NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
176
[CHAP. VII.
Bulsár.
Population—Town, 14,472.
Táluka, 73,417.
The first case of plague in the town of Bulsár was that of a Hindu weaver of Bulsár
who lived and worked in Bombay, but went to Bulsár on 22nd
November 1896 and died on the same day. No other case was
reported until a month later, when a grain-dealer arrived
from Bombay and also died on the day of arrival. In the month of January 1897, 4 import-
ed cases occurred, but indigenous plague was not discovered until February 7th, when a
labourer, working in the grain merchants' quarter, succumbed to the disease. An epidemic
then broke out: 942 cases-739 deaths being recorded in the Town, and 703 cases—
522 deaths in the Táluka—over which the townspeople had scattered to seek refuge—up
to the middle of June 1897. Of the District figures, 281 indigenous cases occurred in the
village of Magod alone, and 109 in two other villages.
Period.
Week ending
Total up to 5th February 1897
February 5th
" 12th "
" 19th "
" 26th "
March
5th "
" 12th "
" 19th "
" 26th "
April
2nd "
" 9th "
" 16th "
" 23rd "
" 30th "
Total up to 18th June
Total
Cases.
6
1
15
54
62
89
128
144
137
143
84
31
26
22
942
Deaths.
4
1
1
6
30
54
49
124
115
109
102
69
31
24
20
739
BULSAR
Population 14,472
Surat City.
Population—109,229.
Surat City was infected from Bombay on the 8th December 1896. The first case of
plague occurred in a Mahomedan boy, about 15 years of age,
who was intercepted at the railway station by the Medical In-
spector and brought to the Contagious Diseases Ward of the Civil
Hospital on the 8th December 1896. He was a resident of Bombay, and lived at Khára Kuva.
The boy had contracted the disease in Bombay. This was the first reported imported case.
The last case was indigenous, and occurred on the 11th May 1897. Between the 8th December
1896 and 11th May 1897 (a period of about five months), in all 114 cases were reported,
exclusive of 13 under observation, and subsequently discharged cured. Of the 114 cases,
49 were imported and 65 indigenous.
Ránder.
The only other important place affected during the first epidemic was the town of
Ránder (population, 10,921), which reported 118 indigenous
cases—102 deaths between the beginning of March and the
end of June 1897.
Surat City.
Second Epidemic (August 1897—October 1898).—The second epidemic commenced in
Surat City, and was remarkable for its duration—about 15
months. The virulence of the disease was never great, the
figures were never large, but the District could not be cleared of plague. All the large
Towns which had formerly suffered were attacked again: Bulsár becoming infected as the
epidemics in the City and in Ránder came to a close. The number of places attacked in this
epidemic was about 110; the total figures for the District being 5,493 cases—4,045 deaths.
SURAT DISTRICT.]
179
(2) In the beginning of December a rumour was spread in the City to the effect
that the Collector had sent for European Troops from Deesa to oppress the inhabitants.
This rumour, absurd and groundless though it was, nevertheless, produced a panic in
the City ; and it was necessary for the Collector to order the printing and distribution
of a public proclamation throughout the City, stating that no European Troops had been,
or would be, sent for, and that no locality would be evacuated without very good reason.
Happily this proclamation produced the desired effect, the rumour dying as suddenly as
it was born.
In January 1898, two new causes for anxiety arose. The first of these was an
outbreak of the disease in the Private Camps. This, in itself a serious matter, had yet more
serious results. Plague-stricken persons crawled back to their empty homes to die ; and,
after death, their corpses were thrown out into vacated streets by the neighbours, in order
to avoid their own consequent impending segregation and disinfection.
These twelve Private Camps had hitherto been in the charge of the Plague Mámlatdár,
in addition to his other work. As his work was now evidently excessive, they were handed
over to Lieutenants C. W. Carey, R.A., and C. S. Fellows, 1. S. C., two British
Officers, who appeared on the scene on 27th December 1897. These two Officers, with an
increased staff, soon reduced them to order ; no light task, as they numbered 17,000 occu-
pants. From the 28th December 1897, the twelve gates of the City were barred and guarded
by the Police, egress and ingress between 8 P.M. and 6 A.M. being possible only on production
of a special Pass.
