HOME-COMING SOLDIERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3380, 25 December 1918, Page 16

HOME-COMING SOLDIERS

TWO DRAFTS ARRIVE. THE ULIMAROA AT WELLINGTON. A telegram from Base Records states that nvheh the troopship" with returning Draft No. 200 * arrived in Wellington Harbour on the 18th it flew the yellow flag, indicating the presence on board of infectious disease;' There are nearly 800 men aboard from various hospitals in England,, also a few \vho returned on duty furlough. The Rase Records Staff went out to the ship to oarry out the" demobilisation process) but owing to the fact that there were cases of influenza, rnumps, and one of malaria; the ship was placed in quarantine by the Public Health Department. This delay was quite unexpected, as a few days ago a wireless message from the ship stated that there were no infectious diseases aboard.. ; The outbreak of infectious disease on the troopship Ulimaroa, which arrived at Wellington on Wednesday afternoon, did not turn out to be very serious, as a telegram, received from Base Records on Thursday morning read:—"The vessel was released from quarantine in time to enable the Base jfcecords staff to commence the demobilisation process at 7 o'clock this morning. The men on board will go mostly to Wellingfan and Hawke's Bay. There are a few for the South Island andl Auckland, but the bulk of the Auckland men returning this month will arrive on December 24." A later message states:; —Of the returned 'draft comprising 791 officers and men, 780 jpassed fit and nave been given Christmas leave. They landed 1 this afternoon. The remainder comprised three hospital cases, three cot cases, and five other cases. ' Further information regarding infectious disease on the troopship shows that there were 14 cases of doubtful influenzas during the voyage. The men had been inoculated against influenza before embarkation. When the steamer arrived at Wellington there was only one mild case, it being doubtful if it was_ influenza, and it was certainly not of the virulent type recently experienced.

STATEMENT BY DR VALINTINE. WELLINGTON, December 19.

Speaking to-day with reference to the arrival of a troopship in the- stream at Wellington on Wednesday evening, and the action subsequently taken by the Department of Public Health with a view to minimising tho risk of any infectious disease being brought into tho dominion by an overseas vessel, Dr Valintine, Chief Health Officer, stated that they were not taking any risks which might lead to a recrudescence of the epidemic, and when the port health officer found that there was a suspicious oase of influenza on board he promptly reported the matter to the District Health Officer, and at the same time to himself (Dr Valintine). The result was that Drs Watt and Valintine both accompanied the port health officor out to witness the_ inspection of the vessel, and owing to the auspicious nature of the oase on board it was considered desirable to prevent the Defenco Department from carrying out its work until a definite deoision had been Iff rived at. To have allowed officers of the Defonco Department on board the vessel

1 under the circumstances might have been ittended by dire results. On arrival at the vessel, steps were immediately taken _ to have the temperatures of, all suspicious , cases on board registered, and in only one instance found by the port health officers ' was there reason to suppose that there was a case of influenza among the 800 soldiers on board, in addition to the ship's personnel. As soon' as the examination was completed the medical officers returned to town and arranged for the suspicious case to be admitted to the General Hospital for observation purposes. Instructions were then given for the vessel to be cleared, and intimation was- sent to the Defence Department that it could commence its work in the morning. This was accordingly done, and at 7 o'clock the necessary staff for carrying out the boarding of the men went off in the Government steamer Janie Seddon. This work was not completed until close on 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and the vessel was„-berthed at the Glasgow wharf three-quarters of an hour later.

