242                                    [CHAP.  VIII.

Month.
Cases.
Deaths.
October
1896
4
4
November
,,
25
21
January
1897
8
8
February
,,
28
15
March
,,
15
15
April
,,
6
6
Total    

86*
69*
Karád Town.
Population-12,086.
Second Epidemic (June 1897-June 1898).-Alike in its  inception   and   progress,   the
history of plague in Karád Town is a startling one. Plague
was not declared existent until the 7th July 1897 ; and in view
of that fact, the following statement made by Captain J. B.
Smith, I. M. S., is not without significance :-
"Plague was reported by Mr. F. B. Young, Superintendent of Land Records and
Agriculture, C. D., as existing in the end of January, or beginning of February 1897, in the
following places in the Karád Táluka :-

Karád
1
1
Khadshi
2
2
Wahagaon
1
1
Chore
7
7
Belavada
2
2
Páli
4
4
" Mr. Young's tour in the Sátára District lasted from 10th January to the 17th
February 1897. He did not see any of the cases himself, and could not state if there were
any buboes."
Nevertheless, subsequent events, coupled with the steady rise in the total mortality,
appear to justify the view that this was really the beginning of plague in Karád ; and that,
though it took some time to fully develop, it was undoubtedly active in March and April
1897, doing its deadly work long before it was recognized. The average mortality during
the previous five years appears in striking contrast with the actual mortality during 1897 :-



Actual, 1897.
Average.
REMARKS.
March
...
...
30
21

April
...
...
40
21

May
···
...
108
29 
For four years only (ex-
cluding 1894, when was there was cholera).
June
...
...
52
25 

July
...
...
213
24

The heavy rise in the mortality could not but give rise to alarm. People began to
suspect that a disease which did not simultaneously break out in several parts of the town,
but attacked one locality after another, and which claimed so many victims, was no ordinary
one. Rumours soon arose that it was plague : and in May a resident of Karád wrote to
* Mostly indigenous.