THE HOSPITAL INQUIRY

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5283, 13 June 1895, Page 2

THE HOSPITAL INQUIRY

Wbdnkbdat, Junk 12. Afternoon Sitting. Nurse Medlam'a examination wa3 con- , tinned. Mr Joyot read that part of Dr Macgregor'e report stating that the older ; members of the staff, and others whom i they influenced, had formed a cabal to ; paralyse the authority of the Resident

■Surgeon and the matron. The witness aaid that that was not true; she had never done so, nor known anyone else to do so, and had always complied with any orders isaned. The nuraes always worked together. Bhe thought it was hardly fair to nsk her whether old nurses were not required in hoßpitala. There were cases in which older nurses were more suitable than young ones, especially in wards for urinary complaints. Three or four years ago witness got a certificate from the Board on the results of an examination by Drs Stewart and Mickle. She had no knowledge of. anything which would justify her dismißßal. She thought her removal to No. 2 ward was a degradation. The doctor Raid he did not know why it was to be done, bat that he had got orders to do so. She did not think there were too many nurses and probationers in the hospital, according 1 to the ey stem which was worked now. There were enough there. She thought that all the probationers, except one, appointed under the present matron were members of th.3 Church of England. That one was not appointed in the present matron's time. Probationer M'Laren did very well in practical work, in which witness examined her, but the doctor told wilne&s she had not done, well in his examin*i tion. i To Mr Caygill: Since the inquiry ; opened, witness had not been spoken to by anyone about it. It might be a month ago, not more, since she first heard of. the matrou having a key for the stimulant cupboard. Miss Steel, the former matron, occasionally administered ether or chloroform. The present matron administered ether in cases operated upon by the House Surgeon. To £)r Murray-Aynsley : Witness told the man who had been put on bread and water, for talking that he had better apologise. He did so, and the order wag rescinded. When she was moved to No. 2, all the sisters were changed in rotation. She never saw the doctor drunk. To Mr Maude: Whenever a complaint was made to the matron about the food she always tried to remedy it. There waa not the eame fiahmopger now aa a few months ago. That would probably account for the improvement in the fish. On Sundays they had beef, sometimes pork or veal. On Christmas Day they had fowl. To Mr Stringer: When witness received her certificate it was iu the ordinary form. Miea Steel r«fused to sign witness's. Witness did not know on what jzronnd Miss Steel refused to'eign the certificates of the old nuraes. The old nurses did not feel themselves displaced, by the younger ones. All lived together most amicably. No suggestion had been made to her about moving her to a branch hospital at Addingtoo. It was very hurtful to her to be moved among children and convalescents, but Bhe would not Say that a nurse ehonld remain for a great many years* in one ward. Her present position wan one of less. responsibility. She supposed it was right to move round the nurses to give them varied experience' To Mr Caygill :;: When a nurse got to" be a stater she had got as high aa she could, and had had along and varied experience. To Mr Joynt: She was moved to No. 2 ward about the time she saw her name mentioned in the paper aa marked for dismissal. She could learn nothing of use to her in No. 2. To Mr Maude : Witness had a sittingroom upstairs. Each, of the 6isters had a sitting-room. To the Commissioner : The old nurses were advised to undergo examination when the certificates were issued. The examination was conducted by the medical stuff, and Miss Steel had nothing to do with it. She never knew the new nurses to give themselves airs ; they behaved very nicely. The old ones did not sneer at the new ones ; all. lived togother very peaceably. In No. 6 there was always a nurse, an assistant and one probationer on duty. At night the night-nurse was . the only person on duty, unless a bad case required special assistance. Witness had not epoken to Miss Maude about the proposed dismissal till her removal to No. 2, when Mies Maude said that it was not owing to her.

Mr Joynt asked the' Commissioner to direct the production of Dr Macgregor'a reports for the last several years, and the minutes of the meetings of the Board, especially of April -7. Ho wished for these in order to prevent his being tripped up continually about this intended dismissal.