ULIMAROA MEN REACH DUNEDIN. About 120 Otagp men who came to Wellington by the troopship Ulimaroa reached Dunedin on Friday afternoon by the special express at 4.58. Friends were on the station to welcome them, and motor cars, arranged for by -the Motor Club and the Soldiers' Welfare Committee, were in' waiting to take them to their homes. The following is a list of the Otago and Southland men who came by the train: For Dunedin. —Captain M'Pherson, Lieutenant Glasse, Sergeants Penman and Wright, Corporals Fancourt, Meiklejohn, Broom, Layton, and Stevens, Bombardier Scrymgeour, Riflemen A. Thompson, Nielson, Home, Gaudin, Prentice, F. C. Thompson, Privates Woodberry, Williams, Lerrige, A. Gray, Gilchrist, R. Gray, Hanna, Hardy, Carnahan, Crews, Fleury, 'Mayer, Murphy, Ayson, M'llroy, Maclean, Greenslade, J. Smith, J. J. Smith, Steven, Swell, Gunners Waugh, Titter, and Urquhart. For Mosgicl.—Lieutenant Bergint, Priyates Thomson and Stratton. x -For Port Chalmers.—Privates Campbell and Perry. A For Abbotsford.—Private Warrington. For Henley.—Gunner Bruce. For Allanton. —Lance-corporal Henderson. For Berwick. —Private J. P. Smith. For Invercargill.—Captain Bell, Lancecorporals Brflwn, Cupples, Stevenson, and Turnbull, Riflemen Kennedy, Huffadino, Gibson, Forbes, Pay, Roche, Privates Woods, Batt, Dawson, Ferguson, Turnbull, M'Dermott, Smith, Driver Ballantyne, Gunners Ayling and Brodie. For Tuatapere. —Rifleman Woollett. For Arthurton.—Rifleman Trusler. For Bluff.—Lieutenant Brooks, Private Har robin. For Edcndale. —Lance-corporal Baxter. For Mataura.—Sapper Haslin, Sergeant Cullan. For Morten Mains.—Private Kerr. For Wairio.—Private Keen. For Gore. —Lance-corporal Smith, Trooper M'Dougall, Privates Trusler and Kennedy. For Nightcaps.—Privates M'Gregor and Finn, Riflemen O'Dowd and Niven. For Woodend —Private Murdoch. For Waimahaka.—Private Middleton. For Wyndham.—Captain Godding, Privates Todd and M'Kenzio. For Athol.—Private Douglas.

For Waianiwa.—Private Steana. ' For Dipton. —Private Thurston. For Te Waewae. —Sapper Smith. _ For Longbush.—Private Sutherland. * • For Oamaru. —Lieutenant Evans, Private Patterson. ■ -.-•.■ For Waireka. —Private Williams. For Ngapara. —Lieutenant Black, Private Blair For Patearoa. —Driver Kennedy. For Hampden.—Private Hayes. For Cromwell. —Private Bishop. For Tokorahi. —Private Simpson. For Alexandra. —Rifleman Shannon. For Dunback. —Private Stevenson. For Kurow.—Rifleman Sutherland. For Georgetown. —Private M'Auley. For Beaumont. —Privates Walsh and Brown. For Ettrick. —Private Weatherall. For Waianakarua. —Private Gibson. For Tapanui.—Privates Hay and Walker. For Pukewireki. —Private Heape. For Waitahuna. —Private Ryan. For Balclutha.—Private Twaddle. For Chaslands. —Private Going. For Warepa.—Sergeant Milligan. , The men came from Wellington in charge of Major Fleming. Those who belong to places outside Dunedin will leave for their homes this morning. THE DRAFT ON THE TOFUA. The Tofua reached the Heads on Friday evening. About .9 '' o'clock she dropped anchor in the stream,; and, after medical inspection, she was berthed and boarded by tho military authorities. The examination of the men- was proceeded with at once and continued throughout the night, with the result that the ship was clear of her human freight early on Saturday morning. There were 436 men on board. Forty-five of the men had brought wives with them, 11 of the number being for Auckland, 19 for Wellington, six for Canterbury, and nine for Otago and Southland. Of the men 17 will proceed to Auckland, 215 to Wellington, and 98 to Canterbury, while 105 are for Otago and Southland. Two cases of sickness were notified, but thev were not serious. The riames of' the Otago and Southland men, so far as could be ascertained at the time, were published last week. The following names are now added : Gunner W. D. H. Castle. Private F. Forbes. Private B. H. Goudie. Rifleman J. Henderson. Gunner A. J. Moir. Private V. R. Pullan. Rifleman A. H. Ritchie. Sergeant C. W. Smith. Private G. Stocks. Owing to the excellent work of the records staff the northern men were able to leave by special train at 11.35 a.m. The North Island men expected to catch the Maori at Lyttelton at night. The Dunedin men arrived in town at 7.40 a.m., and were taken to their homes in motor cars. The men for other parts of Otago and Southland, who came up by the same train, left tho city during tho day. , The vessel, which left Englwd on November 10, came out by way of the Panama Canal. The weather was fine throughout. The officer commanding was Major J. M'Crae, D. 5.0., of Lawrenoe. The other officers "were Captain Findlay (adjutant), lieutenant A. R. Cockerell, D. 5.0., of Sutton (assistant adjutant), Major Monk and

Captain Tweed (medical officers), Captain C. C. Moffatt, of Invercargill (dental officer), Rev. C J;, Bush-King (chaplain).

Major Rickey and Captain Myers (A.A.G.), of the district headquarters staff, had charge of the landing arrangements, assisted by Captain M'Guigan and Captain Dobson.