TRENTHAM CAMP ENQUIRY.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15339, 24 July 1915, Page 12

TRENTHAM CAMP ENQUIRY.

+ YESTERDAYS EVIDENCE. (PRESS ASSOCIATION T-U-CRAM.) WELLINGTON, July 23. The Trentham Commission continued its sittings to-day. Colonel Purdy, continuing his evidence, said that on May 31st. Major Elliott, at his request, visited Berhamporc Hospital, and afterwards told him i that the place was overcrowded. On j hearing this, witness stopped patients from being sent to Berhampore. and. j had marquees erected at Trentham. By removing convalescents, the number 1 was brought down to uS by Juno 6th. In reply to Dr.' Martin, Colonel Purdy said that when the Trentham j Regiment and the 7th. Reinforcements wore mobilised, they brought in a very virulent form of 'influenza. Some of these cases were taken to Berhampore. Dr. Martin: Then you admit that serious eases went to Berhampore ? Colonel Purdy: Yes; but I know nothing of them. I wrote my report on June Sth. and it was afterwards. To his Honour: Mc knew of no case of a man removed to hospital on the point of doath, or carried direct to the morgue. Ono case from Berhampore was refused admission at Wellington Hospital as it was not considered sufficiently serious. The nurse ordered tho patient's removal, but when, witness saw tho man he agreed that it was necessary. The patient ultimately made a complete recovery. Ronald Smith Badger, "indent agent, of Christchurch. brother of .Archibald Lionel Smith Badger, who died in camp on July 4th ? said that his brother was m good health when ho enlisted. He went on sick parade on Juno 22nd. .and again on June 23rd, when he was sent to tho tea kiosk at the raceconrse. His temperature then was 101 to 101. According to a letter received by a friend, he wa.s lying on his mattress on tho floor. They could not shave nor wash unless they wero able to get up. Private Ray Glen, who was willing to give evidence, said 'hat some of them wero not washed for threo days. On June 25th they wero transferred from the kiosk to tho iockevs' quarters and sent back'next da v. 'There were only inexperienced orderlies attending tho men until June 27th. when three nurses arrived. He was informed that the men often had haif-cooked ground rice- for. dinner and tea. While they had high temperatures tho men wore medically examined onco a day. Ho had heard of- only two doctors—Drs Pnrdv and Ferguson—boin-r thero Colonel Purdy remarked "that he had not boon at the camp since. June 20th His Honour: Well, that dispose*, 'of that pomf There must be a mistake Walter Reynolds, bootmaker. Constable street, criticised tho material of which the hoots were made. The front of the boots was lined with cowhide, which was nothing mora than tanned chrome. Both the outo- front part of | the boot (chrome leather) and tho inner lining were very porous. Tlie leather that shoujd bo adopted was a waxed kip. Tlie boot made for the soldiers would not be bought by a farm hand for use in wot weather. Much of the sickness was undoubtedly due t_ wet feet. . Another point, witness continued, was that all boots were mado broad fitting, so that some . men had to put on as many as three pairs of socks to ill] tho boots out. When the. First Expeditionary Force was marching over Constable street hill, men would pnll out because of sore feet. Witness used to help them, and found that their trouble waß due to tho boots, which fitted tho men like a sack. Magnus Badger. Sergeant in tho Field Ambulance, said he joined on Juno 28th. and went on duty on Juno 29th a t the racecourso kiosk. Ho happened to find Privato Badger that day. and, knowing the sick man's brother slightly, though not related, he paid particular attention to him, washing him and giving him all caro_ possible. Ho visited him every two hours between Tuesday and' Thursday. Dr. Ferguson visited the patient seven or eight times. Sergeant Badger reported tlie difficulties in the way of delivering correspondence promptly to men in hospital. Sometimes thoy would havo 120 admissions and half as many discharges in a day. No officer could look after all this, and correspondence should havo been dealt with by the platoon corporals. In the afternoon, evidence was given by Dr. H. A. de Latour, of Wellington. In