Mr Loughrey said the minutes and such reports as were to hand would be produced. Dr George Goaget, called by Mr Caygill, deposed that on Nov. 2 he was called to attend Miss Graham, who was at a house in Southbridge, three miles from her home. She was 'suffering from violent pains in both shin bones, with high fever. A couple of days after he i found that she had inflammation of the kidneys, which could not have lasted long. She had before Buffered from rheumatic fever and pericarditis. She was extremely helpless when he aaw her, and he was surprised to see her sent from the hospital. He saw her about nine in the morning, and she had been seen daring the night by another medical man. She was not then in a fit Btate to be removed home. Very likely, on the spur of the moment, witness expressed an opinion that she waß not fit to be removed from the hospital. He had happened to meet Drs Manning and Murray-Aynsley, and spoke about her removal, rather presuming that when discharged she was not so bad as when he Baw her. Jt would take about two hours and a half to go by rail from Chrißtehurch to Southbridge. To Mr Joynt: From the condition in which she was on Nov. 2, he could hardly say that on the previous day Dr MurrayAynsley must, had he looked, have seen in how dangerous a Btate she was. He thought that he himself, knowing the girl and her infirmities, would have detected on the previona day that she was in a serious condition. She must have been ill on Nov. 1, and if any doctor had examined the tender spots on the limbs she complained of, end had taken her temperature, he could have seen that she was ill. Probably it was not prudent to allow her to travel from Chfistchuroh to Southbridge on Nov. 1. . To the Commissioner: He thought she could not have been in a fit state on Nov. 1 to leave the hospital. To Dr Murray-Aynsley : It traa not the

| practice to examine convalescent patients going out as carefully as patients coming in. As ahe had gone in for an eye operation, the medical offioer might not take much notice of her other conditions. ; To Mr Loughrey: Dr Murray- Aynsley stood well among the members of the profession aB to his qualifications. The railway journey to Sonthbridge was a tedious one. To Mr Caygill : Ordinarily it would not

take a month for an eye to heal after such an operation as she had undergone. Her eye had not healed aa Boon aB Buch things usually did. His experience in hospitala was that the order for discharge was given by the visiting surgeon, and that the patient might then go oat without even seeing the House Surgeon. The girl's lungs were congested all through her three months' illness, i To the Commissioner: The girl bad heart disease of many years' standing. The surgeon who operated on the eye would know this. Witness had written to him. It was only when she got a rheumatic attack that the heart would give her much trouble. At 4.15 p.m. the inquiry adjourned to 10.30 a.m. next day. THIS DAT. The sitting of the Commission of Inquiry into the administration of the Christohurch Hospital wag resumed before the Commissioner, Dt QUes, at 10.30 a.m., in the Provincial Council Chamber. Mr Loughrey asked if it was probable

that the witnesses for the other aide would be taken on Friday, as arranged previously. He thought that it was donbtful if the evidence in support of the allegations would be concluded by then, and wished to avoid having the witnesses in attendance unnecessarily. Mr Jojnt said he thought that his case would be over by lunch time on Friday. It was, after some discussion, arranged that the witnesses for the defence should be taken on Monday morning, the Commissioner intimatiog that he would not sit on Saturday.

Mr Joynt asked that the Secretary to the Board might produce Dr Macgregor's report on the Hospital, and the minute* book containing the reference to the du- j miaaal of the nurses. ! Mr Miller produced the minute-book and Dr Macgregor'a report dated 'March 8, 1895, the report in which the doctor stated that he had mentioned the names of certain ' employes who must be gob rid of at all ' i hazards, j Mr Joynt put these in, and read the re- \ port and the resolution of the Board passed ; on April 3 adopting that report. i The Commissioner remarked that the ' report was to the Minister, and it was not • quite clear what the adoption of it by the 1 Board signified. '; Mr Joynt said that it signified approval j of the course recommended in the report, : which teemed to have baen looked on as mandatory. The resolution adopting it bad been rescinded on April 24. Mr : Miller had told him that the nameß of the '■ employes recommended for dismissal bad not been entered in the records. A motion ; by Mr Gray approving tne report except j as regarded the dismisßal of the old nuroes, i had previously been negatived. j The following evidence wag taken :— I Elizabeth Henry deposed that ehe had ; been a nurse in the Hospital for over five yeare. She had received no official notice of dismissal. She was in charge of No. 2 ward at night. She had frequently to attend operations, but not within the last year. As ehe was on night duty it wan not necessary for her to do so. Young girls had attended operations on maleß as I well as on females. She had not been pre-

sent at any operations of a delicate nature. She wbb not aware of any written order , about patients attending church. The i matron bad verbally given her an order | about it. The matron camo to the ward on a Sunday, after the service, and asked why certain patients in her ward had not been at church. Witness eaid that they were not Church of England, and did not want to go. The matron 6aid they would have to go— that in England they would hava to go to church, and that they would have to abide by the rules and go; that the doctor would see that they went, and that if they did not they would not get a pass to go out and see their friends. The Church of England service only was practised in the hospital. Some of the people who refased to go were

