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remaining available space being taken up with piles of clothes. "Happen-
ing to notice what was apparently a movement among the clothes, the
Justice farther investigated the matter and found, to his surprise, that an
old man (a dhobi) was concealed under the pile. On being removed and
examined, he was found to be in an advanced state of plague.
On another occasion a search-party visited a room occupied by a
whole family and found apparently nothing wrong ; on the usual enquiries
being made, all protested there had been no sickness in the place. The
Justice when leaving observed a chair in the corner of the room covered
with a cloth which had been thrown over it. On pulling the cloth aside,
an old woman was disclosed huddled up between the legs of the chair,
also in an advanced state of plague.
Other cases of concealment, such as persons being shut in boxes,
in lofts, and in privies, were constantly being brought to light, and even
corpses have been made to simulate life, to avoid the inevitable disinfec-
tion of the premises.
Whilst making these visitations every care was taken to respect
the customs and caste prejudices of the different communities ; before
examining the house of a Mahomedan, the rule was to request the
owner of the house to assemble the ladies of his family in a room apart,
where the Lady Doctor could examine them while the other members of
the party were carrying, out their inspection of the premises. A like
consideration was shown in regard to the religious prejudices and observ-
ances of all other castes and communities. This fact was soon generally
recognised and appreciated by the people and, as a result, a cheerful
and ready willingness to second the efforts of the searchers took the
place of the passive resistance met with during the earlier days.
On finding a sick person-a suspicious case-the Medical Officer
was called on to certify as to whether it was a case of plague or not ; if
diagnosed as plague, the ambulance was brought to the door of the
house and the stretcher to the room of the sick person if the width of the
doorway or the incline of the staircase permitted of this being done.
The friends and relatives of the patient were then consulted as to
the patient's wishes in regard to a hospital, and, if the person was a
Caste Hindoo or Mahomedan, he or she was invariably sent to the
hospital of the caste or sect.
The patient having been carefully placed on the ambulance
stretcher, it was lifted on to the ambulance and the vehicle sent off to
the hospital in charge of a military sepoy accompanied on some
occasions by two police sowars when the removal took place from a
crowded Mahomedan quarter.
This kind of inspection proceeded throughout the week.