answer to Mr Skerrett's question as to his qualifications, he stated that" he was a duly qualified medical practitioner, a-member of tho Royal College of Surgeons, and an associate of King's College, London. He had had thirtyfive years' continuous service in tho New Zealand Defence Forces, from July 3rd, 1875, to June, 1911. He had been in charge of every camp hcld-in South Canterbury and Otago for thirty-three years. In answer to Mr Skerrett's enquiry as to what personal knowledge ho had of the Trentham camp. Dr. do Latour said ho went out in January last to visit one of his sons, who was in the Auckland Mounted Rifles. He -went thero again about a fortnight later, again in May. and examined the _amplo hutment, and once more about threo weeks ago, just before the camp broke up. Mr Skerrett: And you take a special interest in the conditions of Trentham camp ? Witness: Yes. from the start. When the war broke out I offered my services to the Minister of Defence, writing on August 3rd.. Mr Skerrett asked what was the general experience of sickness and mortality in standing encampments in recent years.,. Dr. de Latour said he could show how tho health of the Sorvicc had been improved as the result of the experimental camps he had mentioned. In Egypt in 1906 tho number of men constantly non-effective from sickness was 103.72 pe r 1000, and in 1909 it had fallen to 16.64, while tho mortality rate fell from 25.10 to 4.21. In Bermuda tho number of non-effectives through sickness was reduced from 22.32 to 9.52, and the deaths from 4.65 to .82 per 1000. , Tlie same benefit was seen in India and all the other stations. From returns published in ihe House of Commons in February last by Mr Tennant, it was shown that among the troops of the Expeditionary Force fighting at the front there were no cases of diphtheria and no cases of pneumonia in the first six months. The following statistics wore also given in the report:—Typhqid cases 625, deaths 49; scarlet fever cases 196. deaths 4; measles cases 175, deaths 2. Among the soldiers in training in thft United Kingdom diseases wore recorded as follows:—Typhoid cases 262, deaths 47; scarlet fever cases 1379, deaths 22; diphtheria cases 783, deaths 6; measles cases 10*15, deaths 65; dysentery cases 215. deaths 1; pneumonia cases 1508, deaths 351; cerebro-spinal meningitis cases 62, deaths 26. The period covered was from August Ist to February 15th. The chairman (Dr. Martin): There are returns showing that those are imperfect. Dr. de Latour: Tho only way you can get tho number of troops is from a paper read at the Royal Colonial Institute by Spencer Wilkinson, who said there were at least three million, if not four million, in training in the United Kingdom. The chairman: I don't see how we can gather any percentage of value from theso data. Mr Skerrett asked Dr. de Latour if he knew of any. reason why as satisfactory results could not have been produced in Now Zealand as in England. "Only the want of training of medical officers" was the reply. The doctor added that New Zealand was a more healthy country than England and less densely populated. Mr Skerrett: Would you, under J_ormal conditions, and the proper establish-

ment and regulation of the camp, have expected to find a number of preventable cases of disease occurring? Witness: They should not occur. Mr Skerrett: I am referring to the Trentham site. . . Witness: There is nothing in the srto to cause oreventablo disease. Mr Skerrett: Would you expect, under normal conditions and the proper constitution of tho camp, an epidemic r* Witness: No,, there should not have been under normal conditions. Under further examination, Dr. de Latour said that he considered the hutments quite wrong. A hut was a building to contain usually not moro than twelve men, and a hutment a building to contain not moro than twenty-four men. ; Mr Skerrett: What have you to say to the lod_ing of 100 men in a hutment divided into two? Witness: I think it is quito wjong. All modern barracks provide for brcakin»- the men up into small sections or 12"or 24 in one ward, which is to the benefit of discipline, management, and health. Any disease would spread very rapidly throneh, a number of men who were overcrowded. The Commisnon adjourned till tomorrow. ____.