made by the Indians themselves for nursing and feeding the sufferers, chiefly through the agency of Mr. M. K. Gandhi and his friends."
These are the only official intimations made of the splendid work which was done officially during those terrible days.
Early on the morning of the 19th, the old Custom-house, near the gas-works, was provided by the Municipal Council as a temporary hospital, and the Indians were left to cleanse and fit it up as best they could. Some thirty men volunteered for the work, and the place was speedily made habitable, and the patients were installed. A nurse was then sent down from the Johannesburg Hospital, and Dr. Pakes was placed in charge. But out of twenty-five patients admitted on Saturday, only five were living on Sunday night. Subsequently the plague patients were conveyed to Rietfontein, Lazaretto, and a suspect camp, under Mr. Gandhi and Dr. Godfrey, was formed at Klipspruit.
In addition to the work of these gentlemen, invaluable help was rendered by Mr. L. W. Ritch, who has since become so well-known as Secretary of the South Africa British Indian Committee in London. He was, at that time, articled to Mr.