The second cause of anxiety was a sudden influx of refugees from Bombay, where
plague was raging. As Surat had previously derived infection from Bombay, the following
measures were enforced to prevent its happening again :—
(1) Observation Camps were established at Surat and Bulsár on the 10th January
1898 ; others were gradually constructed and opened till, on 22nd February, Vapi,
Udwáda, Párdi, Amálsad, and Kim were all similarly protected.
(2) Booking to Dungri, Sachin, Amroli and Sáyan (small railway stations in the
neighbourhood of Surat and Bulsár) was stopped.
(3) Eight days' observation of people arriving in boats and ships from infected
ports was imposed at all ports throughout the District.
(4) The Gáekwári authorities established detention Camps at Billimora, Navsári
and Muroli.
(5) The Sachin State officials similarly protected Yedchha.
(6) An inoculation centre was established in the heart of the town, and lymph
procured from Bombay ; and Assistant Surgeon Manilál Desái, a popular and
experienced Hindu official, of good caste, was detailed to superintend this work.
Unfortunately there were no volunteers.
By these means the District, and the native territory included in it, were protected as
efficiently as possible.
The plague gradually decreased up to the week ending 11th February 1898, when
the total mortality was only 114, or some 30 above the probable average. Then came a
misfortune. The following is the Collector's description of it :—
180
[CHAP. VII.
"The end seemed within sight when unexpectedly a cyclonic downfall of rain—most
unusual at the season—occurred throughout the District on the 9th February 1898. The
immediate and necessary result was the return of all the persons camped outside the City
and the villages, to their houses. The ill-effects of this move," he continues, "were shown
in the increased mortality of the next and following weeks."
Nor did the mortality of the City sink to the level it had reached just before the cyclone
till the 18th March 1898—a period of five weeks.
Month.
November 1897
December
"
January
1898
February "
March
"
April
"
May
"
Population
(Census of
1891).
109,229
Total
Cases.
802
385
301
309
188
35
2
2,022
Deaths.
490
274
238
241
194
29
1,466
Total
mortality.
1,186
770
660
562
449
288
232
4,147
Average
mortality
for
previous
3 years.
902
242
279
292
280
357
411
295.71
SURAT TOWN.
Two of the Health Camps—Variáv and Majura—which had been the most sanitary,
were re-opened on the 15th February 1898. That at Majura was reserved for Golás only—
the most infected sect—and that at Variáv for all other castes.
A mutual pass system, for the benefit of traders of approved character and standing,
was introduced by the Collectors of Surat and Broach on the 12th March 1898 on account of
the impending Cotton season, in which both Districts were deeply concerned. On the 18th
March, all "unauthorized" or private Health Camps were closed.
SURAT DISTRICT.]
181
On the 30th April 1898, all restrictions on booking throughout the District were with-
drawn, and on the 2nd May the last case of plague occurred. Since that date there have
been but a few cases, mostly imported, in the City of Surat. This second City epidemic lasted
8 months.
Ránder.
Population—10,921.
Ránder was again attacked towards the middle of September 1897. The last
indigenous case had occurred here late in June 1897. Its vicinity
to Surat, however, could not but expose it to infection, and it was
not long before cases were discovered. Following closely on the epidemic in Surat City, the
outbreak here terminated a little before it did at the capital of the District, lasting
in a mild form for a prolonged period of 7 months. The following are the monthly
figures :—
Month.
September 1897, 3 weeks
October
,, 4 ,,
November
„ 4 ,,
December
„ 5 ,,
January
1898, 4 ,,
February
,, 4 ,,
March
„ 4 ,,
April
„ 3 ,,
...
...
...
...
Total ...
Cases.
10
11
17
22
37
76
38
17
228
Deaths.
10
9
13
18
30
56
40
16
102
Bulsár Town.
Population—14,472.
The District was making very fair progress, and great hopes were entertained that
the disease had run its course ; but no sooner were Surat City
and the Town of Runder free, than the Town of Bulsár, which
had been free ever since June 1897, though the rest of the Táluka was infected, had to be
added to the list of infected places. Detention of new arrivals was being strictly enforced,
and the town was thus successfully defended; but in the last week of April 1898, a Dhebra
fish-seller, who had been to Billimora, stealthily entered the town at night on foot and in-
fected his caste so suddenly that 9 cases occurred among them during the same week. The
Tais (Mahomedan weavers), who lived side by side with the Dhebras, were speedily attacked,
and the number went on increasing until it reached its maximum—62 cases, 41 deaths—
in the week ending 12th August. Thenceforth there was a rapid decline, and in the last week
of September there was no plague to speak of. The following table and chart show the
progress of the epidemic :—
April
May
June
July
August
September
Month,
1898, 1 week
,, 4 weeks
„ 4 „
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total ...
