66
ture from the aforesaid pórt. If the vessel arrives before the expiry of such eight clays, she
shall remain at the anchorage fixed for such vessels until such eight days have elapsed, subject
to the conditions laid clown in Rules 2, 5, and 6, after which, if no plagile case is discovered on
board, she shall obtain pratique. If plague is developed or has been developed before her
arrival, all the above quarantine rules shall apply to her, her crew, passengers and cargo.
6. The salient features of these rules are that the inspection was to be
carried out by plague authorities, who might or might not be medical men ; that
vessels even with a case of simple fever on board could be quarantined for four
days ; and that all vessels from ports which had been declared to be infected were
put into quarantine, whether or not a case of pingue had occurred on board, pro-
vided that they had not been eight days out from the infected port. To avoid
the inconvenience to the public which the interruption of the coasting traffic would
have caused, ferry steamers were excluded from the operation of the rules.
7. It may here be mentioned that on the 6th March 1897 the Government
of India prohibited emigration by the following Notification :
"In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 2, sub-section (1), of the Epidemic
Diseases Act (III of 1897), the Governor : General in Council is pleased tu direct that
no person who has since the 1st January 1897 resided, or been in, or passed through, the
territories administered by the Governor of Bombay in Council or the State of Baroda.
or the territories of any Native Prince or State under the suzerainty of Her Majesty
exercised through the Governor of Bombay in Council, shall, until further orders, be
permitted to embark on any ship at any port in British India with the object of proceeding
as an emigrant or as a labourer to any port out of British India."
SECTION 4.
The City of Bombay.
1. The report dated the 28th January 1897 by the Municipal Commissioner,
Bombay, on the scheme suggested in the report compiled under the direction
of Dr. Cleghorn, which has been referred to in Section 2 of Chapter II,
was carefully considered by Government. A reply was sent by telegram to the
Government of India on [February 10th, to the effect that wholesale segregation
on the lines suggested was deemed impracticable. Vigorous action was being
taken under Section 426 of the Municipal Act for the demolition of huts, and
further measures of the most drastic kind were in contemplation under regula-
tions under the new Act which had just been passed. The telegram continued—
"Government do not doubt that the building regulations need strengthening, and
are making provision to strengthen them both temporarily by regulations under the
Epidemic Diseases Act, and hereafter permanently by amending Bombay Act III
of 1888. One Deputy Sanitary Commissioner is in Bombay, one in Tháná Dis-
trict, one in Karachi ; only two are left for ordinary and famine work and for
repressing extension of plague in Mofussil. Pour Doctors who were through
plague in Hongkong are coming out. Two extra Commissioned Medical Officers
are assisting the Health Officer, another assisting at European Hospital, another
assisting Port Health Officer, others will be employed as they arrive."
2. A detailed reply to the Government of India on the subject of evacua-
tion of the infected houses was despatched on the 12th February. In this the
facts and arguments adduced by the Municipal Commissioner were communi-
cated to the Government of India, and the conclusions to which they pointed
were enforced by the following remarks on the situation of affairs generally :
"Great as would be the evil to Bombay, this is not the only unhappy
result that would attend such a feeling of panic. The exodus has already
necessitated precautionary measures against arrivals from Bombay in every
part of the Presidency ; it has led to the plague becoming endemic in Poona
and in parts of the Thána District ; it has resulted in overcrowding by re-
fugees from Bombay of many cities and towns, and it has made demands on
the number of qualified medical practitioners available to Government that
can with difficulty be met. Every addition to the number of refugees adds
to the possibility of spreading the disease and to the difficulty of dealing with
it should it break out.