TRENTHAM CAMP.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144723, 5 July 1915, Page 7

TRENTHAM CAMP.

STATEMENTS BT MINISTERS THE EPIDEMIC OF INFLUENZA. BT TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT, WELLINGTON, July 5. The Prime Minister made the following statement regarding the Trontham Camp to your representative this afternoon : “1 have again visited the camp in company with the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Public Health. I have spent the greater part of the past two days at the camp and I am able to report that tho conditions there are now very much bettor than they have been since the outbreak of sickness took place. The number of now cases of sickness admitted to the various hospitals to-day was loss than one-half of the number admitted yesterday, being 48 to-day as against 100 yesterday. Quite a large number of men have boon discharged from the hospitals during the past few days and have boon given leave of absence to visit thoir homes. The sickness is mostly influenza and measles. 'The influenza is of a very severe type and, as one medical man put it, it is ‘influenza run wicked.’ Tho patients are in very good hands and have comfortable and suitable quarters and have plenty of doctors and nurses. “The whole of the Wellington Racing Club’s buildings, which adjoin the camp, have been taken over by tho Public Health Department for hospital purposes. I have been all through tho hospitals and many of the men, although they admit that everything possible is being done for them, say they do not see any reason why they should be further detained. “One of our troubles now is that tho recruiting has really got ahead of the equipment. The contractors are not able to supply boots and uniforms as fast as they are required. The 19.000 men who have' gone away were each supplied with two pairs of boots, and 5000 of the men in camp have also two pairs, but there are about 2000 who have only one pair. These are the recruits who have joined during the past three weeks. The extra boots must he found for these men and they will be found immediately., The fine weather of the past two days has made a marked improvement in the appearance of the camp, and I believe also in the health of the men. “Forty of the hutments, each holding 100 men, arc occupied and 14 more are in course of construction. Wc intend to erect another 16, making 70 in all. Some of the more experienced of the men, prefer the tents to the huts and we intend to provide wooden floors in all such cases.” STATEMENT BY DEFENCE MINISTER. “The sick parade list has gone down considerably to-day,” said the Minister of Defence (the Hon. Jas. Allen) to your representative to-day. “There was a peculiar epidemic of influenza.” continued the Minister, “which the doctors said did not arise from the camp, but had been brought in from the outside. It had been spreading from man to man, but was not so bad now and they were going to stop the spreading. The epidemic was not confined to tho camp, for it had been spreading in various other parts of New Zealand: ■ i “As far as the boots were concerned they were going to make every effort to get every possible pair in New Zealand, hut the difficulty in tho past had been the supply. Most men, however, had a second pair, or had a pair of their own. As far as the second uniforms wers concerned there were some men without a second uniform, but they had enough to supply all the men in camp, except about 200. However, it' had taken some time to get them distributed. The men.were allowed to keep their own clothes, and they should have done so when they went into camp to guard against wet uniforms. To provide drying facilities at the camp a large marquee was being erected which would contain braziers. If these proved a success in drying the uniforms others would be put in. The tent® from some of the worst wet places in the camp were being removed and the men from other tents would go into the huts which were about complete. “Really,” said the Minister, “1 don’t think anyone should he frightened about the camp itself. This epidemic lias not arisen from the conditions in•the camp, so the doctors tell me. All the hospital arrangements I think are quite satisfactory. A splendid body of nurses are there and the orderlies are working well. They do want more medical men, but these will be in camp in a day or so. “With regard to the sick parade, not only I, but the staff themselves, realised- that, in view of the larger number of men in camp, and on account of this epidemic, which caused large parades, it was necessary to reorganise the sick parades. That organisation was done to-day and there is no reason now why any man should have to wait more than half an hour before he gets over to sick parade.”