New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-17
GUNGA DIN'S FAILING.
HE IS FAITHFUL, BUT HIS WATER
BOTTLE IS DIRTY AND BREEDS
CHOLERA.
From The Hospital.

From The Hospital.
The principles of hygiene are no doubt tho
same whether In the East or In the West. but
the details and the character OF the difficulties
to be overcome differ greatly according to the
country, and especially according te the people
with whom we have to deal This Is strikingly
brought home to us by the fact that only now
are attempting In the East to deal with
matter which, to Western views would seem
to touch the very foundations OF sanitary SCI
ence. namely the old and worldwide practice
OF carrying water In skins The problem Of
water supply In the West hinges principally
on the purity Of the source from which the
water Is derived, and we are apt 70 take for
granted that when we once have got the water
its distribution Is mere matter Of taps and
pipes In India. however. It 10 otherwise. for
there they are only Just beginning TO escape
from ancient methods Even where pipe water
has been laid on by municipalities II is often
carried to the houses In mussacks-the old
leathern bottles which were In use before his
tory began-so that the chances Of pollution
those arising from impurity Of source.
Ir somo Of the stations In india the Govern
ment Is getting rid Of this old dirty method,
80 far as the troops are concerned. By laying
pipes into the Kitchens In the cantonments, and
we may fairly hope that this measure win have
the effect OF lessening the typhoid fever which
Is such curse to our troops In India We
must not. however. be too sanguine for the
habits Of the natives are such as sometimes
to defy the efforts Of the sanitarian. Still the
native does after all tend to do what comes
the easiest. and II the water Is brought actually
into the kitchen pipes. 1t Is to be presumed that
he will use H. although tho average sweeper
will generally somehow find way for defllins
even the purest and the c!eanest thingA In
regard to mussacks. and their Influence Ia
spreading disease readers will remember
the observations made few years ago by Mr..
Hankn as 10 their liability to become infected
with cholera bacllL. and to 60 on imparting
their Infection to successive charges Of water,
The bheestle. although employed for the
special purpose Of bringing water from a re-
rutedly pure source. will never carry Il further
that he can help. and thus II happens that
unless he Is well looked after he will now and
again ill his mussack at the nearest tank how
ever polluted II may be. and once tho mussack
Is infected, and the bacill have taken root In
its Shiny interior. It will infect all the water
which is put into It, however pure the source
may be from which 1t comes Hence the elim-
inaton Of the mussack IS a great step toward
the prevention Of the wa'cr-borne diseases from
which India suffers. Again. however. We say
we must not be too sanguine for It Is not the
museack itself that does the harm. but the
native VINO misuses II, and the native Is always
stepped to the eyes In prejudice. and bad to
move along sanitary lines. The native cook
with his peculiarly dirty ways. Is responsible for
much. and the fact that the cleaning Of the
perhaps FOR more so that while the introduction
Of the pure tap-water into the kitchens Ii 1
great thing, the difficulties arising from native
hsbiis FL, remain In the article on Water
Practice OF Medicine the following remarld
appear in gcrd 10 cholera: "The phrase
water borne then as applied to cholera, does
not refer merely TO the Infection OF great water
supplies giving rise to vast epdemica but ha&
to do with cups and plates and cooking utensilA
and the water IN which they arc washed; wifi
salads and vegetables and the water they AZ
irrigated with In the garden and nnsed with "a
the kitchen: and with the personal cleanliness d
all who are concerned In the preparation. storing
and distribution o.. food CT drink. In this sense
nearly all cholera, at one part or another Of it,
course from man 20 man. Is water borne"
What applies 10 cholera applies equally 70
typhoid fever But when we use the term n
this Wild. sense see clearly that the role
u hygiene In regard 10 water supply far from
'nding n the tap. Is then only Just beginning,
The abolition OF the mu3sack would be a step
In the right direction. but even that Is still far
)n. while the education Of the native involves
, multitude Of steps. each Of which Is mor3
iIincult than the laying Of many pipes int
scores of kitchene