KAIRA DISTRICT.]
163
flow of charity began to quicken. Generous persons from Bombay and Ahmedabad for-
warded consignments of bedding, blankets, etc., for the use of the sick and the needy ;
and a munificent donation of over Rs. 3,000 worth of bedding and cooking pots, the joint
gift of Sheths Mansukhbhai Bhagubhai and Mangaldas Girdhardas of Ahmedabad deserves
special mention. Leaders of the several communities in the principal towns of Gujrát also
made laudable efforts to soften the asperities of detention for their co-religionists. Of these,
the arrangements made for the Pársis, at the instance of Sardár Davar Edalji Khursetji Modi
of Surat, were conspicuous for their completeness.
By permission of the Postmaster-General, a Branch Post and Telegraph Office was
opened inside the Camp. Letter-boxes were put up in every part of the Camp and cleared
twice a day.
The strength of the Police force doing duty in the Camp varied from time to time. At
its maximum it numbered one Chief Constable, 17 Non-Commissioned Officers, and 149 Con-
stables. Of these, 59 were recruits, who were practically useless. At the time of the great
rush from Bombay there were but 56 men, and more had to be telegraphed for. The Police
force was employed as follows :—A small party was detailed to escort the passengers from
the trains and keep order in the disinfection yard, and the rest were employed in forming a
cordon of sentries round the Camp. With the help of the reserve, a system of night watches
was stringently maintained and the streets were patrolled throughout all the hours of the
night.
The following general remarks by Mr, DeSouza are interesting :—
"I do not think it can be disputed that the Camp has amply justified its existence. No
case of plague has been allowed to escape north of Anand, and Gujrát has been kept free
from infection. Seventy-eight cases of plague were intercepted. The number is consider-
able, but compared with the number of persons detained may seem disproportionate. It
would be wrong, however, to measure the value of quarantine Camps by the number of cases
intercepted. They perform even a more important function by deterring the sick and prob-
ably infected from travelling. Besides, it is by no means unlikely that a ten days' sojourn
amidst the healthy surroundings of a Camp arrests the development of the disease in
persons arriving infected. But still the fact remains that nearly sixty thousand persons
had to be detained for the discovery of seventy-eight cases. The question naturally arises,
whether the same results would not have been attained by subjecting a smaller number
to detention."
Máhi Cordon.
The Máhi River, running from east to west, effectively divides the Kaira District
from Reva Kantha, Panch Mahals, Baroda Territory and
Broach. When plague established itself in Baroda Territory,
advantage was taken of the natural defence afforded by the river to prevent infection from
crossing it and invading Kaira, as in that case the difficulty of stopping its spread to
Ahmedabad, and thence to Northern India, would be greatly increased. With this view,
as also with that of preventing evasion of the Anand Camp, Mr. F. S. P. Lely, I. C. S.,
Commissioner, Northern Division, organized a Cordon on the river for a length of 60 miles.
To make it successful, the co-operation of the Baroda Authorities, a portion of whose
territory lay beyond the river, and of the Cambay Darbár, was solicited and readily secured.
The arrangements made were briefly as follows :—
(1) Nakas were posted at every ford and crossing, and all the ferries were stopped.
(2) Supervisors were put in charge of every three or four Nakas, with orders to visit
them constantly by day and night.
(3) The Mamlatdars were directed to inspect the Nakas as frequently as possible, and
other Government officials, such as Abkari Inspectors and Police Officers,
were required to look up the Nakas while making their ordinary rounds.
(4) Observation Camps were established at Wasad, Dakor, Tbasra and Sevalia.