Cases.
10
53
68
232
146
20
520
Deaths.
4
20
41
164
104
14
347
46
182
[CHAP. VII.
BULSAR
Pop: 14,472.
Surat District.
Population—649,989.
The epidemic spread generally throughout the whole District, with more or less
severity, and attacked also the State of Sachin. Bárdoli Táluka,
however, was practically, and Mándvi quite, free, and so also were
the States of Dharampur and Bánsda.
The measures adopted outside the City were for the most part evacuation of infected
hamlets or villages, and observation of new arrivals, strictly enforced by village Pátels under
stringent orders from the Collector, except in the case of those that visited infected places
on business. Disinfection was secured by untiling the roofs of houses and leaving doors and
windows open, though barred with bamboos to prevent ingress. Property of all kinds was
exposed to the sun. During the second epidemic, the use of disinfectants was forbidden
except in Surat and Bulsár, as it was considered that such disinfection was of no avail without
skilled supervision. When cases occurred in the huts where the people temporarily put up
in the fields, the occupants generally left the patient in the hut with an attendant, and of
their own accord moved into other quarters. The Damaun Cordon effectually prevented the
importation of plague from Damaun Territory, which was, and is, a constant menace to the
Surat District. Re-occupation was generally allowed 15 days after the occurrence of the
last case, and it very rarely happened that fresh cases subsequently occurred.
Third Epidemic (January 1899—June 1899).—Yet a third epidemic broke out in the
current year. During the months of October, November and December 1898, there was
hardly any plague in the District, except for a few stray cases here and there. But in the
months of January and February 1899, the villages of Tithal and Bhadeli Jugalala among
184
[CHAP. VII.
left to the people as in other small villages, but as the plague mounted, I arranged sheds
near the different blocks of mándvas (called Ward A, B, C, &c.), and there had contacts
segregated in the sight of all, but in rigid seclusion enforced by a Police Guard. This
worked very well."
These thorough measures, supplemented by the placing of watchmen on the Burial and
Burning grounds, soon began to have an effect. It has to be borne in mind that more
than three-fourths of the population—3,240—consisted of the fishermen and Koli classes,
which have been peculiarly susceptible to plague in the Surat District.
At the present time ( 15th September 1899 ) plague still continues, but the numbers
attacked during the year have been small. The characteristics of the disease in this District
have been persistent duration and small virulence : the largest numbers for any one week
being 80 cases—69 deaths ( week ending 25th August 1899 ), and the total figures for the
whole year up to 15th September 1899, returned from 33 places, 1,179 cases—8C6 deaths.
185
THANA DISTRICT.
Area ... ... ...
Population in 1891
Density of population
Rainfall ... ... ...
... 3,578 sq. miles.
... 819,580.
... 229 per sq. mile.
... 102 inches.
Boundaries.
The Thána District is bounded roughly as follows :—On the north, by the Portuguese
territory of Damaun, and the Kálu and Damanganga rivers ; on the
east, by the Násik and Ahmednagar Districts ; on the south-east
and south, by the Kolába and Poona Districts ; and on the west, by the Arabian Sea.
Climate and natural
features.
The climate, like the climate of the rest of the Konkan, is exceedingly moist for fully
half the year, the rainfall being very great and often beginning in
May. The low level of the plains of the district, its heavy rainfall,
and the large area of salt marsh, forests, and rice-fields, make the climate hot, damp, and
feverish.
The most feverish months are October, November, and December, when, after the south-
west monsoon is over and under a powerful sun, decaying vegetable matter produces a
malarial atmosphere. Hot springs are found in four sub-divisions,—Máhim, Vada, Bhiwndi.
and Bassein.
The water of the spring which rises in the bed of the Surya river, and which is
moderately hot and saltish, smells like rotten mud.
The main division of soils is into sweet and salt. Sweet land is either black or red ; the
black called shet, that is the plain rice-fields, and the red called mál rarkas, that is the fiat
tops and slopes of the trap hills, on which náchni, vari, and other coarse hill-grains are grown.
The low fields are the most productive, as the rain-water leaves a rich deposit.
Previous epidemics.
In 1702 the plague broke out in the Island of Bombay, and carried off some hundreds of
the natives and reduced the number of Europeans to the small num-
ber of 76 ; but there is no authentic record of plague in the Thána
District proper previous to 1896. *
Thána District.
