TRENTHAM CAMP INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2517, 19 July 1915, Page 7

TRENTHAM CAMP INQUIRY

DEFECTS 1 HUTS

BUNKS PREFERRED TO BEDS

ON THE FLOOR

AMPLE FOOD SUPPLY

REPORTS AND INSPECTION" • OP THE SICK

Tho Royal Commission,- of Inquiry into'the Trontham Camp conditions-oon- ' tinued'its sittings in tho. Accountants' , Chambers on Saturday, . the Commissioners being Mr. Justice Hosting (chairman), Mr. W. Ferguson, M.1.C.E., and -Dr. A. A. Martin. The SolicitorGeneral. (Mr. Salmond, KIC.), appeared for th©. Crown in neutral interests, and Mr. C, I\ Skerrett, K.C., and Mr. A,, Gray, K.C., appeared, respectively as counsel in the interests of: those making charges or complaints, and for , those against whom might be made. : Beforo proceedijig" .with the evidence, the.-Chairman''said' that Lei desired to. dnnoiinco ■ that the' proceedings' were quite open to tlio public, so that anyone wishing to como in might do so. Furthor, all witnesses attendLig to give . evidence_ wcro entitled ' by law. to tho same privileges and'immunities as wit- : Messes -in- a civil', case in the Supremo Court, and all witnesses - who attended undor subpoena wore entitled to'travelling ■ expenses and maintenance oh the same scale as witnesses in a civil action in the Supremo Court. • The Commission, proposed, in regard to the hospi-. . tals, to ask the superintendent to.furnish a return (1) of all sick persons sent ini from';,camp ; ; (2) the dates of reception and;, discharge, and their complaints; (3) all oasos of serious illness;: (4) deaths,-, certified'' causes of death, • and 'dates; ■ and; (5) the. dates when, -the. ' "camp 1 authorities were informed of the existences of. serious.illness or death, and.whether they wero informed by. letter, telegram or teloplione. ; Erection of the Hutments. ■ ' ■ John.D. Louch, District Engineer for (Wellington, gave: evidonco that he had been in charge of ,works undertaken by '■his Department at' Trontham Camp. 'About tho.end of February the Department ': was requested -to erect sample ' hutments. Witness,, then received tho -instnictioii .given .the .Under'-Secrotary, "and;,the hutments were completed before March 19. ; Tho officers' hutment i.hcldfewer'.than tho men's, and the latter was designed., for-100 men. Tho ••samples: were accepted': with .modificai tions. Ho understood: tho design was ; furnished by the' Defence < and the finished hutments ■ were inspect-, ■lied' by a board composed of the Governj mentvArohitect,; the City Engineer, Dr. I 'Frongley, and ono' other, fhe modification was to reduce the depth, of tho j aperture' at tlie . top of the' hut., and a ■ fillot of timber was attached to tno plato ;.at' the 1 bottom' to prevent the.,draught i getting in -through the corrugations of i tho iron. ..■

j Mr. Salmond: Do you consider tho plan, suitable?—" Well, it was approved by •tho board—by experts." ; Well,'waa thero too muoh ventilation? —-"Not, in fine /weather:'. 1 ';; /.HeHthough't ; the;trouble.was that tho men'slept on! mattrossea oa the .floor. Some sort of raised beds would; liavo been better. erect; further- huts by. 'day labour during April—32. for,men and .11 for officers. Thoy. liad been incroas;ed later, and ,were completed at the -.rate, of 'about one ovory two days. I'Thero was no delay. ;' Tenders' were : ; fo-st called for, !but;were declined.' By July: 8 forty-four had- been completed, 'and soven were in course of construction, as well as officers' hpts, and certain buildings.' : Thoy . made • all' I ' speed they • could.- but had difficulty in getting .cor- - rugated iron, for some of which they had to send to Melbourne; thero-was also delay in getting glass and seasoned timber. Tliey got men from all over tho Dominion, and towards the end some men left owing to being overcrowded, ■and through; fear of illness. :■ From, the iivery first witness'thought that the men should not sleep on the floor. . '

, The Chairman: Did! you. notify your superiors? ■ •; ■

■Mr. , Louch said that he was simply carrying out instructions. He did,mako a sample -stretcher when tho work began, but he did not think any of the military authorities saw it. Lately it had been sent to the authorities,'but he showed it to nobody at. first.; The reason he made the-, sample / stretcher ■ was to have it ready in case tho question came tip. ■ ■ Bunks were never suggested to him by his superiors or tho military authorities.

