NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
No. 19-24—2759.
QUARTER MASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Poona, 10th July 1877.
FROM
THE QUARTER MASTER GENERAL,
To
THE SECRETARY TO GOVERN MENT,
MILITARY DEPARTMENT.
SIR,
•
Referring to Government Resolution, Military Department, No. 1711, dated.
18th April 1877, I have the honor, by direction of His Excellency the Com-
mander-in-Chief, to submit the following report on the defects noticed by the
Sanitary Commissioner in his report on the station of Ahmednagar, and com-
mented in the Resolution above quoted,
2. Paras. 2 and 3 of the Resolution have already been reported on by the
Cantonment Committee in their proceedings, dated.
12th December 1876 (para. 15), and a plan and
estimate for remedying the defects have been prepared.
3. It is doubtless very desirable that the improvements referred to in.
para. 4 of the Resolution should be carried out; but the Commander-in-Chief
does not consider that they are of such a nature as to demand immediate execu-
tion, until the present restriction on expenditure is removed. The funds now
available are wanted for far more urgent works.
Vide page 21 of printed
Copy.
Para. 6of Government Reso-
lution, and para. 9 of Sanitary
Commissioner's report.
4. Macnamara filters are now in course of con-
struction and will shortly be issued to the troops.
5. A supply of kerosine lamps have been ordered from England, and will
be taken into use so soon as received.
6. Existing orders -permit the white-washing of barracks and their subsi
-
Para. 6 of Resolution, and
para. 11 of Sanitary Commis-
sioner's report.
diary buildings twice a year when considered necessary
by the local authorities. The special sanction of
Government will be required to the white-washing of
the cook-rooms once a month as recommended by the Sanitary Commissioner,
and approved by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief.
7. The remarks of the Sanitary Commissioner regarding the supply of
water for use in cook-rooms and the disposal of cook-room leavings will be attend-
ed to. The laying down of glazed stoneware pipes for a long distance, as pro-
posed by the Sanitary Commissioner to get rid of the liquid refuse from the
cook-rooms, would be a very doubtful and expensive experiment.
8. Ration sheds are only allowed in exceptional cases; vide Government
Resolution . No. 385-M.W.—2088, 15th December 1875. The requirements at
Ahmednagar in this respect might be met by constructing a light lean-to against
the wall of one of the existing buildings.
9. The distribution of water by pipes throughout the barracks would
involve a large outlay. The probable cost of the
project cannot be stated without preparing proper
plans and estimates, which His Excellency the Com-
mander-in-Chief hesitates to call for in the absence
of Government orders to that effect. The work is, no doubt, a very desirable,
but not an absolutely necessary one.
3
Para. 7 of Government
Reso-lution,and para 12 of Sanitary
Commissioner's report.
10. The measures required to -remedy the defects in the hospital would
Para. 8 of Government Re-
solution and para. 15 of Sani-
tary Commissioner's report.
Para. 20.
Filters.
also entail a very large expenditure, which it would
be impossible to meet during the existing financial
pressure. His Excellency considers that the filling up
of the gutters in the wards, and the provision of night
urinals in the Artillery Barracks, are all that can be
carried out at present.
11. Para. 10 of the Resolution is disposed of by
para. 4 of this report.
12. The Executive Engineer states that, so far as he is aware, there is no
- -
- -
- - •
fault in the air shafts in the Artillery Barracks. The
foul air form bellow, he reports, is discharged
into the
space between the planking of the ceiling and the undersides of the tiles, and
finds its way through the ridge ventilators.
13. The Officer Commanding at• Ahmednagar reports, with reference to
para. 12 of the Government Resolution, that all communication between the
barrack rooms and the drain pipes has been stopped ; and that the drainage from
the ablution rooms of the barracks is now discharged into a masonry receptacle.
It is proposed to use the drain pipes to carry off the storm water from the roofs
only.
14. With regard to para. 15 of the Resolution it is noted that the stringent
orders issued at the suggestion of the Sanitary Commissioner, have put a stop to
the evils mentioned in paras. 53 and 54 of the report regarding the mud holes in
Front of the married men's quarters in the Native Infantry Lines and the choking
of the surface drain outlets.
