9
to you under this office letter No. 878, dated 19th February 1897. But this
order has subsequently been held by the High Court to be ultra vires, and a
conviction made thereunder quashed. It appeared therefore that the existing
law was inadequate for the purposes of dealing with the plague. Just at this
time (20th February), rules were published under Act III of 1897. In ac-
cordance with provisions of these rules, Plague Authorities were appointed for
the various affected localities. Nákas for the inspection of passengers were
fixed, isolation huts ordered to be erected, and all arrivals from Bombay to be
closely watched. The sanction of Government was obtained to the enlistment
of 110 extra police, of whom 22 were at once employed at Uran and 25 at Panvel.
Mr. Jardine, Assistant Collector of Salt Revenue, was appointed a Magistrate of
the Second Class. Insanitary house-property was condemned at Uran and at
Panvel in March, and arrangements made for house-to-house visitation. Two
Hospital Assistants were, at my urgent request, detailed by Government and
employed, one at Panvel and the other at Uran. A hospital shed was erected and a
retired Hospital Assistant engaged by the Municipality at Alíbág. But Govern-
ment were unable at this time to afford any more medical assistance. Inspected
premises were fumigated and disinfected, but the disinfection owing to the want
of efficient agency was, I fear, perfunctory and not effective. Segregation of
patients was not insisted on, and it would have been useless to insist on it,
because (i) there was not the physical force to compel compliance, nor (ii)
medical provision of fit hospitals for patients to be taken to. The attitude of
the population was antagonistic to all measures taken by authorities for suppres-
sion of the epidemic, passive resistance being most marked in the Mahomedan
community. The isolation of patients in their own houses by the removal of
other inmates was, however, carried out as the next best step to the removal of
the patient, the people concurring more readily in this. It must be mentioned
here that in the matter of segregation of patients the hamlet of Mora was for-
tunate inasmuch as the presence of Mr. Carrel, the Supervisor of Government
Distilleries, a gentleman who possesses great influence over the Kolis of that place,
enabled a system of segregation to be established with great success. But this
success was limited to the Kolis of Mora, and did not extend to the other parts
of the Petha of Uran. The municipalities, as such, were useless in plague work,
that of Uran at first being inclined to be obstructive also. Many of the members
at Alíbág and Panvel left the towns, and such business as could be done in the
name of the municipalities was thrown entirely on to the official members who
could not leave their places. Labour became very scarce owing to the. disper-
sion of the population, and difficulties increased in carrying on operations not-
withstanding the powers conferred by the Epidemic Diseases Act, owing to the
poverty of municipalities, the increased number of centres requiring attention,
and the paucity of hands in the district.
7. At the end of April, when the situation was at its worst, I was enabled,
by the care of Government, after a personal consultation with His Excellency
the Governor, to place myself in communication with the Bombay Plague Com-
mittee, and obtain for the district a share of the resources at the disposal of
that body. I had previously represented the urgent need of a Commissioned
Medical Officer in the district, to supervise the various centres of operations,
and received the promise that such an officer should be appointed. An allot-
ment of Rs. 15,000 was placed at my disposal by Government for expenditure
in plague operations, and another of Rs. 25,000 has since been granted (Govern-
ment Resolution No. 2273 dated 27th April 1897, and Government Resolution
No. 3910 dated 19th July 1897), the question of the source from which these
amounts are ultimately to be repaid being left for future consideration. Thus
equipped I was able to enter on the vigorous but expensive regime of the Bom-
bay Plague Committee. The Chairman and some of the members of that body
were good enough to visit, in company with me, Alíbág on the 27th and Panvel
on 29th of April and Uran on 3rd May. Revdanda, Cheul and Theronda also
were visited by Surgeon-Major H. P. Dimmock in my company. These places
were all thoroughly inspected, and the requirements of each estimated. It was
announced to the population that plague patients would no longer be allowed to
remain in their own houses, but would be moved into segregation hospitals.
At Alíbág, as has been mentioned, a hospital shed and a medical man had already