Population— 918,967.
The City of Bombay forms, as it were, the starting point for the Thána District,
which, while in ordinary times affording innumerable advan-
tages to the population of the District, in time of plague
becomes a steady and constant focus for the dissemination
of infection. Every facility that can be contrived exists for the maintenance of the con-
stant intercourse necessitated, and while the two Railway Companies vie with each other
in improving the means of communication, numerous creeks admit entry into the inner-
most parts of the District to fishing boats and country-craft. The conveyance of plague
infection from Bombay to Thána was therefore merely a question of time, although much
was done in the way of preventing an outbreak by the prompt detection and isolation of
imported cases at the railway stations and in municipal towns.
First Epidemic (December 1896—May 1897).—Sofaras can be discovered, the first
indigenous cases occurred early in December 1896, though imported plague was detected
* Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XIII.
47
186
[CHAP. VII.
as early as the first week of October 1896. Bándra, which is practically a suburb of
Bombay, was the first to suffer, and contributed the largest number of cases ; while
Bhiwndi, Kurla (another suburb), Bassein, Bháyndar, Thána, &c., followed it in rapid
succession. Until February 1897 measures for the suppression of the plague were in the
hands of the Municipalities, and for one reason or another pro ved inadequate. On the
passing of the Epidemic Diseases Act, however, " it was resolved," says Mr. A. C. Logan,
I. C. S., the then Collector, "that the segregation of the sick and of their families in
hospitals and quarantine camps should be rigorously enforced as essential to the suppres-
sion of the epidemic, and orders for the erection of the necessary hospitals and sheds in
each affected place were given. The affected area was partitioned out among the available
European officers : the Civil Surgeon took Thána, the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner
Kurla, the First Assistant took the infected villages of Sálsette, and the Second Assistant
those of Bassein and Dáhánu, while Mr. Gilbert gallantly volunteered to take Bándru,
and I myself took Bhiwudi to assist the District Deputy Collector in charge." The
activity displayed by these officers soon compensated for the inertness previously shown,
and, what with the removal of the sick to hospitals or isolated huts, the evacuation of
infected houses and their disinfection, the inspection of arrivals and departures, and general
improvement in sanitary conditions, plague declined everywhere in April, and, with the
exception of 2 or 3 places, disappeared everywhere by the end of May 1897.
The following statement compares the number of cases and deaths during the first
epidemic at the principal towns with other places in the rest of the District :—
Bándra...
Bassein
Kurla ...
Bhiwndi...
Chinchni...
Vesàva....
Thána...
Rest of the
Plae
District
c.
...
...
...
.....
...
Total ...
Population.
18,750
11,291
11,469
14,387
4,785
4,747
17,455
7:36,074
819.967
Cases.
937
497
495
485
329
216
189
1,483
4,631
Deaths.
797
377
430
430
26G
205
118
1,152
3,775
Percentage
of cases to
population.
4.99
4.22
4.31
3.37
6.85
4.55
1.08
•20
'56
Remarks.,
59 towns and
villages at-
tacked in all.
It is noteworthy that of the 59 places which reported indigenous cases, 27 were in
Sálsette, 22 in Bassein, 5 in Máhim, 3 in Bhiwndi, and 1 each in Kalyán aud Dáhánu
Táhikas —a striking instance of plague having adhered to the Railway line and practically
confined itself to the area traversed by the local trains from Bombay, the limits of which
are Virar and Kalyán.
Kalyán.
Population—11,685.
Second Epidemic (August 1897—June 1898).—During the month of June 1397 there
were only 53 cases and 33 deaths : in July the District was
quite free : but on the 13th of August · Kalyán was stricken,
and this proved to be the beginning of a second epidemic in the
District. The first case at Kalyán was that of a Mahomedan merchant who frequently used
to travel to Bombay. The case was concealed for several days, but eventually brought to
light by private information. The disease then spread rapidly in the Mahomedan quarters
ΤΗΑΝa DISTrICT.]
187
of the town and in its neighbourhood. Within a fortnight the cases had risen to 18, and
in the first week of September there were 19 cases—15 deaths. The disease was met by
the segregation of the sick and the contacts, and disinfection of infected houses, but as the
number of attacks was not reduced, it was resolved to evacuate several houses at a time :
this had the desired effect, ft steady reduction of attacks being noticeable. At the end of
October this part of the town was entirely free, but the Brahmin quarter was attacked in
November. The disease, however, was not virulent, and the largest number of cases in a
week was 5. The final case was registered in the last week of the year 1897, and the
total number of cases during the epidemic was 136 and of deaths 112.