15. The reports of the Cantonment Committee, alluded to in paras. 16 to
19 of the Resolution, would appear to have been rendered in accordance with the
spirit of the orders passed in the General Department, under Government Reso-
lution No. 2617, dated 23rd August 1876 (para. 15), a copy of which was received
under Military Department Resolution No. 3692, of the 31st idem.
16. The appointment of Sub-Committees is the most practical mode of
obtaining exact information regarding the various subjects on which the Can-
tonment Committee have to submit reports. The order appointing these
Sub-Committees would necessarily emanate from the President of the Canton-
ment Committee, who is also the Officer Commanding the station.
17. His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief is therefore of opinion that
in submitting resolutions and reports on the various proposals made by the
Sanitary Commissioner, the Cantonment Committee have not exceeded the duties
devolving on them.
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
R. BAIGRIE, Colonel,
Officiating Quarter Master General.
Military D epar tment
Bombay Castle,
No. 3346.
4th August 1877.
Letter from the Quarter Master General of the army, No. 19-24—2759, dated 10th July 1877,
Reports on the defects noticed by the Sanitary Commissioner in his report on the station of
Ahmednagar dealt with under Government Resolution No. 1711, dated 18th April last.
RESOLUTION. — A copy of this report may be furnished to the departments to
which Government Resolution No. 1711, dated 18th April last, was addressed.
Para, 11 of Resolution.
2. The proposal for the whitewashing of cook-rooms once a month, which
is approved by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, will be recommended
for sanction by the Public Works Department.
3. With regard to the erection of a ration shed, if the suggestion in the
8th para. of the Quarter Master General's report is found to be feasible, an esti-
mate of the cost should be prepared and submitted for sanction.
4. The first cost of arranging for the distribution of water by pipes, as
suggested by the Sanitary Commissioner, would probably be great, but as it is
presumed it would lead to a large portion, if not the whole, of the expenditure at
present incurred in keeping up an establishment of bhisties being reduced,
Government would be glad to receive an estimate of original cost and of the
probable saving in the item of establishment referred to.
5. The measures proposed in para. 15 of the Sanitary Commissioner's
report in respect to the hospital would, according to the Cantonment Committee,
involve considerable removals, and His Excellency considers they would entail
so large an expenditure as to render it impossible to afford funds for the purpose
during the existing financial pressure. Government therefore concur with His
Excellency that it will be sufficient for the present to fill up the gutters in the
wards, and to provide night urinals in the barracks. The necessary steps should
be taken towards carrying this out.
6. His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief being of opinion that the course
of procedure adopted by the Cantonment Committee at Ahmednagar in the pre-
sent instance in considering the report of the Sanitary Commissioner is unobjec-
tionable, it may be. continued tentatively.
J. A. M. MACDONALD, Colonel,
Secretary to Government.
REPORT ON THE CANTONMENT OF SIRUR.
Inspected in October 1876.
The Cantonment of Sirur—or, as it is called in the vernacular, Ghodnadi—is
situated in latitude 18° 48' 50" north, and longitude 74° 25' 35" east, and at an
elevation of 1856 feet above the sea, from which it is distant about 102 miles
in a straight line. It has been formed on the right bank of the River Ghod,
which falls into the Bhima River at Sangwi, a few miles to the north of Dhond.
It was formerly the head-quarter station of one of the subsidiary forces which
were cantoned here in 1813 ; but it is now only occupied by the permanent
head-quarters of the cavalry regiment, which, when raised, was called the
Poona Auxiliary Horse. The topography and physical geography of the
station have often before been described, and lately in a very interesting report
by Doctor Gordon, in medical charge of the
regiment, which is published in the
Surgeon-General's Annual Report for 1874. l shall, therefore, in pursuance of
the plan I have adopted in reporting on other stations, confine my remarks
to those points which I think should be brought to special notice.
2. The area of the station is stated to be about 565 acres ; but that of the
regimental lines, including the hospital, covers only about 78 acres.
