ADMINISTRATION 207,
and are maintained by the Public Works department, but the cost of
46 miles is charged to Local funds. The remaining 326 miles are
unmetalled. Avenues of trees are maintained on 222 miles. The
principal routes comprise the branch of the grand trunk road from,
Fatehgarh which divides at Jalalabad, one line going to Bareilly and
one to Shahjahanpur city; the road from Bareilly through Tilhar and
Shahjahanpur to Sitapur and Lucknow ; and the road from Shahjahanpur
through the north of the District.
In a large part` of the District the effects of drought can be mitigated
as long as the cultivators are able to make temporary wells; but
elsewhere a failure of the rains is disastrous, and Famine:
Shahjahanpur has often suffered severely. The great
famine of 1783-4 did not press so heavily here as in the tracts south
of the Ganges. In z8o3-4, two years after cession, rain completely
failed for the autumn harvest. In 1825-6 drought again occurred,, but
hardly caused famine. The autumn rains failed in 1837-8, but a slight
fall in February saved the spring harvests. The famine of 186o-i was
severely felt throughout Rohilkhand, though Shahjahanpur escaped
more lightly than the contiguous District of Budaun. In 1868-9 the
period of pressure was severe, but only lasted for seven weeks. The
famine of 1877-8 was the worst since the commencement oŁ British
rule. A series of bad harvests had followed the previous scarcity
of 1868-9, and prices had risen owing to the demand for, grain in
Southern India. On August 17, 1877, the Collector reported `roaring
hot winds, and not a vestige of green anywhere.' The autumn harvest,
which provides the chief food-grains for the lower classes, was a
complete failure: Rain early in October enabled the sowings for the
raba or spring crop to be made, and advances were given for seed.
Relief works were opened in December; but the people refused to
come on them, and large numbers succumbed in the cold season. The
after-effects of the famine were severely felt when an epidemic of fever
broke out in 1879. The registered death-rate rose from 29•37 per
r,ooo in 1877 to 57-04 in 1878, and stood at 53•59 In 1879. In 1895
the rains ceased prematurely, and distress was felt in the north of the
District by May, 1896. - The monsoon of 1896 closed even earlier than
in 1895, and the sugar-cane and rice were seriously damaged, besides
the ordinary food-crops. Great use waa: made:, of rixer water,; so that
a fair spring harvest was secured, and -the: relief works opened were not
resorted to by any large number:
The Collector is usually assisted by a member of the Indian Civil
Service, and by four Deputy-Collectors recruited in Administration.
India. A tahsi-ldkr is stationed= at the head-quarters
of each tahsil. Two officers of the Opium department are posted to
this District. °
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