i V-.ifoe- Chairman: Were you invited to be present with the'committee of 'exports?—"No, nor was the Chief Engi-' superior. ■ The Government i ® ineinbcr of tJib Commis- ■ Bion. ' He believed the huts were designed: by the Government Architect's office and the" military headquarters conjointly. Ho.also thought the Health-Depart-r ment_ had : something to do'with them. He did not remember: any particular instance whete he was specially urged to hasten the completion,''but it wasalways ■ understood that all Haste was to be used. He thought that all the men who presented: themselves were employ- 1 , ed; they had an averago of 100 carpenters. ■

Erection of Hospital Delayed. ' • The Government Architect, prepared plans for the; hospital,' and ;th'e contract was let on.'April 27 to Mr. 'H. H. Knight. The date for completion Wjas June 27.' 'That was a short time to allow. The contract price was £2889, exclusive of. drainage and electric lighting;. The contractors were stopped by the outbreak of the. epidemiq in July.". j. The Chairman: How was it that they were not concluded in time?—" Well, the time was ahort in the first place."' ' \ You had absorbed the n.arket somewhat ?—"So the contractor" said."

How long willitfoke to complete it?— 'About three weeks. The contractor was instructed' to go on with' the work on •Friday morning- Notice was given him to pirt on a large number of men. ' The hospital would provide, permanent accommodation for sixteen patients and nurses." . The Chairman: Was there any discussion on the subject of lining the hute?— ■"Not to my knowledge." ' ■ Dr. Martin: Are the huts perfectly warm and comfortable?—"ln fine .weather.' ' ' . .. The Ohairman: On wet, told days?— ; "-I-have slept an worse places." I take it from you that they would be cold on a cold, windy day?—r"On a windy they would be, especially as the men slept on the floor.'' ' Would you prefer a floored tent • 1 never had the luxury of a floor." Would you prefer a tent"On a very stormy night I would prefer a hut." ; Dr. Martin : Do you_thinl- the huts should-be lined?—"l think they are the same as at Home.", _ ; Have you any' suggestions ? —■ I.think the number should be reduced to thirty men in each compartment, sixty to the hut, end that bunks should be provided."

' Do you think it necessary to line the nuts?—"No, L not necessarily. If the ,men were raised from the floor they '.would he more comfortable."

■The Chairman: These huts were rather jof a .temporary character?—" Yea, that. ■ia<ijso. fopt it ,waa fa<(

some of tho flooring should not bo securely nailed, in case they had to bo removed somewhere olse."

Dr. Martin: Do you think the huts are preferable to tents? —"Yos, I should say, so." . > The Drainage System.

Witness detailed l tlio drainago schomo which he got as a complete schemo from Mr. Morton, City Engineer, and .the military authorities. It was completed some little time ago. That was the soever, drainage. There was no system of storm-water drainage. Ho regarded it as a defect to have no provision for storm-water drainage. There was a grave!, subsoil, and the water isoon went away, except''.when the top ground liad boon trampled till it became impervious. A system of storm-water drainage was to bo put in hand at once. In Siis opinion, ho thought it would be dcsirablo to di&connect tho storm-water drainago from, the sewerage drainage. , • Tlie Chairman: Are you personally satisfied with the latrine service?

Witness favoured a. better arrangement for the night service, and thought an improvement was to bo made. Ho understood the whole question of, loading, drainage, etc., had within the last few days been put in the hands of tho Engineor-in-Chief (Mr. Holmes). It had been impossible to tar the roads. Nathan . Seddoji, overseer, Public Works Department, engaged at Trentham sinco April 19, said that ho had been in charge of the erection of the ■huts' from tho commencement.

| Mr. Salmond: Was any complaint mado that-you were not getting on fast enough?—" Not tliat I know of. During the early stages they started at 6 o'clock.' Advantage was taken 1 of all tlio 1 dayliclit, and in his opinion tlie work could not ; have gone any faster. The first week there was difficulty owing to the lack of material, hut not, afterwards. They, always seemed to be, able to .'get'plenty of men. The num- : ber dwindled down towards the close, but it might have been because the work was getting finished. There was a question during the last week among the men, about getting paid if they got ill; It was estimated then that tie work would '■e done in a fortnight, and tlio inen considered it would Tie bettor to knock off than risk getting measles,' unless they were sure of pay.

Sleeping on the Floor. ' Mr. Salmond: :4to you satisfied/with the huts?—"No ;_I. consider they .wanted ridge ventilation, to get rid of the bad air, and cause tho air to draw.'' His idea was . that tho ventilation was coming down instead of up. That was causing the draught. Ho liad been.in the huts day and night. They were stuffy, ii tho morning after being occupied;'- -. - ■ ..V - ._ ...

