202 [CHAP. VIII.
The wards were distributed originally as follows : -
1. Town wards ...
{1. Mr. Weir, I.O.S.
{2. Mr. Pratt, I.C.S.
{3. Mr. Kennedy.
{4. Lieutenant Bruce, I.S.C.
2. Wards outside the Town ...
{5. Mr. Thatcher, District Superintendent of Police
{6. Lieutenant Wake.
Mr. Thatcher was put in charge of the small railway village Tiregaon and of the
bungalow and servants' quarters near the station. Lieutenant Wake took over the Motibg
Camp and the now empty Sadar Bazr and Modikhna. On the arrival of Lieutenants Kidd,
Henderson and Cumming the number of wards was increased to 9, 7 being in the town.
Towards the end of November, 30 men of the Durham Light Infantry also arrived for plague
duty. They assisted the Ward Superintendents in searching, and Lieutenant Wake in the
systematic disinfection of the town. From the end of November, too, the operations in the
town consisted chiefly of the ward system and compulsory evacuation of badly-infected
quarters. On the 12th December, Captain F. H. Dominichetti, 28th Madras Infantry,
arrived and took over charge of Mr. Pratt's ward, the latter taking over the superintendence
of the Health Camp. During the week ending. 26th November 1897 Mr. A. Wingate, the
Plague Commissioner, visited Sholpur and inspected the arrangements.
The epidemic reached its climax during the fortnight ending 10th December 1897,
during which time 813 deaths were registered from plague; the maximum for one day
being 98 deaths. The Collector's remarks on this period are striking :-
"These figures, terrible as they are in themselves, fail to convey an adequate idea of
the appalling severity of the epidemic, unless it is remembered that the population had been
reduced by flight by at least one-half of its normal numbers. After the 10th of Decem-
ber, the plague rapidly declined, chiefly owing to the fact that the evacuation of the city was
more and more vigorously pushed on throughout December, until by the end of the month
the city had been completely emptied and the whole population were camped out either
in their own fields and gardens in the environs or the city or were lodged in the large
organised health camps into which the poorer classes were drafted from their homes in the
city. The largest of these health camps was on the open plain near the Fort and contained
nearly 10,000 people. Being built almost entirely of gunny bags stretched over bamboos,
it was named by Mr. Morison 'Pothepur' or 'Gunny Bag Town."'
Evacuation may then be taken as begun on 3rd December 1897 and complete from
31st December 1897. The following figures bear eloquent testimony to its efficacy:-

Week ending
INDIGENOUS PLAGUE.
REMARKS.
Cases.
Deaths.
5th November
1897
146
117
12th "
"
143
118
No evacuation.
19th "
"
221
182
26th "
"
363
297
3rd December
"
502
377
Evacuation of infected
quarters only.
10th "
"
501
436
17th "
"
300
246
Evacuation of the whole
town began and proceed-
ing rapidly.
24th "
"
134
49
31st "
"
53
36
7th January
1898
26
27
Evacuation complete,
14th "
"
9
9
21st "
"
7
11
28th "
"
5
8