H.—23

2

3. The Water Supply. —Daily, during the dry season every year, an attendant or two, with a number of patients, have to be despatched with a water cart to obtain this necessary from a distance. The tanks at present in existence are totally insufficient, and they are supplemented by one well only, situate near the kitchen, and the water of which can hardly be said to bo of good quality. At the time of visiting, the pump attached to the well required repair. The management of an institution such as the Provincial Asylum is placed at a great disadvantage without an ample supply of good water for the important uses of' drinking and cooking, as well as for the various purposes of personal ablution, washing of clothing, and cleaning generally. This could be remedied by large tanks being constructed to receive the rain-water from the roofs of the buildings, the greater part of which runs to waste at present; or a small hydraulic ram could be placed in the neighbourhood of the creek which passes the garden of the Asylum, and which would afford a constant supply of good water at very little expense. 4. The Male Division. —This consists of the lower floor of the wing of the present buildings and the structures reaching backwards from the western extremity, which, originally intended for workshops, are now occupied as dormitories ; the furthest being, however, occupied as a day-room for the males, and is the only room appropriated to that purpose. Pive single rooms for noisy patients terminate this range. The dormitories, without exception, are overcrowded, in some to a dangerous degree. In one the inmates have at present rather less than 358 cubic feet of space each, an amount totally insufficient in any climate, and certain to lead to serious disease among the population of the Asylum at no distant date, should it be continued. All these dormitories afford much too low an average of cubic space for their inmates; and the day-room occupied by its present numbers is so small that endless squabbles among the excitable and irritable patients cannot fail to ensue from their close contiguity. The day-room proper is occupied as a dormitory ; and no proper separation of quiet from noisy, clean from dirty patients, or classification of any kind, can be carried out. The rooms intended as workshops, and used at present as dormitories, are so situated, in addition to other disadvantages, that no attendant takes charge of their inmates during the night, and the five single rooms are similarly circumstanced. 5. The Female Division. —The females occupy the upper floor of the existing wing. Though fewer in number considerably than the males, they are in nearly as crowded a condition, as the latter have the line of workshops, which being occupied as day-room and dormitories, afford increased space for their greater numbers. Corresponding exactly to the male division, while within the main building a line of single rooms with a wide corridor in front terminates in a corner block composed of several dormitories and a day-room, and with a lino of ten new cells just completed in the female airing-court, comprises the accommodation in use at present by the female patients. The single rooms in the corridor have their windows looking out upon the airing-court of the males. In consequence, the greater part of each window is walled up; a most objectionable state of things but quite necessary under the present arrangement of the patients. The dormitories in this division are all too much crowded; and as the ceiling of these rooms is four inches lower than in the rooms on the ground floor, the deficiency of cubic space is most serious. The one day-room is too small for the numbers compelled to occupy it. The airing court is covered with grass, and during the winter season is wet to such a degree as to render it useless to the patients. It should bo thoroughly drained, paths made enclosing flower or grass plots, or the whole court should be covered with scoria ash. There is no infirmary for sick patients in cither division; and no possibility of providing accommodation for sick, apart from other patients, can exist in the present crowded state of the house. The associated dormitories in both divisions have no attendant sleeping in them during the night; they are not provided with any means of lighting, and there is no mode of communication in case of accident, — all matters requiring immediate remedy. 6. The Dietary. —This seems ample in quantity, but in tho opinion of the Commission might bo more varied. The feeling of the Commission agrees with what was stated by the Medical Superintendent to be the wish of the inmates—namely, that soup should form a portion of the dinner more frequently than at present. It is suggested that'pea soup should be given once a week; that on three or four other days vegetable soup or barley broth be made with the meat; and on days alternating with those on which soup is issued, roast or baked meat should be given with an allowance of light beer, and on these days 4 lbs. less meat would be required. With a regular issue of beer, less extra porter, wine, and brandy would be needed. In fact, the price at which the wine is supplied is so low that it cannot be of any use. In the summer season one diet a week should consist of rice, milk, and sugar, and when fruit is abundant it might be added to it with advantage. The diets are three daily, at fair intervals. They are partaken of in the dining hall by the male patients; the females taking their food in their own division, as the diving hall does not afford accommodation for all at once. The dishes are of tinned iron, and the means of eating is afforded by spoons. A few quiet females are allowed crockery ware dishes, and knives and forks are permitted to very few ; and these the quietest only. No tablecloth is supplied in the dining hall; and the seats in that hall, and generally throughout the Asylum, have no backs, and are somewhat less comfortable than would be the case with these supports. " The issue of small extra allowances to well-conducted working patients seems to the Commission deserving of recommendation, as a means of inducing patients to employ themselves to the benefit of the Asylum. The useful patients are frequently convalescent, and as, during recovery from illness, a larger quantity of food can be assimilated than in health, to make up for tho waste which has occurred, an extra allowance would fulfil a double requirement. In all cases, however, working individuals require a larger amount of food, than those not so employed; and these extra allowances should be invariably given to all workers. They should be small quantities of bread and meat, or bread and cheese ; a little beer, or a little tobacco ; and should be given while the patients are at work. 7. Clothing and Bedding. —The dress of the men consists of a flannel vest and calico shirt, trousers, waistcoat, and blue shirt, or jumper, with stockings and slippers, or boots. The quantity seems sufficient; but the substitution of a tweed coat or jacket for the jumper would somewhat improve the tidiness of the dress.