Do you think it objectionable to sleep on the floor?—" From my own: experi<nice in a small 1 hut I think it was. I can't get warn ullT put up a bunk." : Could , vou keep yourself dry at the camp?—" Yes; with the aid of gum boots."

What part is worst?—" The; main roads around the hutments." 'There was a, system of metalling' going : on. Tlie men were doing it themselves,, but not altogether regularly. He thought a proper system of roading was necessary.; Thero would bo no difficulty in tho 6ummorl • • •' •:.'••

Captain Thomas M'Oristall, Gamp Quartermaster at Trentham. since October, . ,1914, gave evidence that 'he issued clothing to tho men as , they arrived in camp, looked after camp sanitation,, cook houses, feeding ar- ~ rangements, etc. There was a shortage of boots for tbcj, 220.0 men whocame in extra.He Had never been short of ■the first issue, but occasionally, : apart from the 2200 men, .he was short of odd isizes. 'It was only since the end ,Of the summer, about March.' or '.'April;'' that ho gave the second pair "during the first, weekt Ho could 1 not say'-'why he had _been short. All he did was to requisition for the number of men coming In.-;'.' Oil-April 19 he was notified of; the 2200 men, and they came in six weeks' later.' He requisitioned, for the olothing soniewliero about the, time he was notified 1 , but' the: boots, were riot supplied in tinie; He could supply particulars of, the dates he was notified of .all extra men, and the dates ho re-, quisitioned for tlie elotliijjfi.

, Tlio Chairman: You might ' supply thoso dates.-' so that.' we can find out why you did not get ; these' boots. .Witness said that lei got tho„ balance for the. second issue about, a week ago. When the 2200 men arrived on a Sunday he found that the blankets had not arrived. They got them out from town, and got over • tlie difficulty. Ho got some on the Sunday and the ' balance the following day. He did not tlrink that, there was anything else, short for the 'first issue.

Witness described certain defects in the system of sewerage drainage. It .was the extra' number of nien coming in ' that showed the inadequacy. -Of course it could not bo foreseen what the amount of soakage would bo on that ground. Grease traps were required at the cook-houses, at a , sufficient distance away to allow greasy water to cool. He understood ono was being put in when the camp broke up. The drainage from cadi row of huts and cook-houses, he thought, should, bo led to separate soakage pits.- The gravel was excellent, and the. soak pita were giving-every, satisfaction. There was no smell from thorn. Defects in Drainage. To Dr. MaTtin: It was the second battalion of the Trentham Regiment Who were mostly ill. Ho made full requisition' for equipment for them/ No man had to sleep without blankets owing 1 to tlie 'fact that all- tho. blankets had not' arrived in time. Every man got his blankets and a. waterproof sheet. As far as he knew-every man cot the three blankets, but somo might have got two. Ho took some off his own bed. . No complaint , was made to him/ ;but, ho complained because tlio blankets .had not arrived. Ho had spoken-to many about .the defects in the .drainage,. but had not'made a written . report. He could not say what medical officers he had told about the sewerage dofects, but he had spoken to several.

Dr. Martin: You never. officially reported' any defects?—" No." Tho thing had practically been taken out of his hands when 'he spoke about it. . You inspect the drain systein daily ? —"I don't il see that it is carried out, though." He visited every part of the camp daily 1 He first noticed the defects a little before Dr. Finch arrived, and ho spoke of them to him. _ . ' . Mr. Ferguson: Have you ordinarily a sufficient staff?—" Yes; I havo no,complaints about my staff." Dr. Martin: Up to the time Dr. Finch arrived you were the only one to inspect the drainage ? —"No; the orderly medical- officer and tho P.M.O. both inspected it."

Did you ever receive any instructions' to alter "the system?—" No." Dr. Martin asked relating t'he whole camp sanitation, and witness detailed what had been done from October last.

To Mr. Gray: Everything went all right up to May 29. Some of tho sewerage system was in working order then, but the new system was first used on May 29. When he noted any defects ho mentioned it verbally to iho medical officer. The only suggestion of his that was canied out, as far as ho knew, was' that conncctcd with tho grease traps. His staff was both efficient and sufficient.

To Mr. Salmond: Wednesday of last weak was the first date on Which he received instructions to supply mattress covering' free of charge. Before tlien'/ithe men bought tho covers themselves, and tho straw was supplied. Mattresses had never been_ supplied before in New Zealand, but it would be quite reasonablo to supply bedding for a permanent camp. The supply of food had always been good and plentiful, hut complaints Jwi' jjeen ffladq flbout, pelßjegata^lsa..