Wesleyaus. They hid been told previous to the service Where it. was held, and bad been asked to go, but not pressed. . Witness did not know if they attended the service on Sundays alter that. It was never pressed, tbat witness knew of. All the probationers appointed in the last two years hud bean Church of England, except one, who was a Congregationalism She could not say how many there were — not so many aa twenty. To the Commissioner: One of those who was nob kept on after trial was. a Baptist, but witness did not know to what religious denomination the others who were rejected (belonged. ' :••■' ;;" '

To Mr Jbynt: Witneßs had only once seen water squirted in the faco'of a child. It was done by the doctor. Witness was on night duty in No. 2, and. when the doctor came in a. child was crying, and he squirted water in its face. It stopped crying directly, and the doctor said to witness "Do it when it cries and it will stop, the crying." The child stopped crying for several minutes. He used a glass syringe; it was larger than an 6ar syringe. The patients' food Lad very often been bad during the last twelve months. Sometimes the fish was stale and very coarse. Conger eel and other large fish waß supplied. The vegetables had not been well cooked; the soup was yfery poor, and the puddings very watery. There was a want of eggs, and saffron was substituted as colouring. The fish was sometimes so much undernooked that it could not be eaten. She had seen fish sent up with the scales on. This was the case with the previous cook as well as the present one. There had been a little improvement after " Tongariro's " letter, bub it was only temporary. The nurses' food bad been better than the patients', but sometime* it was bo badly cooked that it could n>u «•« eaten. Witness had complained to in» matron, who took the meat out to the ki chen ; the housemaid brought it back in the same state. What was called "Terrible Jimmy" wag made of meat' which had been cooked twice. She did not quite know all that it was made of. It was often sent up, but waa not often eaten. She did not think it fair to ask her if there were sufficient probationer a in the Hospital. She remembered the boy Kinnenmontb, whose arm was broken in ! two placae. After it had been bandaged i and a tpliut put on at the wrist, tho House j

Surgeon ordered an extension to be put on. This was done. Tbe arm had been

bj ringed, but not by the, House Surgeon— by Mr Brown. The dootor, after giving tbe order, wob leaving the bed, when the mother asked if the fore-arm was not broken higher up. He looked at it, and said it was. It looked as if he had not observed the second fracture at first. Witness remembered a female patient takiDg belladonna during the night. It was over a year ago. The patient admitted having got out of bed aad got the bottle of belladonna from the window. She was in the asylum at present. It made her very bad. Witness called the doctor in the night to her, but did not know the time in tbe night when she took it. The medicines for the patients in the ward were kept in a common locker, with compartments numbered with the same numbers as the bedß. It was not likely that nurses could make a mistake and give a patient tbe wrong medicine. What this patient took was a belladonna liniment use'.l for another patient. This happened in No. 4, the women's ward. The patient was strange in her manner, and had attempted suicide before she came into the hospital. Witness had only had to report one probationer, Probationer Harper, to the matron. That was for refusing to help witness in the ward at night. The matron said she would speak to the probationer, and she was put into another ward. Witness at the same time reported her for sleeping on duty. Tbe probationer was still in the hospital. There had been nothing like friction between the nurses. There bad been no attempt on the part of any of the nurses to thwart or interfere with the administration of the'Hospital, nor any conspiracy to interfere with discipline. She had read the inspector's report, and knew of no facts to call for the statements in it. All bhe nurses, old and young, were assiduous in performing their duties.

To Mr Caygill : The sisters had been changed from one ward to another. That had not been done until recently. Sister M'Eobbie had then been placed in charge of No. 6, with one nurse.

