Message from the newspaper "Turkestan Vedomosti". Document No. 19 (December 1895)

MESSAGE FROM THE NEWSPAPER "TURKESTAN VEDOMOSTI" ABOUT THE SITUATION IN THE CITY OF PISHPEK AFTER THE OPENING OF PUBLIC CITY ADMINISTRATION

Tashkent, December 21, 1895

With the opening of public city administration (July 21 of this year), its activities have gradually begun to manifest. Thus, the issue regarding the establishment of a male city school and the improvement of the reception room at the district pharmacy has been considered. The fact is that the building previously used for the school has fallen into disrepair and has become cramped due to the annually increasing number of students; therefore, last year classes were held in a rented house, but that was also small. Now the school is located in a public building, to which an extension is planned for the coming year. Additionally, it is proposed to petition for the transformation of the school from a 2-class to a 3-class institution, which is indeed necessary.

The reception room and the district pharmacy were located in a rented house until the end of the current year, occupying only two rooms. Now, a space has been rented with seven rooms, where both paramedics, the city and district ones, live, allowing for relatively quick access to medication at any time. One of the rooms is used for storing and preparing medicines, another for performing operations, the third is for outpatient patients, and the fourth is adapted for seriously ill patients; the latter has three iron beds, so there is now a place for seriously ill patients to receive medical assistance; previously, these patients were sent to the local military hospital, if there were free beds, which was mostly not the case.

For managing the pharmacy and treating city residents, the district doctor receives a special, albeit modest, remuneration; in addition, the city covers the salary of the paramedic and provides a small reward to the veterinarian for inspecting meat and treating sick animals. The city has also increased the budget for purchasing medications. In short, a noticeable turn towards better conditions is evident. Questions were also raised about the establishment of wells and street lighting, but unfortunately, the first has been postponed indefinitely, and the second has been outright rejected, leaving us, the residents of Pishpek, without street lighting, which, it seems, is not even found in the most remote corners of our close neighbor, Turkestan. It is positively necessary to increase the number of wells. Currently, there are only two for the entire city. In winter, when the main irrigation canal freezes, residents often have to wait at the wells for half a day to fetch a few buckets of water. One can hope that next year the issue of wells will be raised again and resolved positively, especially since the city elder is advocating for the allocation of 2000 rubles for improving the irrigation of the city.

Turkestan Vedomosti. 1895. No. 93. December 21 (January 2)

Reports of the Chief of the Pishpek District. Documents No. 15 - No. 18