These were supplied when they -could be got. Owing to excessive wasto ho reduced tho supply of butter from 4ozs. per day to 3ozs. Tho greatest number of men he had put through in a day was 1750. No cases had occurred where men who had arrived early had to wait till 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning for equipment." Scalo of Food Supply. Lieutenant Philip N. Petty, supply officer at Trentham camp sinco October, 1914, gave evidence that lit l controlled supply and cartage*,' etc. With regard to food, contracts woro mado by Headquarters and taken by rail to Trentham, where he issued lfc to tlio units. Tho quality was very good indeed. The scalo of\ food; per nrnJi per day was: Broad, ljlb.; flour (for thickening gravy,'etc.), loz.; fresh meat, Jib.: cheese, 20z.; coffee, Joz.; pepper, l-320z.; salt, Joz.; sugar, 40z.; tea, |oz. (British scalc, 5-8oz.); potatoes, lib. (jib. when green vegetables); jam, 30z.; butter, 3oz. (during the South African war no butter was issued) ; oatmeal, 2oz. ; onions,, }lb.; candles, 1 per tent;'milk I pint per man, or 1-8 tin of condensed,; rico. 2oz. per week; currants, loz. per week. Fresh vegetables were riot laid down in the scale,_ but when tho full number of men wero in camp, up to 40 sacks of cabbages, containing about two dozen each, wero supplied three times every weok, in addition to carrots and parsnips. If thero wero complaints about want of vegetables it was not due to tho supply. It was not possiblo to cook cabbage for all tho men on one day, so tho issue was' divided into separate lots on different days. A oopper for vegetables would bo an advantage. Tlie English scale of vegetables was lib. per day, or 2oz. of dried Vegetables. That included: everything. Every man in New Zealand should, get green vegetables at least once per week. There was enough' supplied to give fresh vegetables fully twico a week. He had seen no, basis for the complaints that fruit and vegetables sent into camp as gifts were not. issued. Fatigue parties sometimes peeled 'tho potatoes thickly so as to get done quicker.

The Chairman: A potato-peeling machine would do. , . 1

Witness said that gift fruit was distributed in rotation. A book was kept of the distribution of fruit. Cases had Occured where some people had- sent in'a sack of cabbages for, say, the Taranaki men. When it was remembered that there" were thirteen units, with some Taranaki men in them, it was seen how difficult it was to distribute to them. That had caused some of the complaints;

The Chairman: Tho best method for gifts, then, is to make them generally, and let you distribute them?—" Yes. The Sick Men. Captain M'Cristall, recalled, explained how provision was mado to see that sick men were reported on if they could not leave their tents. An orderly corporal went round each tent of his company every morning. The orderly corporal reported to ihe company sergeant, who made out tho report for tlio medical officer. Ho kne>v of no men having been left unattended in his tent. If a man was well onougli ho was marched down to medical inspection! If he was too bad ; ho was carried.

Mr. Salmond: Few men are so bad on tho first day that they cannot walk ?— "0h 4 yes, some of them ire.'.' ' ' Witness! had read complaints in the papers. Some were truo and some were not. It wai not true that men ,wero left sick in the tents.

: :Tho Commission adjourned till this morning. ■

HEALTH OF THE HORSES. ' STRANGLES 'AND MUD FEVER. ' Regarding the suggestion that there wero cases of strangles and mud fover amongst the horses at Trentham, the Minister of Defence has received a report by. the Director- of Veterinary Service and Remounts' on the subject. The. report states that mud fever is not a'contagious disease, but simply an inflammatory condition of-the skin and legs, and occasionally of the under part of the body. The last by-weekly report on Trentham from, the veterinary officer did not" show a single case of the affection, and no case has been since reported.; . Only one case of mud fever had occurred at Trentham sinco the camp was initiated.:. Very few cases of strangles, have occurred at and none are in camp at present, it being the practice to remove all strangles cases at onco to special lines at Wallacoville Laboratory. Tho total number of eases of strangles from Trentham . now at "Wallacctown is 14, some of these being nearly recovered.

A Visit to Trontham. The Prime Minister (tho Eaglit'Hon.. W. F. Massey) and the Mayor and Mayoress (.Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Luke) visited Trentham Camp yesterday. There las been a great decreaso in the sickness, and mora a'fo being discharged ■convalescent than, tire being admitted to the_ hospitals. ; Tho camp sito is much improved since tlie dry, weather sot in. - '