At one time a probationer had been in oharge of No. , 1 ward, and at ! that time there ' were two nurses and a sister in No. 6 ward— for nearly two months. Witness did not know of any special circumstances requiring the presence of two fully qualified nurses in No. 6 ward. She did not think it would be for the benefit of the patients in No, 1 for a probationer to be in charge. She did not think that the changing of Bisters from waid to ward was for the benefit of the patients. Witness remembered the House Surgeon coming into the ward one night when Miss M'Laren was there. Witness reproved Misß M'Laren for a statement she had made* The doctor was the worse for drink. It was between nine and ten at night. He stayed and talked for a while. Witnesß saw him about an hour' afterwards, when he came into the pantry. His condition had not improved. He came for some eodawater. The doctor had made a remark to her while the inquiry had been sitting about the evidence the was to give, but he had not

called her ia as he had the otn«r«.- Ho had called in Sinters M'Robbie, Evrart, Medlam and Griffiths. Witness went to the doctor for a pass on last Sunday evening, and asked hioi not to call her aB a witness. He asked if she was going to give evidence that he was the worse for drink, and she eaid " Yes/' He asked if she had told anybody that he was the worse for drink, and she refused to nay. Hesaid that if she said he was the worse for drink that was her look out. Bho did not Bay anything in reply, and the conversation, ended. On last Friday night the matron

spoke to ner about the inquiry , when Bae came to the ward, aa Bhe did any evening, aad aeked if witness had any cotnplaiots to mako about the food, bb Mr Loujjbrey wanted to know. Witness told her that she had. The matron asked it' it waß thatthe food waß not cooked or was bad. Witness asked the matron why she proposed her dismissal, and the matron replied that she never had. Witness said that it looked very much like it, and referred to De Macgregot's report. The matron eaid it was most unfortunately worded, but Dt j Macgregor did not mean that. Witness referred to the report, saying that " We were to be dismissed at all haz irds," aud | said that she (witness) had never oppbsed ; the matron. The matron said thai witI ness never had. Something was said • about there being a cabal amongst the others, and the matron said that ehe had no knowledge of it, and did r.ot know • what it meant. She said, " You were not- ■ dismissed," and witness replied that tbat web not Dt M'Gregor'a fault. Witness whb a ■; cerlifioated nura<», and had pot her eerti- • ficatu at the hospital. j To Dr Murray- Ayneley : Thought it -was in. June last that, the House Surgeon came to the ward the worse for drink, but ooald > not say at what timefof the month. She ; did not rememt er the dates when ehe WO9 on night duty. She had told Or Stewart and Airs Neil.l of this. She had told Dr ; Stewart first, and went to see him,. but not specially to tell him that. He did not ask ber / about it. She had not taken any other ! reports out of the hospital. Mrs Neill > saw witness twice, and on the firßt time ! asked her if the House Surgeon was atten- | tive to hia duties. Witness refußed to j answer. She had not reported the fact to ; the. matron, and had not spoken of it afc tall at the time. O a Sunday witness bad I told the House Surgeon that she wanted ; to speak to him «tt tnt?h<;, and when flhei b»w him about the p>ks he said she might j speak to him then. She asked him not to call her as a witness, A9 sbe would have to , speak against him. Sh'» did not remember j that he first aeked her if she had seen htm i Btnoking in th<3 wards. Witness did nofe '; say to him, "There are ho many !of us, couldn't I keep away without I being found." She remembered a patient. j named Gutober. Bhe had Bat on the baroe- : seat in the garden with him, but he had ' had not put his arm round her. She waß. ;in uniform at the time. She had never

I heard her name coupled with tbat of s patient named Gibbons. The child into* who face water was squirted was a malechild, with a broken thighs She oonld not 1 remember his name, nor the month when it occurred. She thought a probationer was in the ward part of the time when the patient took tbe belladonna liniment.. The House Surgeon did not make enquiries*: at the time about belladonna, but aaid thepatient was suffering from hysteria. No inquiry w&b made about belladonna - till the patient admitted haying taken it. The poisons were kept in a sep*. rate cupboard in the ward, and Wera ■ locked up. The belladonna liniment had j been left out; Witness was in ohargd ol' the ward; and the lights were turned low when ahe oamo on at nine o'clock, It was on a Sunday night. She looked round the I ward, but did not think it was her duty to j go round and look at every window and ! locker. She had been twice rejected before she got her certificate. She. was | rejected by Dr Mickle. She had received coaching lesuona by Dr Murray- A-ynslej ! and the matron.

