H.—7

At Sunnyside one woman had her leg fractured from being knocked down by another patient. At Wellington there were two fractures, owing to accidental falls, and one dislocation. Nelson Asylum had one patient's wrist broken, having been knocked down by another patient. New Buildings and Improvements. The Auxiliary Asylum at Auckland, which had been burned to the ground, is rapidly being replaced by a substantial brick building, and the extension of the male wing of the main asylum is in hand. When those works are completed no further extension will be required. At Wellington a new dormitory and ten single rooms have helped to relieve the pressure. A further section of the male side is in progress at Porirua; but it is imperative that the whole of the new asylum be at once provided for if the congestion of all our asylums is to be remedied. To effect this a vote of £25,000 is necessary. At Sunnyside the laundry is not yet furnished with the appliances required to bring it into use, so that another winter must be got through somehow with the old laundry. The new airing-courts are being got ready, and they will greatly add to the comfort of the patients. Seacliff has been made much more comfortable by the large new court on the male side, and the female side is being provided with beautiful new airing-courts. This will get rid of the depressing back courts, which alone have been hitherto available. It has also been decided to erect a covered way from the auxiliary to the main building. At Nelson a new dairy has been provided. The next work to be undertaken ought to be a house for the Superintendent. A home for inebriates, and a special institution for idiots and imbeciles, are urgently needed. At all our asylums the fire-extinction apparatus has been put in a state of thorough efficiency by Captain Hennah, the Government Fire Inspector, and he has given invaluable assistance in organizing efficient fire brigades among the attendants. His annual visits will secure the maintenance of the present satisfactory arrangements. Financial Eesults op the Year. The total gross expenditure for the year was £59,158 os. Bd., as against £58,700 16s. 3d. for the previous year, an increase of £457 4s. sd. The total net expenditure was £48,116 14s. 2d., as compared with £47,948 4s. 2d. for 1894, being an increase of £168 10s. The net cost per patient was £1 2s. Bd. less than the previous year, the figures being £22 13s. B|d. per head for 1895, and £23 16s. 4|d. for 1894. Sunnyside Asylum still shows the best results for the year, the net cost per patient being £18 4s. 9-|d., while the large sum of £3,256 12s. 7d. was received for maintenance, sales of produce, &c. There was a reduction in the net cost per head at Porirua Asylum of £3 12s. 9-J-d., owing to Dr. Burns's careful management and to the institution being now in complete working-order. Seacliff and Hokitika Asylums show reductions of £2 6s. ljd. and £1 19s. 9|d. per head respectively. The principal items which show decreases in the general averages are : Provisions, lls. 1-Jd. per head; bedding and clothing, ss. 3-J-d. per head; and necessaries, lls. 2Jd. per head. These decreases may be put down in part to the new contracts which were entered into last year. The following figures give the cost per patient at each asylum : — £ s. d. Auckland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 8 3} Christchurch ... ... ... ... ... ... 18 4 9| Seacliff ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 23 4 l| Hokitika ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 0 4| Nelson ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 21 2 6 Wellington... ... ... ... ... ... ... 21 7 9£ Porirua ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 18 9f

MEDICAL SUPEBINTENDENTS' EEPOETS.

AUCKLAND ASYLUM. Sib,— I beg to submit to you the following report on the Auckland Lunatic Asylum for 1895 : During the early part of the year, until the middle of February, Dr. Burns was Medical Superintendent in charge. The difficulties to contend with must have been considerable. The closing days of the previous year had witnessed the total destruction of the Auxiliary Asylum by fire—a catastrophe whereby about a hundred of the male patients were suddenly" deprived of accommodation. The state of matters was all the more serious owing to the already overcrowded condition of the male wards in the main building. As a temporary measure to tide over the difficulty, the Quarantine Station on Motuihi Island was prepared for the reception of sixty of the patients, and forty others were not uncomfortably provided for in the new farm-build-ings. As autumn advanced it became apparent that the Quarantine Station would be impracticable as an asylum during the winter months. The patients on the island were therefore brought back to the Auckland Asylum early in April, and for their reception I had to make certain alterations in the arrangement of the institution. The female patients' dining-hall was converted into a male patients' day-room, and two day-rooms on the male side of the asylum were fitted

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