10
32. I may also notice the church which has been built for the use of the
Protestant soldiers, and which is situated between the patcherries and the
hospital. The roof is of corrugated iron, and is very low, being not above 12
feet from spring. It is hermetically sealed, as no louvres have been provided.
This action is, I think, necessary, as the place during the hot weather must
certainly be injurious to health; and it would be an immense improvement if
ridge-ventilation could be provided for the hot air to escape, and if inlets for the
entrance of fresh air could be made all round the eaves of the roof.
33. The Men's Hospital consists of a building with 4 wards, which form 3
sides of a quadrangle. Two wards face the west, and a separate ward has been built
on the north and south at right angles to them. This form of construction is
bad enough; but the ventilation of the 2 wards at the back is still further im-
peded by the proximity of the store-rooms, cook-houses, and dead-house, which
entirely shut them in on the east. The dead-house, by an extraordinary arrange-
ment, has been placed close to the cook-house. There are ranges of servants'
quarters behind these out-buildings; these, however, are to be removed. In my
opinion all these subsidiary buildings on the east should be removed, so that, at
all events, there might be perflation of air; but nothing can make the building a
good one. I do not know if the walls would stand it; but I think, if it could be
safely done, it would be desirable to put an upper-storey over the 2 wards on the
ground-floor, leaving the space so recovered for administration and store-rooms.
There is a detached ophthalmic ward, which, however, is too much enclosed by the
main building. The office is on the best site in the place, and I think if any
alterations are made it should be utilized for wards.
34. There is likewise a Female Hospital, which, if it had a higher plinth,
would be a good building; but it is much too close to the guard-room, cells, &c.,
and there are no matrons' quarters provided.
35. In the rear of the hospital are 12 solitary cells, which are bad in
design. There is no roof-ventilation, and only one window, 1 foot square, and a
barred door facing the north.
36. Between the hospital and the officers' quarters is the Ghorpuri Bazaar;
but, though it is kept as clean as it can be, the construction of the sheds in the
rear do not admit of proper cleanliness, and they should be removed, as they only
harbour prostitutes and low-caste people who might well be located further away
37. The officers' quarters, consisting of 27 bungalows, are situated on the
black cotton soil between the barracks and Bhyroba's Nullah, which forms the
boundary of the compounds attached to some of the bungalows. These houses
are for the most part, in my opinion, unfit for officers to live in, as the plinths are
low, and the soil round them becomes saturated during the rains. Great efforts
are now being made by Colonel Finch, R.E., the Executive Engineer at Poona, to
improve the condition of these quarters by cutting deep surface drains, which, how-
- e v e r , a r e n o t p a v e d a t b o t t o m , a n d w h i c h , g o o d a s t h e y a r e , y e t s t i l l , i n m y o p i n i o n ,
are not at sufficiently near intervals to efficiently drain the soil, which holds water.
like a sponge and which becomes intensely malarious. The landlords will not
do anything to improve the sanitary condition of these houses. They know
that the officers of the regiment quartered at Ghorpuri have no choice, as they
must occupy these houses, which are the only ones available. It is, of course,
quite out of the question that officers will spend money themselves to improve
these properties, and Government have hitherto done nothing to save the officers
from the effects of the malarious soil on which they are compelled to live.
38. Another source of unhealthiness to the officers is to be found in the
fact that the nullah being the boundary of the Cantonment, the fields on the
other side are under no sort of regulation of any kind whatever. When going