THE MAHENO

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2657, 31 December 1915, Page 5

THE MAHENO

. —■ — TYPHOID " CARRIERS" ABOARD ARRANGEMENTS DOUBTFUL., By;Telegraph—PieES Association. ' Auckland, December 30. ' The Minister of Hospitals (the Hon. G. W. llussell) has received a wireless message froin Colonel Collins, in charge of the Maheno, stating that, on account of enteric "carriers" having been found aboard, it may be necessaary, in-tho in- ' terests of the publio health, to take special precautions in connection with 170 men and three officers aboard the ship. Tho Minister! stated this morning that he was satisfied that'there was no outbreak of enteric' aboard,- seeing that only a few days ago the original, 140 cot oases that were_ reported had been reduced to thirty-eight, when no ■mention had been made of the enteric, Wireless messages were being dispatched to-day to ascertain the specific position. . If neoessary, the Auckland Hospital Board will deal with the whole of them in Auckland, but if .it is deemed necessary, successive batches will be landed for other hospital centres. Dr. Valintine (Chief Health Officer) askod if the wounded would be isolated from their: relatives, said he saw no speoial reason for doing so in the absence pf any instructions to the contrary by the doctors in attendance. THE MEN RETURNING. THE SCHEME FOR DISTRIBUTION. Inquiries made yesterday from the 5 Minister of Defence; and the Publio Health Department, failed to elicit any i more information about the health of the men on the Maheno than the above message conveys. Colonel Purdy, and other members of the military medical staff have gone to Auckland, and Sur-geon-General Henderson is on hia way there. The present intention is that the Maheno will berth at Auckland tomorrow, and, after landing about seventy or eighty of the. returned men there, conie on to Wellington with the _ regaining 240 or 2/50, arriving in Wellington' at 7 o'clock on Monday morning. Arrangements for the reception of tho troops have been made, but-it is not known yet whether these can be adlered to. The Maheno may have to bo quarantined at' Auckland, : and if that hored to. , The men who are to be brought on to Wellington include the South Island men. The Wairarapa, .Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and Wanganui men will (if present arrangements hold) be dispatched by extra carriages attached to the mail trains. Nelson men will disembark here. Canterbury and Otago men will be carried on to their own por-j^sL STATEMENT BY MINISTER .EMERGENCY PROVISIONS MADE.. I (By Telegraph.—Preaa' Association.) Auckland, December 80. This morning the Hon. G. W. Russell received from the. commander .of the hospital ship Maheno. a message stating that owing to -the presence of. enterio ' "carriers" among the convalescents, it might be advisable to isolate 170 men and three officers on arrival in Auckland. The Minister sajs that the message 1 came as an absolute surprise, as recent advices 'stated that all men were doing well, and that the 100 cot cases aboard at the beginning of the voyage lad been - reduced .' to 88. c He immediately sent a request by wireless . for further information, but up .to a late hour tonight he had received no reply. Mean- . while the Minister and Dr. Valentine ; have conferred with the local hospital authorities, and as a precautionary measure arrangements have been made for the accommodation in hospitals here of any number of cases up to 200, Mr. llussell stated- to-iiight tliat he thinks it probable that , the "carriers" have been discovered in certain wards, and' that all the meh in those wards accordingly are under suspicion. If the "carriers" were widely distributed on the ship there was a. possibility of the whole of the ship's company being placed in quarantine. _ A considerable number' of men returning had been suffering from enteric, and it. was well known that a certain ■proportion of ipatients, known.as "carriers," carried the germs for a long time, perhaps all' their lives afterwards, and were a perpetual source-of infection to others. The Department would do everything possible to study the convenience of returning soldiers, but was also obliged to protect the publio.against .a possible outbreak of enteric. _ There is a possibility of: the egtensivo reception arrangements, al/eady almost completed, being cancelled. '