22
The plague was decidedly not gaining ground, the arrangements for dealing
with it were gradually being made more stringent, and, beyond pushing the
removal of the sick fco hospital, no change was required.
It should be mentioned that at this time the private hospitals were begin-
ning to fill, and that Seth Vishindas, a wealthy and philanthropic citizen, quite
fearless of plague, was constructing what developed into the best private hospi-
tal in Karachi, where he generously received Hindus and Muhammadans alike,
having separate wards for each, and supplying medical and other attendance,
food and medicine at his own expense. The removal of the sick difficulty,
which had been such a mountain in the way of effective remedies, bad thus
quietly disappeared, and, as the Collector remarks, a few days later the
sick were being removed to hospital as a matter of course.
On the 20th March, His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, Lord
Sandhurst, G. C. I. E., arrived, and, after inspecting all that had been done,
appointed a Plague Committee for Karachi, consisting of Brigadier-General
T. A. Cooke, Commanding Sind District, as President, with the Collector, the
Deputy Sanitary Commissioner and Mr. Strachan, of the Municipality, as Mem-
bers, though the last named was added a day or two later. This measure was like
the relief of a beleaguered garrison. Not only did His Excellency's approval
encourage every one, but the General immediately threw himself heart and soul
into the work, brought to bear the whole strength of the Military, with unli-
mited officers and men and habits of rigid discipline on the existing material,
and soon had the population under thorough control. In their first sittings,
the Committee had the advantage of the counsel of Surgeon-Major Reade,
one of the Joint Presidency Plague Commissioners. He suggested the bathing
and disinfecting sheds for arrivals at each camp, the disinfection of all
bundles and baggage brought to the camp, and similar arrangements on leaving.
These suggestions were most carefully elaborated by the Plague Committee.
Disinfection of the person and personal clothing had previous to this been in
the background, the getting of sick and healthy out of the infected houses,
and the disinfecting and cleaning of those houses absorbing all the time of
the workers. Now immediate transference to hospital and camp was working
smoothly, and it was possible to perfect that control of the camps to which
Surgeon-General Cleghorn had invited attention. This thorough and painstak-
ing disinfection of the clothing and bathing of the persons in tubs with a mix-
ture of Jeyes' fluid in the water soon extended up-country with marked effect.
On the 25th March, the first Military search party went out. It was
very carefully organised and admirably managed, the Civil officers accompanied
by Medical men taking charge of each party. The General had carefully in-
structed the men, and from that day forward there was no need for the slightest
apprehension, either that the soldiers would not deal tenderly, or that the
people would not welcome them. Not a complaint was ever preferred.
Mr. Dodgson responded to the invitation to meet His Excellency, and
returned to Hyderabad versed in all that was being done and proposed to be
done in Karachi. Surgeon-Major Baker, now on special duty, on the 28th
March presented a report of the state of affairs in Sukkur, which showed, as he
expressed it, that the local organization was not abreast of the disease. The
Plague Committee being now well established at Karachi, it was possible to
spare an officer, and Mr. Cadell was despatched that evening to Sukkur to the
assistance of the Collector. Surgeon-Lieutenant A. F. W. King, I. M. S., had
already taken charge of the two Plague Hospitals at Sukkur. Mr. Lucas,
I. C. S., was also placed under the orders of the Collector of Shikárpur, and
with Surgeon-Major Baker started for Sukkur on the 29th. Surgeon-Major
Baker had reported that the chief difficulty in getting anything clone at Sukkur
was the general panic and flight. Accordingly, 200 to 300 trained Karachi
coolies and masons, under Supervisors, were sent up by train by the ready aid of
Mr. Giles and his indefatigable Mukhtya'rkar, Khan Bahadur Êramroz, together
with a supply of per-chloride of mercury. The delay in sending Mr. Lucas to
Sukkur had after all not been lost time. Mr. Lucas had spent some time in
Karachi, had seen the soldiers at work, and the disinfection machinery well
started, and was thoroughly competent to introduce the system cut and dry.