BLUNDERS OF MILITARY BOARDS.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13929, 10 July 1917, Page 2

BLUNDERS OF MILITARY BOARDS.

| GLARING EXAMPLES OP | • UNSOUND decisions;- ' ;i ' . ; ■ ■ ■ j ... J....*. ' a : - 1 DIRE EFFECTS OF MISTAKES. | SERIOUD'LGaa BUFFERED BY 1 UNFORTUNATES. | .. : I \ ficvornl glaring cxnni[)!o' of mis- ] takes committed by the medical exam- | iiier:> n.ppoiv.tert by tlie Defence DeI partmenthave been brought before the I public. \'W! during the last few months, I bii' (lie limine domestic and financial

"I hardship caused by the blunders has i not 'been more clearly demonstrnted | than in'the. ease recounted below,

j Sick Man's Hard Experiences, , This re-ci'vist was called up in the I Third Ballot, and at the time was suf- [ fering from an internal complaint I which had kept him in poor health' for i ten years, He duly presented himself jj for medical' examination. While be- | fore the doctor Hie reservist was aetually in pain, The examiners were inf. formed 'of the man's complaint; but, - we are assured he was told to "shut up and not talk," The medical examiners passed the man as perfectly fit, and the reservist was classed as first-cla 1 ?, being ordered to proceed to camp iu fourteen days, The man had 'o square up his affairs in this short period of time, Being a com-

parntive stranger to tlie district, the reservist felt lie- could not leave liis wife and child among strangers. He decided tn break up his home arid move nearer friends, and the soldier's dependants were brought up to North Otngo district, where the father of the reservist resides, Accordingly, the furniture was packed, except some larger articles which r-onld not he transported owing to Hie heavy cost of railage. All the articles soM were disposed of nt a loss, lint the reservist had no alternative, The reservist continued in an indifferent rtato of health, and the worry and anxiety of the removal made further inroads into the

f.'iol; man's physical condition, with >he remit that he was too il! to go into camp with a special draft on the tilth February. The man felt it was a physical impossibility for him to be in a lit sta.c of health to go into camp mi the day fixed by the military authorities, The reservist applied to the Defence Department at "Wellington for an extension of time, but received no reply, Application was also made to the District Defence Office, where the reservist was residing at the time lof his calling up, Here again no

notice was taken of his application, Eventually a fortnight's extension of j time was granted by the Oamara De--1 fence Office, which meant that .he r.?- , cervist was held back until the- draft leaving Oamarn on 21st February. ; The reservist, however, did not make any improvement in health, hut decided to put a brave face on his physical unfitness and joined the draft which wen:, forward on the 21st February. This unfortunate victim of official incompetence or carelessness arrived in ('■amp on 22nd February, and before he had been in camp three hoiin; he was

I taken before the doctor, who ordered him under medical observation. After being under obscrv.i'ion for some little while he was ordered into Trentham hospital. In all, this reservist was in eaii'p (r.HKIy in hospital) for six week-, and during all that time he did not put in half a day's drill. Finally this; unfortunate man was taken before the jredie.il Board at Trcn'ham, and after elimination was given "leave without pay until further orders," The reservis;. called at Trentham pay office to apply for a refund of some of (he expenses lie had been put to in being called up and sent into camp by the careless medical examiner?, and then discharged without compensation, The officer in attendance would allow the

reservist to apply only on a form pioviiled for the refund of a railway fare which the rcservis;. had paid for the journey from the town wliero lie resided at the moment of calling up and the j cen're where he joined the draft, The I liability for the other out-of-pocket ex- : peases would not be acknowledged. The j application for a refund of railway i fare was put in, but it. was not until 1 Jlay 20th, long after the reservist had I returned to his home Hint he received ' payment for out-of-pocket expenses incurred early in February, But a bigger shock was yet in store for tliis niifortitiia.e man. When lie reached his home lie found that his wife had not received one penny of her allowances during the time the reservist was in camp, and it was only after four applications had been made to the Defence Department that :he wife's allowance was paid. After a fifth letter the Defence Department paid the allowance for the reservist's child. The necessary certificates in respect of the allowances had been sent in by the wife of the reservist before the biter left camp, but it was not until over fix weeks after the reservist left camp that the wife received any money at all, During the time the reservist was in the camp hospital someone appropriated his military overcoa', which, of course, a sick man could not ;have been expected to guard very carefully. The military authorities made no allowance for the fact that the co.it was stolen during the reservist's sickness, and when he was handed his pay the amount was less the value ilie Department placed ' upon the overcoat. | On his return from camp the unfortunate soldier with "leave without pay until further orders" was too ill to work, But as soon ns he regained a little health he obtained a position, but the work was too heavy, and once .more the reservist was knocked up, After further attempts to. obtain em-, ployment the reservist was offered his | lid position, and had. ; ,no alternative) ;ut to accept, although it meant trans-

