11.—19

6

nine patients were admitted in 1886. The cash-book is entered up to the Ist December, at which date all the books and documents were handed over to the new secretary by Mr. Gudgeon, honorary secretary, who had all the books and documents in admirable order. The receipts from patients for the three quarters ending the 31st December amounted to £35 ; the voluntary contributions for the last year, ending the 31st March, were £167 17s. Conditions of admission : Life-members, for £20, can nominate three indoor and two outdoor patients; subscribers of £5, two indoor and one outdoor patient; subscribers of £2, one indoor and one outdoor patient; subscribers of £1, one indoor patient; contributing local authorities can nominate three indoor or outdoor patients ; in-patients, noncontributing, pay £1 55.; contributors of less than 15s. pay 155.; contributors of 15s. and upwards pay 10s. per week. The total cost of the institution has for the last few years averaged £800. This year the cost will be about £950, which includes £80 for a telephone, which is urgently required. The drug-bill for the year amounts to £19 os. 7d., and the medical comforts to £8 7s. Salaries : Dr. Stackpole, £250 ; Bell, the warder, and his wife, £100; Mr. Marshall (secretary), £20. There were only two patients on the date of my visit, one male and one female. " 12th January, 1887. "

COEOMANDBL. This hospital is a plain wooden building, standing on a rising ground on the right side of the road, a little distance from the town. The reserve is about three acres, all of which is unfenced except a small piece of garden-ground, which is stocked with potatoes, peas, turnips, and cabbage. A good stream of pure water bounds the reserve. The building consists of a central part, with verandah in front and two projecting wings. The central part contains the male ward, which is 20ft. by 15ft., a small fever ward, and a bare and draughty bath-room with two doors, one leading into the ward and the other into the kitchen. The other rooms in the building are a dispensary, a Board-room, and a kitchen. At the back of the hospital there is a separate cottage, containing three compartments, one of which contains a good carpenter's bench, the others being used as lumber-rooms. The male ward contains four beds, three of which are occupied with recent cases. One of the beds has a wire-mattrass, but it belongs to the patient. The others are ordinary military beds, with straw mattrasses. The bedding is kept scrupulously clean. The ward furniture consists of a plain deal table and a few chairs. There is a strip of matting along the floor, a few prints adorn the walls, and there is a table with some books in the corner. The walls are roughly papered and dingy. There are three sash-windows and no fireplace. The kitchen has a good range, and is of good size, and is suitably furnished. The crockery and other table appointments are good and very clean. The water-supply consists of one square iron tank, supplied from the shingle roof. In an open press off the back ward are kept a few blankets and some odds and ends of spare bedding. The stores are kept in a meat-safe and are supplied daily. I found the meat, bread, and butter of good quality. The out-patients for the month of November numbered four. All paid for their medicine except those who come from Whangapaoa, the Committee of which place pay £25 a year, and £1 a week for every patient treated in the hospital. The workmen at Whangapaoa, besides this, subscribed £29. Fear of a rate has this year stopped voluntary contributions altogether. The withdrawal of Piako County will make the rates very heavy on the Coromandel and Thames districts; for it has the great bulk of rateable property, and few, if any, sick and destitute people. The patients spoke in the highest terms of the treatment they received from the doctor and the wardsman. The register of patients is well kept, and there are no other books. The interior of the hospital requires renovating throughout. 30th November, 1886.

DUNBDIN. I have visited this hospital three times during 1886. My last inspection was made on the 20th January, 1887, when I examined every part of the institution, including the outbuildings and the grounds. Though not originally intended for a hospital, this large and handsome building has, with great skill, been so converted that it serves its purpose reasonably well. The site is in the centre of the most populous part of the city, and, though it is exceedingly convenient from its accessibility, it is not such a situation as would commend itself for a hospital, being very low-lying, and having a swampy subsoil. Everything possible, however, has been done to obviate these disadvantages. The basement has been ventilated and properly floored, so that now, instead of being foul and damp, it is utilized for kitchen- and store-accommodation, and contains the boiler and furnace-room besides. This arrangement, though convenient in some respects, is evidently a great drawback so far as the wards above are concerned. The great and saving feature of the building is the great hall, around which on the ground-floor and first floor the wards and accessory offices are arranged, those on the first floor opening off a projecting corridor. This central space extends from the floor to the roof, and has an area of 120 ft. by 51ft. It is suitably furnished with linoleum and matting, which covers the right- and left-hand staircases, and is carried all round the corridor on the first floor. On the ground-floor the right-hand side of the hall is occupied by the secretary's room and the staff-room, which is mostly used by the students. On the left-hand side are the operatingroom, the staff dining-room, and one room off the dining-room for Mrs. Burton, the matron. The remaining two sides of the central hall are occupied by four large male wards, two on each side, all arranged and furnished in the same way. Ward No. 1 is 54ft. by 24ft. 6in., and 16ft. high. It has two large windows in the end wall, and five windows on the north-west side. In each window there is a movable division, regulated by a supporting arm resting on a nail, besides a flap-ventilator at the foot, with perforated iron sides. Thee of the holland blinds, are very dilapidated and creased. There is a neat dado, painted dark brown, all round, with a yellowishbrown grained border. The walls are distempered of a lavender colour, and the ceilings white.