NASIK DISTRICT.]
219
210 cases, 167 deaths—and then a sudden decline. By the middle of April the District was
practically free from plague and a blank report was submitted for the week ending 13th May
1898, the total number of cases during these 2 months being 35, and deaths 28.
As a proof of the belief of the people in the efficacy of evacuation, may be noted
that a great many left their houses to camp in the jungle without in any way being compelled
to do so. In the same connection also, Dr. Maynard states :—
" Taking the experience of Násik Town, with the villages of the District in which the
epidemic appeared, the preventive measure as regards the spread of the disease, which seems
to be of by far the greatest value, is the vacation of the whole of the houses, with control of the
people in properly-arranged camps on selected sites, with thorough disinfection of all the
houses in which cases have occurred, as well as those in their immediate vicinity, combined
with all possible improvements in general sanitation."
It is worthy of mention that the G. I. P. Railway Company set aside 150 empty
wagons for the use of their native employés at Igatpuri. The result is declared to have been
in the highest degree beneficial. From five to seven hundred people were comfortably accom-
modated in the wagons at the time when the epidemic was at its height, and not a single
case of plague occurred among them.
Re-occupation of the town by blocks was permitted from the 16th of Februray 1898,
and by the middle of April the whole town was thrown open. Elsewhere, too, re-entry was
allowed generally within a month or so after the disappearance of plague. But the majority
of the people were apparently not eager to re-enter it, as they remained in camp till the
approach of the rains.
Malegaon.
One of the worst affected places in the Násik District was Malegaon—a town not only
important in itself, but practically the gate of the yet un-
stricken District of Khandesh. It has a considerable popula-
tion, numbering about 15,502, who maintain constant intercourse with the surrounding
country, more especially with Násik on the one side and Dhulia and Chalisgaon on the
other.
Freedom from imported plague could, under the circumstances, hardly be hoped for :
which, indeed, began to occur as early as January or February 1897. But the authorities
were on the alert and took prompt measures to segregate such cases. After the rains of
1897, Mr. A. H. A. Simcox, I. C. S., Assistant Collector, organized systematic preventive
measures and had the Girna bridge and the fords of the Girna river as well as the
Municipal closely watched. He called in the aid of the Municipal Commissioners, and
succeeded in establishing house-to-house inspection. But the town had no natural barriers,
and with a limited establishment it was impossible to detect each and every person
entering it. An old woman from Bombay evaded the guard, entered the town and developed
plague. The case was, indeed, detected on November 12th, but the infection had already
been communicated.
Next day, Mr. Simcox arrived and found that measures had already been taken in
hand. A rest-house was turned into a hospital, a godown into a segregation camp, and a
block of houses was evacuated. Disinfection with fire and chemicals was started, while a
good many people left the town. The week's record numbered 9 cases and 6 deaths : in
the following week there were 7 cases and 5 deaths, and in the week ending 3rd December
1897, the number of cases was further reduced to 4, of which 3 proved fatal. Every hope
was entertained that the epidemic was nipped in the bud. In the meanwhile, an English
Doctor had arrived, and a Commission, consisting of Mr. Wingate, Surgeon-General