To Mr Maude: Several applicants forprobationerohipa had gone away. Probationers M'Luren and. Thorpe bad gone*. j Tbe latrer waa not the daughter of Arohduacon Thorpe. His daughter was there • now., Mibb jP^lathorpe . had also gone*. '■ She and Mies M'Laren were told that 'they had failed. Misa Palethorpe was coming | back. There was a decided improvement in the diahea in which the patients' foodwas Borved emce the present; matron oame. It was now served up in hot water diabee. I Fish was fried in bread crumbs before the | present matron came. Porridge had beeu served to them on Sunday mornings einee the letter t>f " Tong'-iriro." It was not egg-powdor, but safiron, which was pat in the paddings. She had kaovrn Mr Brown go oat and bring in sardines for tbe nurses' breakfast. It had happened more than once, but not quite recently. Sbe had never known tbe matron miss coming to the ward and speaking to her at | night. The matron commenced the conversation on Friday night. They" had no diacuaston tb*n about the words " refined young ladies." Witneßa told tbe patients on the Sunday morning where the servioa was, and asked them if they were going. The nurses always did this, but did nnu as a rule tell them to go. Sometimes they did. She was a prohibitionist. To Mr Stringer : She did not know any*

' thing tending to cause hostility between the nurses. She had not formed an opinion ae to the new nurses wishing to put out the older nurses, and had not told Mrs i Neill bo; and she did not remember Baying j anything to that effect. She remembered I Mrs Neill asking if there was any friction, ; or what caußod it, or something to that : effect, and witness replied that she did not j know anything, that the girls were very ; nice girls. Mrs Neill took notes of part of what witness said. Witnees did not look j upon herself as one of the older nurses. ; She had been told, bat she did not know by whom, that she was one of those who were to be dismissed. She told Mrs Neill when that lady saw her the second time, ! that the doctor was the worse for drink. < Witness had not told Mrs Neill that Bbe thought he was slightly under the influence of liquor. Mrs Neill asked if she had soen the dootor the worse for drink, and Bhe said "Yes." j She did not know whether the patient who ' took belladonna had done so before witness I came on duty or after.. Witness found I the patient half unconscious, and with her '' pupils dilated, and could not rouse her. i When witness first went into the ward | the patient was sleeping. Witness was I never out of the ward for more than a : minute or two, when she went to the ! pantry for drinkß for the patientß. | To Mr Joynt : The patient Gutober met witness in the public gardens, not in the gardens of the hospital. Mr Joynt drew attention to the by-law forbidding the nurses front having long conversations with patients in or about the institution. Witness continued: Gufccher and she Bat together about a quarter of an hour* and left the Beat together, but separated at the gate of the gardens. To Mr Joynt : The matron told witness that Miss Wood, daughter of Mr Robert Wood, the then chairman of the Board.

' and Mr Joe Fairhnrst bad told about witi ness and Gutoher being on a seat in the ; gardens together. Mrs Neill did not read the notes of what wifcneeß had said over to ' her.

! To Mr Caygill : She did not remember ' -whether Mrs Neill mentioned Mies M'Laren to her when she asked witness about the doctor being under the inflaenoe of j liqnor. i To the Commissioner : Witness had told ' Mrs Neill of another occasion on which I the doctor we* under the influence of ! drink. It was in 1893, when a Mrs Hepworth was a patient in No. 4 ward, ; The Houee Surgeon came round, and wit- ; ness thought, from the way he talked, ! that he was under the influence of drink. lie talked in s very strange way, and said " Good night " three or four times, but the did not remember the hour. i To Dr Murray- Aynaley t Witness could not remember the exact date. No other nurse «tob in the ward at the time. It wa» when the doctor was going his "rounds. To the Commissioner t When the matron spoke to her about the church witness took it to be a formal order to tell the patients that if they did not: go to ohturok their _ paesea would be stopped. Witness was not on dnty the following Bunday morning, and