The strength of the regiment is as follows :—
European
Native
Non-commissioned
Total F i g h t i n g
Officers.
Officers.
Officers.
Sowars.
Men.
5
14
23
273
315
whilst that of the followers is as under :—
Men.
Women. Children.
Total.
Remarks.
Regimental Lines
...
70
276
495
481
This includes the families of
fighting men.
Regimental Bazaar
...
19
7
5
31
Syce Lines
...
219
76
92
387
Officers' Servants
...
85
30
25
140
Total....
393
389
617
1,399
The regimental lines have, unfortunately, been built along the northern
boundary of the Cantonment ; the consequence being, that they are only separated
by the breadth of the road from the adjacent municipal town, over the sanitary
state of which, however, the Officer commanding at Sirur keeps a very watch-
ful eye.
3. There are eight lines of pendalls, which face south-west and north-east.
On either flank the pendall is single ; but the remainder are built back to back,
6
every respect, but this is, I think, better than any other that is available, and it
would be convenient for the men. There is a hollow at the back of the plot of
ground which would partly have to be filled in, and an approach would have to
be made across the nullah at the side to a space at the back, where the dead-
house and servants' quarters could be conveniently placed. The nullah which
passes at the back of the Officers' lines is, I am informed, patrolled during the
dry weather to prevent its being used as a latrine.
14. The Officers' lines are on the east of the Cantonment, and were ex-
tremely clean and well kept, and call for no remark. The health of the regiment
is good, and comparatively few cases of malarious fever were treated last year.
15. From the above brief description it will be seen that the sanitary
condition of the Cantonment of Sirur is extremely good, and there was plenty
of evidence to show that every care was habitually taken to keep it so.
T. G. HEWLETT,
Acting Sanitary Commissioner,
No. 61 OF 1877.
FROM
THE OFFICER COMMANDING POONA HORSE, AND AT SIRUR,
To
THE SANITARY COMMISSIONER, POONA.
Camp Sirur, 20th January 1877.
In returning the accompanying Report received with your letter No. A 121
of 1877, of the 12th instant, I have the honour to state there is no Cantonment
Committee at Sirur, the Cantonment Act III. of 1867 not having been made
applicable to Sirur.
2. With reference to your suggestions, I would beg to offer the following
observations:—
3. The windows, 3 feet by 2, recommended, would not only be an expense
which the state of my Line Fund will not admit of ; but the fact of the women of
the regiment being purdah-women, would alone cause the alteration suggested to
be very distasteful to the men. The circular holes, however, which you suggest
in lieu thereof, can be carried out, and I will arrange to have these commenced.
4. The objection to a continuous ridge-ventilation is only a question of
money, which the state of my funds will not at present permit.
5. The arrangements of the compounds have been found necessary also in
consequence of the families being purdah-women ; but constant inspections, as
recommended by you, shall be carried out, both by Squadron Commanders and
the Medical Officer.
6. I also purpose, for the present, having earthen pans for the privies, so
as to obviate the objections now existing, and I will replace these, when I am able,
with such other iron utensils as I can ; this will ensure the removal of all the filth,
and the ground will not be contaminated.
7
7. The proximity of the Native Officers' houses to the lines, and also to
the Native Town, makes the subject of a drain, such as you recommend, a very
difficult matter, without carrying it on , through the main road into the Native
Town. I will, however, consult the Executive Engineer on the subject. The
space between the lines and Native Officers' houses would not admit of a
garden.
8. The subject of the bazaar lines requires no remark.
9. With regard to the syce lines, I purpose, when repairing them next
year, to carry out a similar system of roof-ventilation as has been provided to
some of their huts already, and which will ensure a thorough draft of air and
ventilation.
10. I will, when my funds allow of it, place earthen pans under a barred
opening, into which the urine of the horses could run and be removed, and thus
prevent the soil being saturated, as at present.
11. Side-ventilation shall be put to the school-room.
12. The building used as a standard guard is regimental property, and was
built for the use of the Farrier Major, being in the vicinity of the sick-horse
stables. Its utter unfitness as a guard-room has been constantly brought to
notice. During the rains, when the guard have to sleep inside, it is particularly
objectionable, its size not properly accommodating the, strength of the guard.
