Mortality.
Epidemics.
Medical.
officer.
Location and
movements.
195
PUNJAB FRONTIER FORCE.
X. Clothing. —During the summer the men wore khaki; for winter use they are excellently
provided with warm clothing; cloth uniform, poskteen, choga, warm waistcoat, and a quantity
of bedding being possessed by every man.
XI. Duty. — O r d i n a r y ; m e n a l s o e m p l o y e d i n b r i n g i n g i nb
h u s a
f r o m a d j o i n i n g v i l l a g e s f o r
winter use and in building huts. Not excessive, though fairly hard. Nights in bed 4 . 43 in 7.
XII. Exercise, &c. —Men do not get very much time for exercise beyond their work, though
occasionally some have taken part in games of hockey, rounders, and cricket at Quetta.
XIII. Marches. —The battery marched from Abbottabad to Quetta, vid Bugti, Dera, and
the Bolan pass, beginning the march on the 11th February and reaching its destination on the
27th April.
Hospital.—At Abbottabad the ward allotted the battery was ample. At Quetta, for
almost the whole of the time, the hospital accommodation was in tents, extra ones being
supplied to receive the greatly increased number of patients in August, September and October.
Now the men are in a hut, dry and comfortable.
XV. Sickness, mortalitiy, and invaliding. —Strength of the regiment
Present
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 159.76
Absent
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
5.78
Total
.
.
. 165.54
Clothing.
Duty.
Exercise, &c.
Marches.
Hospital.
Sickness,
mortality, and
invaliding.
STATION.
PERIOD.
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
OF
Daily
average
number of
sick.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis-
s i o n s .
Deaths
Daily
average
s i c k .
A d m i s - s i o n s . Death
s.
Abbottabad
.
.
. 1st Jan. 1877 10th Feb. 1877
157.7
29
...
13.04
18.39
...
8.26
On march .
.
. 11th Feb. „
26th April „
160.14
45
...
4.80
28.10
...
2.99
Quetta
.
.
.
. 27th April „
31st Dec.
„
161.33
581 ...
20.03
360.13 ...
12.14
Total
. . .
. . .
159.76
655 ...
16.05
409.98
...
10.04
Number of deaths in hospital, 0; out of hospital, 1 ; total
1; per cent, of total strength
.
.60
„
invalided .
.
.
.
.
5 ;
,,
„
.
3.02
„
sent on sick leave
.
.
.
.
.
.
1 ;
,,
„
.60
„
of days spent in hospital, 5,893; per admission .
8.99 ; per man of total strength
.
35.59
„ „
on sick leave, 133 ; per man
133;
„
„
.80
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
.
36.40
XVI. Principal causes of sickness. —The most frequent cause of disease was malaria; no
less than 49 per cent. of the admissions into hospital being for malarial fever. Dysentery and
diarrhœa were very prevalent, causing 19.38 per cent. of the admissions. The existing causes
of these diseases have not been traced, but very probably when properly housed these diseases
will be less frequent in Quetta than they have been during the period under report. Accidents
caused the next greatest amount of admissions, but these I do not consider as having been
excessive for a mountain battery.
XVII. Mortality.—None in hospital. One man died while on command, and he was
accidentally drowned.
XVIII. Epidemics.—None.
1st Regiment, Punjab Infantry—Quetta .
Principal
causes of
sickness .
I. Medical officer. —Surgeon-Major J. Kelly held medical charge through-
out the year.
II. Location and movements.
—
The regiment was quartered at
Dera Ghazi Khan from 1st Janu-
ary to 21st March, en route to
Quetta from 21st March to 26th
April, and at Quetta for the rest
of the year. The detachments are
shown at paragraph XV.
IV. Meteorology and climate.—
The cold weather set in early in
November, when rain fell for near-
ly three weeks. In December and
January snow fell on four occa-
sions, but lay neither deep nor
long. After the middle of Janu-
ary the cold was never extreme.
Of the cold in winter, it may be
YEAR.
STATION.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH.
Admissions. Deaths. Daily sick.
1872
. Edwardesabad, Decem-
ber 1871.
203.1
2.
4.5
1873
.
Ditto
.
.
181.4
3.1
5.
1874
.
Ditto
.
.
167.6
1.2
4.9
1875
. Dera Ghazi Khan Janu-
ary 1875.
204.38
5.24
4.93
1876
Ditto
.
165.37
2.06
4.01
Average
.
184.37
2.72
4.66
1877
. Quetta
.
.
253.36
2.20
6.99
Meteorology
and climate.