3
Many of the townspeople
leave Pálanpus.
11. As some of the influential Jain Baniyas and others still continued to
hamper the Darbár by their opposition, they were told
that the measures resolved on would he carried out
even if troops from Deesa were procured for the work.
They then desisted from openly thwarting the action of the Darbár. Many of
them left the town for the villages. In fact the town soon began to wear a
deserted appearance. It was a good thing to get rid of the people for the time
so that the work of cleaning and ventilation could proceed. Dr. Cleveland in
Ms first report described the streets as " narrow and tortuous, the houses dirty
and overcrowded, with practically no lighting and ventilation." Dr. Lowson
expressed his appreciation of the difficulty of dealing with people who habitu-
ally live amidst such insanitary surroundings. These remarks especially ap-
plied to the dwellings of the Jain Baniyas whose horror of taking life induces
them to abstain from ablutions and from interfering with the ordinary process
of nature.
Segregation of plague pa-
tients completed and the re-
sult of the treatment at the
several hospitals.
12. By the 7th or 8th of April all the arrangements for segregation were
in good working order. Dr. Cleveland had lus office
in the town and spent most of the day there. With
the exception of *pardáh women all patients were re-
moved by force if necessary, but happily this had sel-
dom to be resorted to. Some dhulies had been con-
structed for the convenience of the sick, but nothing would induce them to use
such suspicious contrivances. The belief that European doctors kill cholera
and plague patients to suppress the disease was freely entertained, and a seat in
a dhuli was regarded as certain death. " The doctor touched the temples or
the tongue of the plague patient and he was a dead man !! " This belief induced
the Jains in the ' Delila ' Hospital to refuse all medicines, and the consequence
was that nearly all their patients died. The best success was obtained in the
Shed Hospital outside the town, to which the patients of the lower classes were
taken. Here the medicines being taken, and the air and the sun having free
play, a good percentage of recoveries was made.
Precautions tauen at Pálan-
pur and by the Deesa and
Mount Aba authorities to
prevent the importation oí
plague into their societies
and the result.
13. In the meantime attention was being paid to the examination of
passengers leaving Palanpur by rail. Both the Agent
to the Governor General at Mount Abu and" the
General Officer at Deesa were equally solicitous that
the plague should not be communicated to their
societies by persons fleeing from Pálanpur, and it was
suggested that quarantine should be imposed on all
passengers booking from that place, This was a difficult tiling to carry out,
and it was a precaution which could be evaded by travellers proceeding up or
down the line to take their tickets. The matter went before the Government of
India, who decided that quarantine could not be enforced against Pálanpur, but
that every latitude should be given in the medical inspection to detain suspected
persons. This principle was adopted, and, at the same time, proclamation was
made by beat of drum setting forth the inconveniences to which travellers
would be exposed at the quarantines up the line, and dissuading the people from
travelling by rail. The result was so far successful, that no case occurred in
neighbouring territory of plague imported from Pálanpur. It is true that two
passengers affected were detained at Abu Road who said they booked from
Pálanpur, but one proved to be a subject of the Danta State, and the other, a
Brahman, could not be traced. It is certain that no Brahman family had any
member of it affected in Pálanpur.
Good result obtained by
strict quarantine at Deesa and
Aba Road Station. The
plague did not spread to vil-
lages.
14. At the same time it is only fair to say that a very strict quarantine
was imposed at the station for the Deesa Camp and
also at Aba Road Station, and that it was mainly
owing to these precautions that the success alluded to
was obtained. It is a curious fact that although many
people left the town and resided for a time in the vil-
lages of the State, no authenticated case of plague
occurred in any one of the villages.
* Many women of the Baniyas who do not observe " purdah " were removed,