6
19.
The next drain commences on the north of the old. English burial
ground, and passing between Mr. Barrette's compound and Mr. Sorabji Jeewaji's
house as an open ditch crosses Main street, where it is covered and after passing
through the filthy Mochee Warra crosses Malcolm Tank road and is continued
through the equally filthy district of Kamatteepoora, receiving the sewage of the
houses to the south of the vegetable market, and after being joined by another
drain, which starts from -the east side of Ghoree Khata, falls near Malcolm
Tank road into the one previously described, which runs along the east side
of West street, the two together forming the commencement of the Sucha
Peer ditch.
20.
I was fairly astounded to hear that there was not a single public
latrine or urinal provided for the use of the inhabitants of the Sudder Bazar, and
all the halalcores in the bazar are private servants and in no way under the
control of the Cantonment Committee, except that they are compelled to carry
the night-soil, when they choose to collect it, to the carts which, by what seems
to me a most disgusting and improper arrangement, are stationed on a site
enclosed by a prickly-pear hedge but open towards and within, will it be believed
? 37 yards of the shed where all the sheep and goats intended for the food of
Europeans as well as of natives are slaughtered. There are only six wooden
night-soil carts, which are not watertight, dry rubbish being put into their
bottoms to prevent leakage. These carts are supposed to make two trips a day,
at 9 A. M., and at 1-30 to the manure yard beyond Cantonment Limits on the
Sholápur road.
21. It may be useful here to state the amount of solid matter passed and
of urine voided by the population of the Sudder Bazar. It is usual to assume
that 2 .5 ozs. of solid matter and 40 ozs. of urine in a given population represent
the quantity passed per head per diem, so that we have about 1½ ton of solid
matter and 24 tons of urine to deal with. The 6 night-soil carts may be of
sufficient size to remove most of the solid matter, but very little of the urine or of
the ablution water ever leaves the place except by soakage. The underground
drains before mentioned, bad as they are in form and construction, yet do carry
off some part of these effete matters, but as there is no record to show the num-
ber of privies connected with these drains, it is impossible to calculate how much
is removed in this way.
22. The unbuilt privies are generally situated inside the mud walled
compound, but occasionally are found outside in the street where they are
enclosed by matting. Two stones are placed on the bare ground on which the
occupant squats and performs the offices of nature between them, and washes
his naked body in the same place. I really do not know which is worse, the
condition of such places or the cesspits which have been built outside but which
being absorbent allow the soakage to go on perpetually. These cesspools are
for the most part covered with a wooden lid but they are scarcely ever opened
even, much less cleaned. At the back of a large tenant house near quarters
occupied by Europeans, a row of three cesspools was observed which required
considerable force and much time to open when the cesspool was found to con-
tain five feet of the most horribly offensive fluid but as the privies with which it
communicated were in daily use, it was evident that soakage into the surround-
ing subsoil must have been going on for a considerable time past.
23. The principal roads are as a rule well swept, but the general surface of
the Sudder Bazar is, most disgracefully filthy, there are no dust boxes into which
the cutchra can be deposited, whilst the interior of private enclosures was found
covered with collections of refuse which was evidently never removed, and the
lanes in the bazar were seen to be everywhere fouled with night-soil whilst
the arches below the culverts built across roads are turned into public latrines.,