SQUALID CONDITIONS,

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17837, 9 October 1929, Page 5

SQUALID CONDITIONS,

IN A NATIVE PA. DEATHS OF THREE MAORIS. WIIARES UNFIT FOR HABITATION. PUKEKOHE, Tuesday. Conditions of a squalid nature prevail at the Maori pa at Te Ruahine, an isolated settlement near Te Kauwhata, according to the Coroner, Mr C. K. l,o\vrie, who has just returned after conducting an inquest on three Maoris who died suddenly. 'l'he whares where the Maoris lived were described as of the primitive type, being constructed of manuka scrub and old iron, and totally unfit for human habitation. It was difficult to realise how human beings could reconcile themselves to such conditions. A young unmarried Maori woman, aged 17, gave birth to a male child which died four hours subsequent to birth, the mother succumbing two days later. Another child four months old, of a different family, also died. it was staled at the inquest that a doctor or nurse was not summoned, because the Maoris did not realise the patients were seriously ill; and, furthermore, the Maoris are in poor circumstances and could not afford to pay for medical treatment. The medical evidence was to the effect that the deaths occurred from natural causes. There were no external signs of violence on the bodies of any of the deceased. A Verdict was returned accordingly.