■ loft ine^er told the patients about it. Witness told the sister of the ward about ■it. She had heard it said that the committee had interfered in the matter. When witness called the doctor to the patient who had taken belladonna, ehe had no •flnspioion that the patient had done so. . The patient was quite unconscious when witness left the ward in the morning, bob .slept the effects off. Jane Knight, called by Mr Joynt. deposed that at present ehe -was nurse in the hospital, Greytnoutb. She had been nuise in the Ohriatohuroh hospital for five years and ten months, up to the last week of April, 1895. When she left she was assistant to Sister Medlam. She had a ' certificate signed by Drs Stewart, Mickle, and De fieazi, but not by Miss Steel. She received the appointment at Greymonth while she wbb at the Christchurch hospital. No complaint had been made againßt her. She had received no official intimation that she was to be dismissed, but had seen her name mentioned in the paper as one of those to be dismissed. She reoeived £25 a year at Chrietchnrch and £50 at Greymouth, She had Attended operations, but not for some months. The nurses used to attend all sorts of operations, but not before the present dootor and matron came. The practice was discontinued after the let f er of "Tongariro" appeared. Sbe had ■heard of the order about patients going to church being posted up in the kitchen, but had not seen it. She believed Sister Griffiths saw it. The patients' food . was good, but badly cooked. The nureea'food waa often badly cooked and the fish was tainted and coarse ; it was often conger eel and other large fish. Complaints were made to the matron, and thiugs would he better for a day or two. The. fish was better after " Tons;ariro'fl " letter, bat waa not good. The podding were watery and full of lumps. Thero was not always sufficient milk. The doctor reduced the quantity of milk allowed for milk diet. The vegetable* were badly cooked— not strained. They gob plenty of vegetables after "Tongariro's " letter, but not before. The vegetable garden ought to have grown enough vegetables for the hospital. She had eeen the gardener (Michael) carry Backs of vegetables out of the hospital grounds, and had heard two men named Granville and Solomon, who worked in the garden, Bay they bad done bo. Michael had been there a long time, and the men did not speak of it in hia presence. She did not know where the vegetables were taken . to, nor whether they had authority to take them out. This was a Iou« time ago. She remembered a man named Parker dying: of haemorrhage of the langa j in No. 1 Ward a year ago. flanco-k, the attendant, had been called away, and when he came back the man was dying. Parker was in the last stage of consumption. She had seen vegetables carrir-d out of the main entrance, and the gato by the morgue. The dootor tore up tho pass of a patient named Wataon,' who had not attended church. Before, the doctor tore it np he came, to see if Watson was fn;er.-d on the card as - Church of England. 5 Occasionally they were Bhorfc of potatoes and meat for the patients. She complained to the matron, who sometimes toid her to go and sea if there was any left iu the other wards, and said witness was to i flive them lees meat. Witness sent tb« | probationer to the other wards, and sometimes got more food tbafc way. There was plenty of food when witness left. Sisters Mtidfem and M'Robbic had, Bhe f thought,: made v Bimilar. Gomp^a;hta. Witness waa .moved -^rom No. 1 , ward to No. 6 after Dr Macgregor's r'oport. There was nothing she oould le>rn in. No. 6, and a probationer was pub ia her place in No. 1. There was no foundation whatever for the, statement in Dr Macgregor's report about the elder n'uraes trying to defeat the diaoipline of the hospital. Tho elder nurses never' combined again&t authority,, and there w^s no ring, or clique, among the nurses that she knew of. One night Dr MurrayAynsley congratulated her on her uppointment to : Greymouth, : ani ehe replied that it was a good job as he was trying t<) get her dismissed. He said that he wiis not, bat she Baid that he had, and told him it wae a shame that he should do so, after he had Baid, aix months before, that she was one of the 'best nurses he had. He replied that he thought so still. The doctor had ordered that whenever the matron or himself entered tha ward or pan'try where a nurse waa aha was to rise and stand until the doctor or matron gave her permission to hit down. This was called part of the etiquette. (Laughter.) There was no compulsion whatever as to the nurees atitnding church.

