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Durham County Record Office: the official archive service for County Durham and Darlington

Dealing with the Plague

Disinfecting station, 1897 (D/DLI 7/898/1(97))

What is happening here? Look at the tubs of water and the people in front them, what do they look like they are doing? Have a look at what is written underneath the photograph, can you read any of it?

This is a disinfecting station. The British doctors believed that the plague spread where people and houses were unclean. So The DLI set up stations like this to help the Indian people to get clean, so the plague would not spread. They also went into the Indian houses and cleaned them.

Did it work? Find out about the end of the Plague.