7

H.—3l

together, would be about £200. This would include an iron kitchen-chimney, with self-contained range. This would be the best, as cartage of lime and bricks would be avoided. In addition to this, we must provide a cook's room and an office. This could take the form of one of the double shelters, exactly as for the patients. Lavatory accommodation could take the form of two shower-baths, and one plunge bath of galvanised iron. To this should be attached two earth-closets. The cost, of the whole building and fittings would be £50. Water-supply. —This is a somewhat difficult problem, for streams are very scarce on these pumice lands; but Mr. Matthews has always found water available on sinking to a depth of 6 ft. to 10 ft. A test-shaft would have to be sunk before selecting the actual site of the camp. When water was found, a windmill pump and a 600-gallon tank on a trestle would provide the necessary pressure. The cost of this would be about £50, including the sinking 'of the well. Water for culinary purposes might well be collected from the roof of the main building. Laundry-work would require to be done by the patients themselves. A very simple shed, a few tubs, and an ordinary boiler would be all that would be required. This would cost about £15. _ The total cost of buildings and water-supply, then, would be as follows, calculated for twelve patients: — £ Dining and kitchen block ... ... ... ... ... ... 200 6 double shelters at £35 each ... ... ... ... ... 210 Cook's room and office ... ... ... ... ... ... 35 • Water-supply, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ... 50 Lavatories, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ... . 50 Laundry and fittings ... ... ... ... ... ... 15 560 Furniture. —This need only be of the roughest description. A sufficient dining-table could be built on the spot, also benches for sitting at table, at a cost of a few pounds; lounge-chairs of the canvas deck type should be provided also—say, £6 in all. Table-linen, crockery, cutlery, and so forth—say, £15. Kitchen-table, furnishings, and utensils—say, £10. Of bedroom furniture, we already have a store at Motuihi, and therefore we need not make special allowance for this, beyond an enamelled wash-hand basin fitted to a bracket stand, a cupboard, and a few details of that sort. For this £2 a room would be ample. Ido not think it necessary in such a camp to provide linoleum for the floors, but a few rough mats might be obtained. The total cost of furnishing should not exceed £60. It will be necessary to provide a wagon and two horses, say, at a total cost of £60. The cost of cartage of timber, &c, to the site has been allowed for in my estimate of the building, but we must add the cost of cartage of furniture, &c. This, at Taupo, would be at the rate of £3 10s. per ton; at the Rotorua end, about £1 10s. per ton. A general allowance of £20 should cover this; bringing the total cost of establishing a camp and furnishing it to £700. 3. Cost of Maintenance. This is a figure very difficult to estimate, but I do not think it possible to expect the camp to be self-supporting, even if the patients did their own cooking, which would not be desirable, since cooking cannot be regarded as an ideal occupation for a person with consumptive tendencies. Further, to make the life attractive to the patients, we must enable them in rain more than their own upkeep—this especially when we consider that some have families dependent on them. Some would certainly be unable to do more than pay for their board, and a communistic state of affairs, where all shared alike the result of the combined effort, would be a direct encouragement to the malingerer and loafer. The actual cost of food will vary according to the site chosen. W T e have the evidence of the Prison Department as to this item to guide us. At Waiotapu, in 1907, the cost of maintenance for fifty-six prisoners was at the rate'of £19 9s. Bd. a year for each person; at Waipa, it was £17 Bs. Id.; at Dumgree, it was £27 Is. 6d. These items include lighting, fuel, and so forth. We can scarcely hope to attain such economical figures, especially as our scale of rations must be very liberal. I think we can expect it to come to about £40 a head per annum—a trifle lower at Rotorua than at Taupo, owing to the increased cost of cartage to the latter place. The cartage at the Rotorua camp might be considerably reduced by the possession of a cart and team of horses, as provided in my estimate for establishment. At Taupo it would amount to a total of about £50 a year (the cartage of trees need not be considered ; that is a matter for the Forestry Department). One advantage, however, at Taupo would be that meat can bo obtained locally, a distance of two to three miles away. Milk.— At either station milk is difficult to obtain, as the land is not adapted to grassing without a considerable outlay in manure, and so forth. The Matron has suggested that goats might be used, but even these would find it hard to obtain a living on the poor scrub found on these pumice lands. In course of time, and at some outlay, grazing for two or three cows might be obtained, but for some two years, probably, the milk must either be carted for long distances at great cost, or the preserved variety used. At Taupo a supply of fresh milk might be obtained at the village, but it would be very limited. At Rotorua arrangements might be made for the daily coach to leave a can of milk at the roadside. From there it might be carried to the camp