To Mr Caygill: Witness contributed totho presentation to Dr Stewart when he left the staff, but had been away for nearly three weeka when the presentation was made. The doctor and matron had sent her to Akaroa to take charge o? the hospital while the matron there was on a holiday. She was then away three week* for her holiday. When she cam« back sh« was pat in her old position in charge of No. 1. In a very short time, she was put as aßsietant 'in No. 6, and Probationer May was put in charge of No. 1. Witness had been in No. 6 frequently. The probationers had complained of the food quite as much a9 the* older nurses. Witness bad on one occasion had to report Probationer Harper, who took her place when she went to Akaroa, and on returning: she found poulticeß among the Boiled linen, and a patient wb/> had been receiving brandy, but whose allowance of it had been crossed off a fortnight before, was still receiving it. Witneßß had once seen the Houbs Surgeon the worse for liquor, after tea on the day of the laying of the foundation atone of the Nurses'a Home. He was in charge of the hospital then. She had not seen him the worse for liquor on any other occasion. She bad not been on night duty for eighteen months. Her name had been mentioned at the publio meeting aB being selected for dismissal, and Bhe had never been told to the contrary till the doctor spoke to her.

To the Commissioner : The doctor at. one time did not come to the ward for several days, but there were no serious cases in. If there were she sent for him, and he cams at once.

■ Afternoon Sitting. Jane Knight (to Dr Murray-Aynsley) stated that the House Surgeon had complimented her on the accuracy witn which she had kept her books and papers. Sbe bad filled in the temperature chart, (produced). Parker had been ill for a very long time, and hemorrhage at the end of such cases was sot infrequent. She was quite sure she saw the House Surgeon the worse for drink on the evening of the laying of the foundation stone. To Mr Lougbrey : The grass of the lawn was cut and carried out in bags, but not out of the vegetable garden. Sbe did not know what vegetables were in the bags, but she had heird the men say that vegetables were taken out. They were taken out in broad daylight, but the gates by No. 3 and by the morgue were rather private. It was six months since she saw bags being taken out of the private gate. She had seen them cutting grasa in the fruit and vegetable gardens. She could not remember the date of laying the foundation stone. They were bustled a good deal then ; many of the public were there, anti some other doctors. She had not seen sny other doctor under the influence of liquor, and did not know that one of them fell down and had to be carried in. ..,,/,. I To Mr Maude: She had seen boiled fish ! served up with scales on. The matron was present when the doctor gave the order for nurses to stand up when the matron and he entered a room. He said that the matron wished it. There was a general complaint all round among the nurses and probationers about the badness of the food. They generally had the cold beef for tea. Sometimes they had no changes of food. It was a rule that there should be changes. She did sot know whose fault it was that there was not sufficient food for the patients. When she complained to the matron, sometimes it was remedied, and sometimes it went on. Witness had been into the kitchen, and did not think they were Bhort-handed there. Additional Msiatonoe was got there at the beginning

I of the year, and after that the food was a little better cooked. The matron told witness several 1 times to tell the patients, who were not Catholiei, to attend the service. The doetor said that if they did not do so they should have their passes stopped. The doctor had not seen Watson before tearing his pass up. Sometimes witness might be told to give an out-patient a mug of Boup, but that sort of thing was not sufficient to account for the shortness of food. Before the present doctor and matron came no reference nras made to the patients' passes if they lid not attend church. The nurses had >nly to tell the patients where the eorvice rasheld.

To Mr Caygill : The bags she saw taket oat were not sack*, bat like eugar bags She saw bags being taken out when the grass was not being cat. To the Commissioner : The matron told her that she was to tell the patients that there was a service for them and they ought to attend it. When Dr Da Eenzi left the hospital a testimonial was preaented to him, and that to Dr Stewart was got up in the Bame way as Dr De Eenzi'a. One of tne older nurses or Mr Brown would first speak to the nurses about the presentations.

Mr Joynt produced a letter to Nurse Haighb, signed by a large number of employe*, which, he said, weut to show that; good feeling prevailed amongst the staff.

To Dr Mnrray-Ayneley : The presentation to Dr De Eenzi waß held in the operating theatre, not in tbo Board room. Ann Walker, called by Mr Caygill, deposed that she had visited Mis3 Graham when the latter was in the Hospital, three times after the operation to _her eye had been performed. Witneßa flaw her on, the Thnrsday before the Tuesday on which she came out, and found her very ill indeed, and in bed in No. 4 Ward. Witness thought the illness was apart altogether from the operation to the eye; she complained of being very ill, and said she was pained all over. Abouc four in the after-

noon of the Tuesday Miss Graham came by train to witneßß* house. W ltneaa was surprised and horrified to see her, and she considered she was not fit to Bhand, much leas to bo out of the hospital. Witness Obaerred that she was very weakshe staggered into the dining-room and l»y, down. No one was with her. Witness's house was on the Canal Raserve, Woolston, half a mile from the tramway. Miea Graham murt have walked from the tram. Witness got her some tea and a

