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the idea of "tainted air" is widely spread among the public and caused more
than one of our plague hospitals at the beginning of the epidemic to be pulled
to the ground by infuriated people who lived to leeward of them.
88. I saw among the convalescents in the plague hospitals three or four
people who had become deaf or dumb through plague; and I believe that simi-
lar instances have occurred in Bombay. As fas as my casual observation went
neither extreme youth nor extreme age conferred immunity ; but I presume that
the pathology of the epidemic may be left to the Civil Surgeon who is reporting
separately to the Surgeon-General.
D.—Measures taken. to prevent the transport of the plague about the District.
89. On the 5th March I issued a Maráthi circular to all Pátils (of which
a copy is attached) warning them to allow no strangers to enter their villages
without a previous quarantine, and instructing them how to treat plague cases
if they occurred. I have no doubt that this circular did much to prevent the
plague from getting into East Thána, for it is certain that a rigorous watch was
kept on strangers and that sick travellers were not allowed to enter the villages.
90. At Railway Stations the following staff was maintained to watch the
trains. On the G. I. P. there were at Kurla 4 Inspectors and peons, and at
Thána 3 Hospital Assistants and several peons. At Kalyán there was the pro-
vincial inspection, and for every station the Station Master was appointed a
plague authority to detain cases and hand them over to the Pátil. All Station
Masters on the B. B. & C. I. were similarly empowered and there were special
inspectors at the following places : Bháyndar (a Parsi ship's doctor), Bassein
(a private practitioner), Sophala (an inspector), and Boisar (an Inspector) ; and
at Pálghar there was the provincial examination. The inspectors at the various
stations managed to catch a few cases of plague; but only one Station Master
even seems to have found an opportunity of using his powers.
91. An attempt was made to isolate the whole island of Sálsette from the
rest of Thána ; and for this purpose all the exits were guarded by chaukis
at (1) Thána Bridge, (2) Kolshet Ferry, (3) Ghodbandar Perry, (4) Parshik
Perry, and (5) Belápur. These no doubt served their purpose in deterring
people from trying to fly by road or water ; but the plague was from the first
chiefly a railway traveller, and was carried by rail beyond Sálsette in both direc-
tions. In my opinion experience has demonstrated the insufficiency of any
measures of inspection except the "long inspections" of Kalyán and Pálghar,
and I trust that if the plague revives in Bombay, Government will order the long
inspections to be made at Bándra and Kurla. It is no objection to say that this
will interfere with the local passengers. They are precisely the class that
brought most of the plague into Thána, and if local trains cannot be stopped
altogether during an epidemic, everything should be done to discourage the
passengers by them, and so prevent the exodus that infected Sálsette and Bassein,
The railway companies should be made to pay the whole expense of these exami-
nations and should repay themselves by raising the prices of local tickets.
92. These same local passengers rendered quarantine impossible in the
Sálsette and Bassein Tálukas ; but measures of that nature were tried with
success in Máhim and other tálukas. In March, when plague began to get serious
in Kelva, intercommunication between that village and Máhim was forbidden
under Rule 29 of the Plague Rules published with Government Resolution
No. 1728—1201-P, dated the 29th March 1897, and the prohibition was easily
enforced by a chauki on the bridge which divides the two places. This prohibí
tion was cancelled on the 22nd May. On the 14th of April the villages of Tárápur
and Chinchni were cut off from all communication except under passes, with the
rest of the Máhim and Dáhánu Tálukas to which they respectively belong. A
copy of the Notification is attached. On May 6th, as plague had ceased at
Chinchni but continued at Tárápur, communication between the twin villages,
separated only by a bridge, was forbidden. These villages were thrown open to
one another and the rest of the world on the 24th May after the plague had
ceased in both. The orders were enforced with much difficulty by chaukis of
Musalmáns, passes being granted first by Mr. Leggatt as long as his camp was
there, and then by the respective Mámlatdárs. On April 14th, at the request of
the Máhim Municipality, quarantine, or rather observations for 9 days, was
imposed on all travellers entering the town except officials. A copy of the notice