c) That, after the close of the rains, should the numbers still
arriving prove more than local relief works and the general
labour-market could provide for, the excess should be sent
to a relief camp at Kurla, Andheri, or Kalyan, or, if the
numbers from the Deccan were largo, to a relief camp
in the west of the Poona District.
On the 28th August (G. R. No. 1623) Government admitted that,
so far as possible, Collectors should provide local relief works for the
31
famine-stricken. At the same time Government wished that test works
should be started in Bombay to gauge the number of the unemployed.
Before this Resolution was passed (on 26th August) the Secretary
of the Indian Famine Relief Fund had forwarded to the Chairman of the
Plague Committee a cheque for Rs. 10,000 to relieve the famine-stricken
in the Island of Bombay. A special local subscription list was also
started, and handsome contributions were received. Measures were
taken to find out the probable number of people for whom work should
be provided, and the nature of the work likely to prove most suitable.
On the 2nd of September a census of several chawls taken by the
Municipal Commissioner showed 1,058 persons unemployed.
On the same date (2nd September) the Committee informed
Government that work had been offered to the destitute, securing the
employment of twelve carts, each cart drawn by six men to go twice a
day to the Love Grove Pumping Station at Worli, a distance of 31/2 miles,
and bring back ashes and clinkers to raise the compound of the Julaha
Hospital in Ripon Road.
A certain number of weakly women with suckling babes were also
admitted to relief, and for a nominal amount of work were paid two
annas a day.
The workers were paid daily, and the cost was defrayed entirely
from the charitable funds in the hands of the Committee. On the first
day enquiries showed that there were 257 workers, most of them
Julaha Mahammadans and the rest Mahars:—
Ahmednagar ...
Allahabad
Akola
Azimgarh
Benares
Bullanpur
Cawnpur
Faizabad
Ghode...
Ghodegaon ...
Karad...
5
15
3
38
2
19
12
10
13
4
4
Khed
Junare
Malegaon
Nasik
Paner
Poona...
Sangamner
Satara...
Sultanpur
Shabajanpur ...
30
31
30
18
8
10
4
11
4
13
According to their own statement, most of these people had been
from one to three months in Bombay, and several, even from Upper
India, had walked the whole way from their homes. To meet the
further demand for relief 600 people were employed to fill low ground
between the Clerk and Haines Roads, which was flooded with storm-
water and sewage, under the samo conditions and at the same rates
of pay as at the Ripon Road Work.
32
The breaking of road-metal proved a suitable employment for women
with children and for the older men.
In a shed alongside of Clerk Road 6,73512 cubic feet of metal
were broken which were taken over by the Municipality at a valuation
of Es. 33642-0.
The expenditure on the relief works was met from two sources :—
(1) The grant of Es. 10,000 from the Indian Famine Charitable
Relief Fund.
(2) The Committee's Plague Relief Fund, from voluntary sub-
scriptions, amounting to Es. 9,422.
Of the Committee's Fund, Es. 5,030-1-4 were spent, and when the neces-
sity for relief came to an end, a balance of Rs. 3,666-15-2 from his
grant of Es. 10,000 was returned to the Secretary of the Famine Relief
Fund. The total expenditure therefore amounted to Es. 11,363. The
total number of persons who received relief was 51,805. The demand
increased from 10,755 in August to 15,033 in September and 17,925 in
October. It then fell to 7,992 in November, and on the 29th of Novem-
ber the relief works were closed.
The details are as follows :—
Charitable Relief, 1897.
Months.
October...
November
Total ...
Mea.
8,770
10,702
11,855
4,859
36,186
Women.
1,952
2,411
5,574
8,133
13,070
Children.
33
1,920
596
2,549
Total.
10,755
15,033
17,925
7,992
51,705
The effect of these measures, though small, was good. Without in any
way disturbing the regular labour-market the wages helped a large
number of willing and deserving poor to tide over a time of dear grain
and slack work.
33
CHAPTER III.
QUARANTINE.
The chief administrative precaution against the recurrence and
diffusion of Plague was of course quarantine, by which we understand
measures of inspection, detention and disinfection of passengers und
their baggage.
Quarantine may be by land or sea. In the case of Bombay it
is both, the island being connected with the mainland by two Railways
and several Causeways.
Quarantine again may be inward or outward, i.e., it may be imposed
against in-comers or it may be enforced against out-goers. Its obvious
disadvantages are the restriction it imposes on trade. In a country
like India the restriction it imposes on the occasional movements of
the people to celebrate religious festivals and private festivals, such
•as marriage and death, are felt as grievances and persecutions. It is
true the Mahomedans are enjoined by their religion not to enter nor
to leave infected districts, but to the Hindu there is no such religious
restriction.
The restrictions are of course especially felt as regards outward
movements. To be kept in quarantine at the place you start from, with
no guarantee that you will thereby be exempted from quarantine by the
Local Authorities of the place you arrive at, is very vexatious.
To avoid the quarantine at the start, District Officers were empower-
ed to issue clean bills of health, and guarantees were accepted from
leading natives that the intending travellers would proceed direct to
their destinations. The great labour involved by these measures of
certifying, inspecting and detaining will be gathered from the subjoined
table of movements. It must be remembered, however, that a large
proportion of these travellers went daily in and out of Bombay, and
that, being known to the Officers on inspection duty, their general
appearance and gait, without even the formality of feeling the pulse,
often sufficed to show that they were free from infection.
34
Movements.
Months.
July
August
September
October
December
January
February
March...
April
Total
Arrivals.
200,264
225,156
290,319
282,299
232,884
211,885
143,890
125,678
148,122
75,525
1,946,022
Departures.
204,272
240,380
295,138
288,487
245,304
227,206
201,624
161,765
162,587
66,569
2,093,392
Total.
404,536
465,536
585,457
570,786
478,188
439,151
345,514
287,443
310,709
142,094
4,039,414
Railway In-
spection.
The general rules under which. Railway inspections were conducted
were as follows :—
(a) All trains arrived with carriages locked at the inspection
stations.
(b) The examination of first class passengers, except in the case
of delicate or sickly persons, was not generally considered necessary.
(c) Season-ticket holders were generally exempt from inspection.
(d) Second class passengers were examined in their carriages.
(e) Third class passengers were examined on the platform, one
compartment being emptied at a time by the Railway Police, who
searched the carriages while the passengers were being examined
by the inspecting officers.
(f)
Special tact and discretion were ordered in the examina-
tion of females, and in the case of Purdah* women who objected to their
wrists being felt, they were allowed to proceed without examination on
their names and addresses being taken.
(g) Local passengers were examined before the arrival of
trains and kept in a barricaded portion of the station until after the
inspection of passengers arriving by trains.
(h) Station Masters were requested, as far as possible, to keep
the platforms clear of all except officials on duty.
* Purdah means " curtain."