Bassein,
Population— Π ,261.
The severe outbreak at Bassein during the first epidemic had ceased in June 1897,
the last case having been registered on the 9th of that month.
No further cases occurred until October 1897 ; at any rate
none were discovered, although there was a possibility of
concealed cases, the orders for the compulsory notification of deaths having been withdrawn.
In the week ending 1st October 1897, δ cases were reported in houses in which there had
been cases, but which had been disinfected during the previous epidemic. Whether these
cases were due to a recrudescence of the disease or to a fresh importation of infection—
for the occupants had just previously visited Bombay—was not determined. During the
next two weeks there were no fresh cases, but in the week ending 22nd October 1897
2 more cases were reported from the Koliwáda, which, however, was immediately evacuated.
This was followed by another lull, and up to the week ending 10th December 1897 only
4 more cases were registered. This was in all probability the effect of prompt evacuation,
but in the meanwhile the disease gained strength and broke out elsewhere, the week's
record for the 17th December 1897 being 11 attacks—9 deaths. It then continued, but
the fluctuations in the number of attacks were curious ; and can be best illustrated by a
statement : —
Wee k ending
October 1st, 1897 ...
,, 8th „ ...
,,
15th
„ ...
,, 22nd ,, ...
,, 29th „ ...
November 5th ,, ...
,, 12th „ ...
,, 19th „ ...
,, 26th „ ...
December 3rd „ ...
,, 10th „ ...
„
17th
„ ...
,, 24th „ ...
,, 31st „ ...
January 7th, 1898 ...
,, 14th „ ...
,, 21st „ ...
,, 28th „ ...
February 4th „ ...
,,
11th
„ ...
,, 18th „ ...
Total up to 18th Feb. 1898
Cases.
...
...
2
1
1
...
2
....
...
...
11
10
8
5
11
5
5
6
7
10
89
Deaths.
1
2
...
1
1
...
2
...
...
....
2
7
6
5
8
6
4 7
6
68
Week ending
Brought forward
February 25th, 1898
March
4th ,,
,, 11th ,,
,,18th ,,
,, 25th ,,
April
1st ,,
,, 8th ,,
,, 15th ,,
,, 22nd ,,
„ ,, 29th ,,
May
6th ,,
„
13th ,,
„
20th ,,
„
27th ,,
June
3rd ,,
,, 10th ,,
,, 17th ,,
,, 24th ,,
Total
Add, July 1898
Total
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
..
Cases.
89
20
23
16
14
43
12
17
12
14
9
1
2
8
9
6
5
4
4
308
24
332
Deaths.
C8
14
15
16
12
30
13
14
8
11
10
1
1
7
8
6
4
3
3
244
20
264
188
[CHAP. VII
BASSEIN
Population 11,291
So far the usual measures of segregation and disinfection had been adopted; evacua-
tion, though practised to some extent, was not general. About this time an attempt was
made to seek the good-will of the people by permitting the sick to remain in their houses
with only one or two attendants. The results were not attended with any evil conse-
quences. The disease, however, never completely disappeared, and during the third
epidemic again threatened to assume a serious form.
Bándra.
Population—18,759.
The Town of Bándra, being the favourite suburb of Bombay, is largely crowded by
Bombay people, thousands of whom visit the City daily. Its
overcrowded state rendered it desirable to prevent an indis-
criminate influx of people into Bándra. The Municipality,
therefore, opened an Observation Camp on the 1st January 1898, which gave place in a
month to the Government Segregation Camp. From an earlier date efforts were being
made in other directions. Bándra Town managed to keep free from plague till the first
week in January 1898, when two indigenous cases occurred in the Khar quarter, the infec-
tion having been imported from Bombay. The whole of the Kharwada was evacuated and
the people turned out into sheds, but cases continued to occur in the sheds until the middle
of March, when, after a week's cessation, the epidemic broke out afresh and continued
with varying severity till June 1898. The monthly numbers of indigenous cases and
deaths were:—
Month.
January
1898
February
"
March
"
April
"
May
"
June
"
Total
Cases.
4
22
14
54
56
8
158
Deaths.
3
21
15
41
51
8
139