186 [CHAP. VII.
as early as the first week of October 1896. Bndra, which is practically a suburb of
Bombay, was the first to suffer, and contributed the largest number of cases ; while
Bhiwndi, Kurla (another suburb), Bassein, Bhyndar, Thna, &c., followed it in rapid
succession. Until February 1897 measures for the suppression of the plague were in the
hands of the Municipalities, and for one reason or another proved inadequate. On the
passing of the Epidemic Diseases Act, however, " it was resolved," says Mr. A. C. Logan,
I. C. S., the then Collector, "that the segregation of the sick and of their families in
hospitals and quarantine camps should be rigorously enforced as essential to the suppres-
sion of the epidemic, and orders for the erection of the necessary hospitals and sheds in
each affected place were given. The affected area was partitioned out among the available
European officers : the Civil Surgeon took Thna, the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner
Kurla, the First Assistant took the infected villages of Slsette, and the Second Assistant
those of Bassein and Dhnu, while Mr. Gilbert gallantly volunteered to take Bndra,
and I myself took Bhiwndi to assist the District Deputy Collector in charge." The
activity displayed by these officers soon compensated for the inertness previously shown,
and, what with the removal of the sick to hospitals or isolated huts, the evacuation of
infected houses and their disinfection, the inspection of arrivals and departures, and general
improvement in sanitary conditions, plague declined everywhere in April, and, with the
exception of 2 or 3 places, disappeared everywhere by the end of May 1897.
The following statement compares the number of cases and deaths during the first
epidemic at the principal towns with other places in the rest of the District :-
Place.
Population.
Cases.
Deaths.
Percentage
of cases to
population.
Remarks.
Bndra...
...
18,759
937
797
4.99
Bassein
...
11,291
497
377
4.22
Kurla ...
...
11,469
495
430
4.31
59 towns and
villages at-
tacked in all.
Bhiwndi...
...
14,387
485
430
3.37
Chinchni...
...
4,785
329
266
6.85
Vesva....
...
4,747
216
205
4.55
Thna...
...
17,455
189
118
1.08
Rest of the
District
736,074
1,483
1,152
.20
Total
819,967
4,631
3,775
.56
It is noteworthy that of the 59 places which reported indigenous cases, 27 were in
Slsette, 22 in Bassein, 5 in Mhim, 3 in Bhiwndi, and 1 each in Kalyn and Dhnu
Tlukas -a striking instance of plague having adhered to the Railway line and practically
confined itself to the area traversed by the local trains from Bombay, the limits of which
are Virar and Kalyn.
Kalyn.
Population-11,685.
Second Epidemic (August 1897-June 1898).-During the month of June 1397 there
were only 53 cases and 33 deaths : in July the District was
quite free : but on the 13th of August Kalyn was stricken,
and this proved to be the beginning of a second epidemic in the
District. The first case at Kalyn was that of a Mahomedan merchant who frequently used
to travel to Bombay. The case was concealed for several days, but eventually brought to
light by private information. The disease then spread rapidly in the Mahomedan quarters