There is no separate room for a prisoner; and former Medical Officers of the re-
giment reported that to put a man in close confinement in the room during the
hot season would be absolutely dangerous to life. By para: 103, Section 16,
Bombay Army Regulations, and G. O. C. No. 231 of 1875, simple imprison-
ment has to be carried out in the quarter-guard of the regiment ; but I have
literally no place where men under such punishment can be imprisoned.
13. The subject of the hospital and its total unfitness has also been con-
-stantly brought to notice by me to my superiors, and has been as often reported
on by the Medical Officer in his annual reports.
14. The want of quarters for the medical subordidates is also a matter
which has been constantly represented ; they have absolutely none, and most of
them live in the Native Town—a most objectionable arrangement.
15. The position recommended by you for the site of the new hospital is
quite available, and having two wells in its vicinity would be more convenient
than the one at present decided on.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
CECIL LATOUCHE, Lieut.-Colonel,
Commandant Poona Horse, and at Sirur,
Military Department.
Bombay Castle,
No. 900.
1st March 1877.
Letter from the Acting Sanitary Commissioner, No. A.—221, dated 22nd January 1877.
Forwards a report on the Cantonment of Sirur, together with the remarks of the Officer
Commanding at that station on the proposals he has made.
RESOLUTION.—This report may be accepted as on the whole satisfactory, in-
asmuch as all that can possibly be done with existing means for securing clean-
liness and attention to certain needful sanitary arrangements appears to be
carried out.
2. The majority of the points noticed by the Sanitary Commissioner as
requiring attention and. improved arrangements, in respect to the sanitary con-
dition of the quarters occupied by the men and their families belonging to the
Poona Horse, appear to have been accepted by the Officer Commanding as
susceptible of either immediate improvement or as matters which would be
dealt with as means became available.
3. It is undoubtedly undesirable to subject the families of the men to the
even small amount of inconvenience the slight encroachment on their privacy
which some of the suggestions of the Sanitary Commissioner would entail, if
carried out, would cause.
4. It is to be hoped. that with the increased inspection the yards attached
to the quarters will be subjected. to, and the introduction of a better style of
latrine in each, these yards will not be allowed. to become sources of disease.
5. The necessity for a more suitable building as a hospital cannot be
disputed. The Quarter Master General should be requested to invite the
expression of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief's views regarding this
matter, and also on the subject of a suitable guard-room.
6. On the question of the supply of water the Sanitary Commissioner
writes :-
''The water-supply for the lines is derived from the river, being
fetched by puckal bhisties for the use of the men and their families ;
but the question of the water-supply to Sirur is one that should, I think,
engage attention. Colonel LaTouche has mentioned to me a proposal to
dig a well near the river, from which tie water could be pumped by a
windmill or steam-pump into a reservoir, from which it would flow by
gravitation into the town and the regimental lines ; and I should be very
glad if this work could be now carried out as a famine relief work, as it,
in my opinion, is much wanted."
7. This suggestion should be brought to the notice of the Public Works
Department for consideration.
Secretary to Government.
B 221—I G
REPORT
ON THE
SANITARY CONDITION
OF THE
CANTONMENT OF POONA,
INSPECTED IN OCTOBER 1876.
THE Cantonment of Poona, reached by the G. I. P. Railway at a distance
of 119 miles from Bombay, is situated in latitude 18° 30'' 41" north and longi-
tude 73° 55' 21" east, at an elevation of 1,850 feet above the level of the sea, from
which it is about 70 miles distant in a straight line. It is the largest and most
important military station in the Bombay Command, and as such has often before
been reported upon by previous Sanitary Commissioners. It will therefore be
unnecessary in this report to describe its physical geography or climate, as
i n f o r - m a t i o n o n t h e s e p o i n t s i s a l r e a d y i n t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f G o v e r n m e n t , b u t i n
obedience to the order conveyed in Government Resolution in the General Depart-
ment, No. 2617, dated 23rd August 1876, I will confine my remarks to point-
- i n g o u t i n d e t a i l a l l s a n i t a r y d e f e c t s i n d r a i n a g e , w a t e r s u p p l y , c o n s e r v a n c y , & c . ,
and will try to indicate what improvements are most urgently required and how
they may best be carried out.
