25

H.—26

cases should be provided. The reply was that the matter is under consideration. For the most part the inmates are indigent. We have old-age and Imperial pensioners. The Board receives the old-age pension and returns Is. a week to them. As regards the Imperial pensioners, when the pension is over the actual cost, the balance is handed back to the pensioner. We also have inmates whose friends and relations pay for their maintenance. Each case is considered by the Committee, who report to the Board. Mr. Skynner has complained about some of his staff being drunk. One or two have been discharged. I should prefer flushed closets. The urinals should be better. The Board purposely refrained from appointing a man, and his wife as Matron. It is impossible to have any classification or to make the Home comfortable for old age considering the class of persons we have to deal with. It is practically impossible for the Board to ameliorate to any great extent the existing condition of things unless we have money to do it with. I produce the Visiting Officer's report with reference to the admission of James, the masturbator. [Report produced.] Henry Nelson Garland sworn and examined. When the present purchase of land is completed there will be a balance left from the Costley bequest of £1,363 Us. sd. The bequest was £12,150. That was left in 1883. Trustees had control of it till it was paid to the Board. It was paid to the Board in 1886. The capital and the accumulated interest were both paid to the Board. The Home was finished in 1890. The interest of the money meantime was applied to the maintenance of what was known as the Upper and Lower Refuges, inhabited by old men and women. The Costley Home was originally stocked from there. The iron bedsteads and part of the bedding went from those refuges to the Home. The beds were sterilised as far as possible. No doubt vermin was taken to the Home then. The Salvation Army has a maternity home at Ponsonby. The Church of England is about to build one at Otahuhu. The Door of Hope is not a maternity home. I produce returns showing the staff of the Home from time to time, and other details. John Wisdom Shackelford sworn and examined. lam the Mayor of Grey Lynn. At a meeting of the local bodies exception was taken to the largely increased demand made for the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. The meeting was comprised of the whole of the local bodies who contributed to the Board. They appointed the the Road Boards as a special Committee to see if the expenditure could not be curtailed. The demand was so great that the various bodies were unable to meet it. We had much evidence as regards the Costley Home, and a visit was paid to it by several members. The result of the visit was that I was disappointed at the state of affairs. The Home was not as clean as it should have been. The stove was bad. The beds needed a good deal of attention. The laundry was very bad. The old men had no business to be working under the conditions in the laundry. The inmates of the men's infirmary ward appeared to be desolate. The whole Home was desolate and uncomfortable. It was impossible to ask for a reduction of expenditure after seeing the condition of the Home. We felt that the place should be made efficient. We had nothing to do with Mr. Moss's grievances. We felt that the Governor might well ask for improvements. By Mr. Cotter: The large increase all round was the cause of the appointment of the Committee to find out if the expenditure was warranted. I was satisfied that as far as the Costley Home is concerned further expenditure was necessary. Nay, I say it is imperative. The local bodies had no idea the patients were in the state they are in. John Atkinson Walker sworn, and examined by the Commission. I was a member of the Committee appointed to report on the Hospital and the Costley Home. The reason we asked for a Commission of inquiry was that we were not satisfied with the Home. There did not appear to be that thorough cleanliness there might have been. The women's ward in the main building seemed to be well lighted and clean. The men's hospital ward and ordinary wards were built in a hollow which, in my opinion, is a very unsuitable position. Many of the inmates are suffering from complaints incident to old age, and as the floors of these wards are only from 15 in. to 18 in. above the ground, with very inadequate ventilation under the floors, the wards must be very damp, quite unsuitable as a residence for old men. The Commission should order a portion of one of these floors to be taken up to see if it is damp. There is no surfacedrainage, or adequate drainage of any kind, and in wet weather the water lies around the wards. The urinals were very offensive. There is a plentiful supply of water. There should be a thorough system of drainage. There should be water-closets instead of the box system. There is no adequate hot-water supply. The inmates should be obliged to bathe at stated times. There should be a washable uniform worn while the inmates are in the Home. The sitting-rooms in the men's wards are cheerless and unsuitable places. By Mr. Cotter: The smell from the urinals was distinct from carbolic acid. I consider the present position of the new men's wards positive cruelty to the old men. Ido not see how they can recover from rheumatism there. lam prepared to recommend on behalf of the body I represent that the men's wards be pulled down and rebuilt in a more suitable position on higher ground. It is absolute cruelty to the old men that they should be compelled to live there. Seeing that the deaths were nearly doubled last year there must be some reason for it. Francis E. Sevbrne sworn and examined. lam the Governor of Mount Eden Gaol. With reference to the resolution read to me, I state that I do not possess the powers that resolution confers on the Manager of the Home as regards the prisoners under my charge. In the event of a prisoner misconducting himself, I have power to lock 4—H. 26.