21
ALLAHABAD DIVISION.
2nd Regiment Aatibe (Light) Infantry, Dinapore.
I. Medical Officers .—Surgeon A. B. Seaman from 1st January to 15th
April. Surgeon W. H.
Jameson, Royal Artillery,
and Surgeon Horace Yeld
from 15th April to 7th
May. Surgeon W. E. Grif
- f i t h f r o m 7 t h M a y t o 1 5 t h
October. Surgeon A. B.
Seaman from 15th October
until the end of the year.
The last named officer sup
- p l i e s t h e s a n i t a r y r e p o r t .
II. Location and movements.—
The entire regiment was sta
-
tioned at Dinapore until the
20th October, when three companies left by rail for Fyzabad in course of relief. The head
-quarters and remaining five companies marched to Benares en route for Fyzabad oil the 10th
December. They remained at Benares for a few days during the visit of the Prince of Wales
to that city, and continuing the march on the 8th January arrived at their destination on the
19th January 1876. Nothing particularly noteworthy occurred on the march, and there was
throughout a satisfactory immunity from serious sickness. No great inconvenience was ex
-perienced, and the commissariat arrangements at the different encamping grounds were on the
whole good. The articles of diet were frequently examined and were generally found to be
pure and wholesome. A sufficient supply of straw for bedding was always provided and the
sepoys' tents were thoroughly good and sound. The sick were carried comfortably enough on
mattrasses in country carts, and their discomforts were reduced to a minimum. The hospital
carts and tents always came up quickly; often, indeed, keeping up with the regiment, and only
on one occasion, namely, on crossing the Sone river at Koelwar, was difficulty or delay expe
- r i e n c e d . T o t h e m e n t h e m a r c h w a s a s o u r c e o f e n j o y m e n t r a t h e r t h a n n o t . T h e r e g i m e n t i s
composed almost entirely of high-caste Hindoos, and the march, in taking them for a few days
to the city of Benares and then on to Fyzabad near the sacred Adjoodya, became a pleasure
rather than a trouble.
IV. Meteorology .—The year 1874 at Dinapore was not characterised by any unusual fea
-ture except that the rains began much earlier than usual. The hot season was not a very
severe one and it rained for five or six days during the month of May. The rains, as is gen
-erally the case in Dinapore, were protracted; they lasted off and on from the 3rd of May to
the 25th of September, and nearly three inches of rain fell so early as May. Altogether, nearly
forty inches of rain fell during the year, almost exactly the same as the rainfall of the pre
-vious year.
Year.
Station.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH.
Admissions. Deaths. Daily sick.
1870 . . . Jalpaiguri, Feb. 1870 . . .
68.5
1.8
4.3
1871 . . .
Ditto, ditto . . .
108
1.7
4.3
1872 . . . Dinapore, March 1872 . . .
91.7
2.4
2.8
1873 . . . Ditto, ditto . . .
54.7
.4
2.2
1874 . . .
Ditto, ditto . . .
75.9
.5
3.4
Average . . .
79.7
1.3
3.4
1875 . . . Dinapore . . .
64.38
.20
2.90
Medical
Officers.
Location and
movements.
Commissariat
arrangements.
Meteorology.
V. Lines, barracks or huts .—The lines are reported on as having been
well looked after as to their general neatness and sanitary condition. The huts,
as mentioned in last year's report (although they will compare favorably with
those of other native regiments) are too small.
VI. Drainage.—The drainage of the lines is said to be satisfactory, but
that of the station generally is imperfect and inefficient, as, when the river rises,
the drains and water-courses are choked by the back-water. By this means in
1874 the station was literally swamped, but in 1875 there was much less
inconvenience. The medical officer adds that, situated as Dinapore is, it is
almost impossible to solve the drainage difficulty which invariably occurs at the
height of the rains.
Lines, bar
-racks or huts.
Drainage.
VII. Latrines.—The " trench system" of latrine is still in use, and is re
-ported to have worked successfully except during the rains, at which time it al
-ways fails in Dinapore owing to the want of dry ground on which to erect the
latrines. The trench latrines cannot on this account be then used, and the men
have to go long distances into the surrounding country. The "dry-earth"
system has been carefully carried out in the hospital latrine, and the medical
officer reports that on the occasions of his inspections, he found it clean and free
from any unpleasant odour.
The water-supply is said to be abundant, but the quality of the fluid
varies, as in some wells it is found to be perfectly sweet and good, whilst in
others it is more or less brackish and can only be used for washing purposes.
The water on analysis was found to contain an excess of sulphates and a
good deal of lime. The sepoys occasionally used the river water, which was
considered to be fairly pure and wholesome and was softer than that of the wells.
Latrines.
Water-supply
Analysis.
F