'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎25v] (55/470)

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It is satisfactory to record that from their inception the Courts in the Division
have earned the approval of all concerned and the Judges have given valuable
assistance to Political Officers.
A statement is attached (Appendix No. 5) showing cases dealt with during
period under review.
Proof of the popularity of the Courts and of the undoubted need of regular
institutions is evinced by the fact that the number of suits increases month by
month.
6 . Education.— (a) Owing to dearth in teachers and unwillingness to come as
far from Baghdad, Mandali has been without a school until December. The long
felt want has now been provided for and two teachers were supplied by the Board
of Education.
About 30 children are attending the school at present.
Qazani, a town of 3,000 inhabitants, about 8 miles from Mandali, is also asking
for a school.
It has been frequently pointed out to the people that lack of teachers is due
to the lack of initiative on their part in failing to persuade any candidates to go
from the district to Baghdad to take a Teachers’ Course under the Department of
Education. Uncertainty of war conditions has probably accounted for the failure.
(b) Khaniqin up to the present has had no Government School owing to lack
of teachers. There are two mullas in the town, to whom parents generally send
their children. Arrangements are being made to open a school under Government
supervision.
(c) Qizil Robat .—-In March an attempt was made to open a school at Qizil
Robat and a schoolmaster was sent from Baghdad. Up to the present it has not
been successful, and the school is now closed until a suitable schoolmaster can be
found.
7. Medical and Sanitation : Khaniqin. — A Civil Dispensary was opened in
April.
The crowds of starving people who filled the town at the beginning of the year
resulted in a few cases of typhus, but typhoid and starvation combined was the
cause of many of the deaths.
In response to an appeal for extra medical assistance, an Armenian Medical
Officer was sent early in May, and the 14th Division provided medicine and an
outfit for a 25-bed hospital.
Up till then the medical work had been carried out by military medical officers
in addition to their ordinary duties.
In May the number of cases of typhus began to increase seriously and measures
were taken to clean, shave, and reclothe all the vagrants in the Poorhouse. Two
more Armenian Medical Officers and a Pharmacist were sent to Khaniqin, and the
epidemic of typhus was stamped out. The hospital was then in full swing, in
addition to the dispensary.
At the end of May a case of cholera occurred.
During the next three months the state of affairs was normal until August, when
the Jelu refugees began to pour in. A temporary hospital was opened for'them.
With the exception of a few cases of small-pox, most of the illness was due to
dysentery.
In October a few cases of cholera occurred, but the disease did not become
epidemic.
In December the Civil Hospital was moved to more commodious quarters.
The average number of patients in hospital in normal times is about 15 and
the number of persons attending the dispensary daily above 20 .
VVith the exception of the Jelu women, the persons entering the hospitals are
all male.
_ Now that peace conditions prevail it is much to be hoped that a British Medical
Officer will be made permanently available for the Division. There is ample room
for a medical officer with Asst. Surgeons at Khaniqin, Mandali and Qizil Robat
Work would increase m proportion to the reputation established bv any doctor who
arrived. The present position in the whole Division, although unavoidable on
account of dearth of doctors, is not such as to attract patients to the hospitals and
dispensaries. 1