2. It may, however, be useful to state that the Cantonment covers an
area of 4½ square miles, and that it lies partly on the watershed of the Muta
river which flows past the City of Poona on the west, whilst the surface drainage
from the eastern part is carried off by two nullahs which discharge themselves
into the conjoined streams which form the Muta Mula River which extends
along but is separated by the civil lines and by cultivated fields from the
northern face of the Cantonment. I would also recall to recollection that the
rock, on which the Cantonment stands, consists of the Deccan trap which in
places crops up to the surface but which especially towards the north-east is
covered with a thick layer of black cotton soil.
3. The garrison of Poona at the date of my inspection consisted of—
Corps.
EUROPEAN TROOPS.
NATIVE TROOPS.
O f f i c e r s .
No n -
C o m m i s s i o n e d
Of f i cer s .
R a n k
a n d
F i l e .
T o t a l
E u r o p e a n s .
Corps.
B r i t i s h
O f f i c e r s .
N a t i v e O f f i c e r s .
N o n - C o m m i s s i o n e d
Of f i c e r s .
. R a n k a n d
F i l e .
T o t a l
f i g h t i n g
M e n .
2nd Battalion 15th Regi- 34
79
83 1
926 1st Light Cavalry, Lancers
6 12
30
288
336
meat.
5th Regiment N. L. I.
6 14
36
592
648
66th Regiment
16
43
734
793 8th Regiment N. I
6 16
38
623
683
26th Regiment N. I.
7 15
37
587
646
Total... 50
122 1,547 1,719
Total
25 57
141 2,090 2,313
2
Followers.
Corps.
EUROPEAN REGIMENTS.
Corps.
NATIVE REGIMENTS.
Europeans,
Natives.
M e n .
W o m e n . C h i l d r e n .
M e n .
W o m e n
C h i l d r e n .
M e n .
W o m e n .
C h i l d r e n .
2-15th Regiment
. .
104
229
336
198
523 1st Lancers
297
325
273
5th Regiment N. L. I
20
292
375
66th Regiment
. . 61 129 111 38 51 8th Regiment N. I
50
75
58
26th Regiment N. I
36
271
326
Total...
.
_
...
165
358
447
236
574
Total
403
983
1,032
4. The Cantonment Act has been in operation at Poona since the 1st July
1868, and the Committee, I am informed, is at present composed of the follow-
ing members:—
The General Officer Commanding Poona Division.
The Collector of Poona.
The Deputy Surgeon General, British Forces.
Do.
do.
Indian Forces.
The Executive Engineer.
The Civil Surgeon.
The Cantonment Magistrate.
The Medical Officer in charge of the Lock Hospital.
The Executive Engineer for Irrigation.
Besides the above the Officers Commanding Regiments are appointed extra
members.
5. As the point of greatest danger to the troops and the residents in the
station, I will commence with a description of the Sudder Bazar which is, though
under entirely different jurisdiction, virtually a continuation of the native City of
Poona, which with its population of upwards of 90,000 inhabitants, is situated
between it and the Muta river on the west, and from which it is separated in a
great part of its length by the filthy Manick nullah which has its origin on the
south of the Sholapur bazar which forms the south-eastern boundary of the
Sudder Bazar. The nullah passes under the Kuruckwasla canal and past the
Tank at the south end of East street and after running across the south-western
outskirts of the bazar, forms its western boundary as far as Sucha Peer, where it
enters City Limits and at length meets the equally filthy Nagjheri nullah in
the confines of Sonwur Peth where they discharge their contents into the
Muta river immediately above the Railway Bridge and about 350 yards below
the old Bund. The boundary on the east is formed by the street called by the
same name, on the further side of which the bungalows of residents and Officers
of the garrison are situated, but its geographical boundary on this side is the
parting of the watershed which is roughly speaking formed by a line drawn
through the compounds to the east of the Wodehouse road, so that the storm