"rrln!^ otherv^ttu^of '■■ t'rnf ; . reservist could, not .'do. without, work, and as: hei would not let his wife and child starve,- and,, the; Defence ■.■Department'' seemed unsympathetic,,he had to face 1 the expenditure and worry over again and go-back, to his old -position,' while, over his head hangs the uncertainty that he may only just ge:, lack to his oal home and previous position and be called into camp in the combing out of ."the First Division. -However, the reservist had no alternative, He incurred the additional expense, an* is now back In liis old position, having had to face such heavy expenditure ■that. all.his sayings have gone and 1113 health is materially impaired by his experiences iu camp,

The reservist was forwarded a form of application for a pension, but he has a conscience, and does not ask for pensions. All. lie asks is Hint he be refunded the heavy expenditure he was put to by Hie Defence Department. He considers lie lias been unjustly treated, and being n man of limia'il resources could ill afford to meet'the heavy expenses incurred in answering the orders to go into camp. Before being called up, 'the reservist was earning £3 per week, but owing to the further impairment of his health he is. unable to .perform nil the tasks he eoukl before being called up,.and has to.be content, with £:! us per ;(veek-a loss due to decrease of physical efficiency directly due to ill health eaiised by his experiences with the military Authorities, This reservist has one brother in the fighting line, and lias los,', another in the great struggle, is not the clßsr- of man who seeks charity. All he asks is a fair deal, Ue -expects the State to make good (he out-of-pocket expenses incurred in obeying I lie ordcrsjif ilie Defence Department —a claim which would not have been incurred had Hie re?ervist not been a victim of the blunder of the medical examiners who are servants of the State, ami for whose mistakes the State must accept full responsibili;-, .

K + MORE BLUNDERS, A FARMER'S VIGOROUS PROTEST. A reliable correspondent, signing himself,. ''Fanner," writes to us as follows: "1 think it is high time yon showed up the action of the, Medical Board in parsing totally unfit men in Oamani. I will give yon two instances of what happened lately to men in my employment. One, a ploughman, was employed by me, and I know from his repeated illnesses that lie was unfit to go to Trenthem, He was a patient of an Oamaru medical practitioner, and had to be specially dieted here to keep him fit to do his work. He was called up in the April ballot, and wa3 duly examined by thr Medical Beard in Oamaru, who passed him as fit, to the surprise of the man himself and everybody who knew him. The man left my employ, and wsnt to Southland to see his people before proceeding to Trcntham, but returned here worse than ever with asthma. . I felt so certain that a great blunder had been made by the Medical Board in parsing this man as fit, that the local military 'authorities and his Oamaru doctor were communicated with, and the result was that he was ordered to appear again before the Medical Board in Oamaru, when he produced a certificate of unfitness from his own doctor. as soon a;; the board read the certificate they simply told the man to clear out, The Government were thus saved the expense of sending him to Trcntham and back,

"J engaged another ploughman, who told me he had already been rejected several times by different doctors. Well, he was called up in the May ballot. When his turn fame to be examined in Oamaru by the Medical Board on the 4th June he also passed as fit, but was I old he wculd have to go into the hospital in Trentham to have two 'hammer' toes doctored. He left for Trentham with the last contingent from Oaiirnni, but was at once rejected there, and sent back, as I fully expected he would be. lie got £7 from the military Authorities for the pleasure of the trip tc Wellington and bach. I contend that had the Medical Board properly examined these two men in the first instance, the loss of time to the men and myself would have been avoided, beaides the cost to the Governemtnt. The v,Tt weather lias kept, wheat sowing so late this season that every day lost by farmers by their men being needlessly idle when the weather is favourable, is very annoying to say the least of it."