340
[CHAP. XL
large numbers, and by the middle of May there could not have been more than 4,000 to 5,000
people left in the town out of a population of between 35,000 and 40,000. The majority
remaining in were weavers who have their looms in their houses and the Mahomedans of all
classes. A certain number of these latter were also got out ultimately, and the Darbár assisted
them to the extent of distributing Rs. 1,200 amongst the poorest of them. No sooner, how-
ever, had we got some of the Mahomedans out than a heavy storm came on, and they at once
bolted back to their houses, with the result that latterly the Mahomedan quarter was attacked
and they kept the plague going.
" (b) In January, at my suggestion, a notice was issued that no dead body would be
allowed to be disposed of until a certificate of death had been givien, and Police and Karkuns
were stationed at the gates of the town and the burial and burning grounds to see that no
body was disposed of, except on production of the certificate. The people were at the same
time informed that if any sickness was reported and the person seen by the doctor before
death, an examination of the corpse would not be made and the necessary certificate given
without further trouble. The work of examining sick persons and granting of certificates was
placed in the hands of a well-qualified and trustworthy Hospital Assistant, and the scheme
worked admirably, particularly in the beginning. By this means cases were at once detected
after being only a short time sick and taken to hospital, and prompt measures were taken with
the infected house and those adjoining it.
" (c) Segregation of whole blocks.—This could only be done as long as the plague was
kept within reasonable limits, as otherwise a very large segregation camp would have been
necessary. Later on, when the cases increased during the first week in May, only one or
two houses on either side of the infected house were treated in the above manner when found
occupied ; but as the people turned out in earnest, the houses were frequently found unoccu-
pied, the residents having gone to live in the Wadis. The segregation camp for the persons
turned out of the houses surrounding an infected house was established on a maidan about
¾ mile from the town and across the river. The camp was in charge of a guard of the 1st
Bombay Grenadiers. The people were allowed to go to their work during the day, except the
actual contacts, who were kept separate from the rest. These latter were kept in strict
segregation for ten days and then allowed to go to work for the remainder of the segregation
period, which at first was fixed at twenty clays, but latterly, owing to the numbers coming
in, the period was reduced to ten days. The poorest classes and those whose work was in
their houses were fed by the Darbár.
" (d) Removal of tiles.—As to how far the removal of tiles from a house before the period
of recrudescence arrived really does good, I am not in a position to say with any reliability,
but I give the facts gleaned for what they are worth. Of course, this measure can only be
beneficial in the case of basement houses. It occurred to me last January that if a recru-
descence was to be expected about March or April, the removal of a good portion of the tiles
from houses in the City of Mándvi and suburb of Salaya, thereby letting in sun and air to the
interior, might do good, and certainly could do no harm. This was done in Mándvi and
Salaya about January last, but was not done in the case of the houses outside the city walls,
where a population of some 6,000 persons reside for the most part in basement houses. Salaya
contains a population of about 4,000 persons, chiefly fishermen and sailors, all living in
basement houses. Last year this suburb of Mándvi was reeking with plague, and though the
death-rate cannot be accurately stated owing to its having been incorporated with Mándvi,
the number of deaths amounted to certainly 1,000. A population of about 5, 000 persons
also live in such houses within the city walls. Now, up to the 31st May there had only
been one case of plague in such houses in Salaya, and only three in the city, and from two
of these houses I found that the tiles had not been removed. On the other hand, amongst
the same kind of houses outside the city walls, from which the tiles had not been removed,
there were up to the 31st May 31 cases. I did not pay any attention to the matter at first
until I found in my daily rounds that no cases seemed to be occurring in these basement
bouses which, belonging to the poorest classes, are naturally situated in the worst part of the
town, and where (especially in the Khatri quarter) the plague was very bad last year.
Since the rains commenced and the tiles were put on again, there have been several
cases in Salaya, but only six or seven in such houses in the town. I cannot then say
for certain whether this measure assists in killing the recuperating germ and checking the
disease."
By the middle of May, therefore, the town was nearly empty, and the following statement
shows the number of cases occurring outside and inside the town respectively :—
On the 1st of May 1898 there were {in camp ... 35,000
in
the
town
...
5,00