A SOLDIER'S DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 138, 11 June 1917, Page 3

A SOLDIER'S DEATH.

RESULT OF MENINGITIS. ADMISSION TO HOSPITAL REFUSED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Saturday. An inquest concerning tiie death of Jamee iicfiill, a returned soldier, who <lied at the Porirua Mental Hospital oa .lime 5, v.-ae held to-day, before Mr \V. G. Kiddell, coroner. Dr. Henry stated that on June 4, in response to a telephone message, he went to the Lambton Quay police station, and saw MeGill there. Hβ had symptoms of cerebral irritation, and was insensible to his surroundings, his appearance being that of a man who had the beginning of an acute disease. Witness was informed that McGill had been refused admission to the Wellington Hospital. Witness tried to ring up the hospital, but could not get into communication with a doctor. A housemaid employed at the Xew Commercial Hotel described MeG ill's condition, and suggested to a man named Yarrow, a friend of the deceased, that ho should get a doctor. Later two doctors arrived, and McGill was taken away in a hospital ambulance. Robert Yarrow, a returned soldier, who had etayed at the same hotel as deceased, said that he went with MeGill in the ambulance. The driver told him he had been instructed to take McGill to the Buckle Street Barracks, but witness persuaded him to go to the hospital. On their arrival there a doctor felt Mc-Giire pulse, and said: "Take him back again." The doctor also said that he thought the deceased had the appearance of a man who had been drinking. Witness then took McGill to the Alexandra Barracks, and thence to the Buckle Street police station, and back to the Lambton Quay police station. Dr. Cahill stated that he saw McGill on June 4 at the Xew Commercial Hotel in a state of extreme hysteria. It was a scandal and a shame to say that the un- ' fortunate man had been carried from one place to another. It was plainly a case for treatment at a mental hospital, not an ordinary hospital, as it would :have disturbed the other patiente. Dr. Milne, of the Wellington Hospital ; staff, said that when the ambulance ! arrived he asked Yarrow if McGill had ■been drinking. It wae quite possible, however, that McGill might have developed mania without drinking. Hifl condition did not appear to be different •from that of any epileptic form of mania, and witness did not think there i was any immediate danger. Witness I communicated with the officer in charge of the Alexandra Military Hospital, and was informed that there was no accommodation there. The Wellington Hospital iwas extremely overcrowded, co witness instructed the man to be taken to the Alexandra Barracks. The coroner remarked that the evidence of Dr. Hassell, of the Mental Hospital, showed that death was due to meningitis, but that was really a eeeondary matter. The point of the inquiry was why a gerson suffering from meningitis was not admitted to a public hospital, and why, when suffering from such disease, he did not receive immediate medical attention, though ho might have had better attention. However, it wae doubtful if ho would have recovered. The fact of his being sent to the hospital led the police to believe that he was an ordinary hospital patient, and the confueion that arose accounted for the delay. It was a case of wrong impressions right through. McGill was eventualkr taken to the Mental Hospital, and died shortly after admission. It was a case for more expeditious treatment, but he did not think that there had been any wilful mistake on the part of any person which had delayed the deceased's arrival at the Mental Hospital. The coroner returned a verdict that MeG-ill died on June 5 in the Porirua Mental Hospital from meningitis. ;