INFLUENZA PATIENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 83, 9 April 1929, Page 9

INFLUENZA PATIENTS.

CONDITIONS ON MAUI POMARE

THE CREW'S QUARTERS.

PREMIER PROMISES INQUIRY,

ENGINEER GOES DOWN

"The quarters in which the crew of the Maui Pomare live when on that ve.-«el have been described to me as iimply appalling, and I have wired to the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, asking that an independent inquiry be made into the matter.'' This statement was made to a pressman to-day bv Mr. W. Wallace, chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board. He added that a reply had come to hand from the Premier •taring that inquiry would be made immediately. Mr. Wallace said that, in view of the information which had been placed before him, he felt impelled to request that official investigations be made. When the grounds upon which the Prime Minister has been asked for an inquiry were submitted to a prominent shipping authority to-day he said that he would be surprised if the living quarters on the Maui Pomare were any worse than those which exist on most of re vessels trading in New Zealand. L tider the Board of Trade regulations," he added, "every vessel of over 300 tons is required to. have 120 cubic feet of air space and 15 square feet of floor space per man. Before the Maui Pomare left Dublin about a year and a half ago she would be required by the Board of Trade authorities to comply with these provisions, and on entering Ne\ Zealand waters the authorities here would see that the conditions were as required." "All the patients are doing fairlv well." was the reply of Dr. C. E. Maguire, medical superintendent of the Auckland Hospital, when approached for information concerning the cases at "Cintra." He said that three cases were more serious than the others, but on the whole the progress was satisfactory. "Influenza. in a mild form is all through -Auckland," Dr. Maguire added, "and we have had several cases in the main hospital. We have also one or two nurses down with a mild form of influenza." The latest development in connection with sickness arising from association with the Maui Pomare is that the chief engineer has been admitted to the emergency hospital from his home at Heme Bay, where he had been in residence •ince leaving the vessel.