ao* oata ana put Her to bed. She was shivering all over. Witness heard her groaning the most part of the night, and got up to her once. . She steyed with witness the next day, and the next night witness was up with her nearly the whol6 nighfc. During the day she suffered very much from pain, and was notable to get about. She waß ?n bed all the firafc day; and on the afternoon of the second day ahe

v ». «.j uioooeu unu jay on tne eota. witness kep!; her for two days, the Wednesday and Thursday, and on Friday she wont home. Sbe walked to the tram, and took a cab from the Odversham Hotel corner; witness thought, to the railway . station: One of the mem bars of witness's family, went with her to the station. She leaned on witness's arm when walking to the' tram, and had to be assisted after/ To Mr Joynt: When she camo to wit- ! ness's house her breathing showed that her chest was .very had, and it'.. continued bad. About fifteen, months ago she seamed a atropg, healthy young woman.' On the afternoon she left witness's house aha as abbot the aame as on that on w^ibh she airrived there. When she came to witness's,' house any careful observer could have seen in a moment that she was ill. She had allthe pymptoms of a very bad attack of bronchitis. She took a little: food, bat very reluotantiy. Witness made: her some beef tea and dry toaS& '/ To Dr Murray- Aynsleyj Witeeaa lived about a mile from Dr Hunt's. Witness asked Miss Graham if Bhe would see a doctor orgo back to the hospital, and Bhe refused, saying she wanted to go home.' Witnesß let her go because Bhe insisted on it. Witness would not like to have risked any of her children walking to the tram in the condition in which Miss Graham, was when ehe left. Elizabeth Cowan, called by Mr Caygill, . j depoaed that she was v in' the 'train with | Mies Graham when the latter went from ; t Ohristehurcu to Bouthbridge. Mies ■ Graham, was very weak and in much pain. Witness made a pillow of her wraps and made her as comfortable ss she could, but Miss Graham could not lie long, as she waß suffering so much. Witness gob out ah Leeston, but another lady whom Mips Graham knew was going to Soathbridgein the same carriage. Miss Graham was not fib to be left alone. Mrß Walker, re-oalled, said Bhe wished to correct a mistake as to the day of Miss Walker's leaving her house. It was on the Thursday, not on the Friday. , Isabel M'Bobbie, called by Mr Joynt, deponed that she had been a nnrfiiuat the. hospital for five years and a half, and had been change nurse for three or four years, ; and waß at present sister in charge of No. 6, the acoident ward. . She had not attended operations when she was in charge of the medical ward. .She had (attended a few operations on both males and females in the last few years. Yonnger nurses attended them. . Some of these operations were of a delicate character. Witness had received an order from Dr Murray- Aynsley within the last eighteen months, to tell all patients, except Roman Catholics, to attend the service, or their passes would be stopped for the week. Witness told the patients this, but she did not think that more of them went than before. She had not seen an order in those terms in writing. The doctor once suggested that it would be an effeotual plan to stop children from screaming to Bquirt a little Water into their faces. She had never before had a suggestion of that kind made to her. The patients* fuod as a rule was good, except the fish, which was coarse, badly cooked, and of very little variety : it was generally conger eel and one other kind of fish. Witness had often complained to the matron,, who saw the food. It was commonly underdone ; the fish was better cojgked than the meat. Witness had had to cut a leg of mutton into slices and send it back to be fried. The soups were pretty well, but the. puddings were watery. There had ! been an improvement since " Tongariro " had written. There was not enough milk, and witness complained. Any complaint she made to the matron was always attended to. The nurses' food was good, but the . cooking was bad. The nurses complained to Miss Maude, and there would be an improvement for a few days. Witness remembered Mr Brown getting sardines for the nurses' table. A man in No. 5 ward was ordered on bread and water for talking to the doctor. He had been a prisoner in Lyttelton gaol, and was a very disagreeable man. He had been rude to the night nurse, and the dootor spoke to him. He continued talking the whole time the doctor was in the ward, and juats before the doctor went' out he ordered him to be put on bread and water. He did not get it. No stipulation had been made about butter, so the- nurses put butter on the bread and gave him milk. He sulked all day and would not eat. >