RATNAGIRI DISTRICT.]
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by any one from any such place. During 1896-97 there were cases of plague in the very
same Koliwáda of Veshwi in the months of April and May, and there was plague at
Bánkote up to the date of its occurrence in Veshwi in February 1898. There is no room
for doubt that Veshwi caught the infection from Bánkote. From April to June 1897 there
were 13 cases and 11 deaths in Veshwi. During the season of ,1897-98 there were in all 13
cases and 8 deaths.
"On 3rd February 1898, i.e., on the day on which the first case occurred, 134 out of 159
houses of the Koliwáda were vacated and the people went to live in the fields. The
remaining 25 houses were vacated the next day. All these 159 houses were disinfected with
carbolic acid and perchloride of mercury. As the Nadkar and Parkar Mohallas of Bánkote
are close to the Koliwáda of Veshwi, the people of both these Mohallas, who were made to
evacuate their houses, were kept in their fields much longer than would otherwise have been
done. They resented this very much, and petitioned and telegraphed to His Excellency the
Governor in Council. The fact that they escaped so lightly must, I think, be ascribed to
the prompt segregation that was resorted to. The Hospital Assistant on plague duty at
Bánkote visited the sick daily at Veshwi."
The work of disinfection was done by the owners of the houses vacated under the
direction of men who had been instructed in Bombay. The last case occurred on the 19th
February 1898. The people were permitted to re-occupy their houses on the 1st April, and
no case has occurred since re-occupation.
Jaigad.
Population—3,292.
Jaigad is a village at the mouth of the Shástri river in the Ratnágiri Taluká. Its
population is 3,292. It chiefly consists of Mahomedans,
Bhaudaris, and Kharwis, and affords an excellent instance of
the striking effect of complete evacuation. Attention had been attracted by the excessive
mortality during February 1893, but the deaths were all accounted for. On the 28th
February, however, the people were examined by a Hospital Assistant, and the existence
of plague discovered and declared. The details are interesting, as showing the difficulty
Collectors have in finding out the truth in such cases.
" During the mouth of February 1898, 50 persons died in this village The deaths were
all ascribed to asthma, dysentery, fever, etc., following the storm and rain of 9th and 10th
February last. From the 1st to 11th February there was only 1 death of an old man of 50.
From the 11th February to the 18th there were 10 deaths. The Mámlatdár of Ratnágiri
happened to be in Jaigad on that day, i. e., 18th February. The usual number of deaths was
brought to his notice. He ordered the Head Constable of the Jaigad Post to report if he
noticed any further increase. On the 24th February 1898 the Head Constable reported that
25 persons had died, from 19th to 24th February, of the following complaints :—
9 persons from chills, said to have been ill for 8 days to 2 months.
4 women from confinement.
2 persons from asthma.
3 persons from bilious disease.
3 persons from dysentery.
2 persons from colic.
1 person from diarrhoea.
1 person from debility.
He further added that no one had died of plague.
On the 26th February the
Mámlatdár sent the report to me, and he ordered a Kárkun to proceed to Jaigad, and wrote
to the Chief Constable to send a Head Constable there. His report reached me on the 27th
February 3 898 at Vengurla. On the same day the Chief Constable was ordered to proceed
to Jaigad and get the people examined by the Hospital Assistant in charge of the Tousal
detention camp, about 2 miles from Jaigad. The Head Constable had, however, anticipated
this order, and on the 28th February the Hospital Assistant examined the people and found
"2 persons with buboes, and from that time plague was declared. The source of infection
can only be accounted for by the fact that arrivals by steamer from Bombay, reaching
Jaigad at 10 P.M., were kept for the night in a dharamshála in the Akbari Mohalla of the
village and removed to the detention camp across the river at Tousal in the morning.
This dharmashála is very close to the Daldiváda, and that is where the plague began."
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