DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR AT CASHMERE SANATORIUM.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 25, 3 September 1920, Page 14

DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR AT CASHMERE SANATORIUM.

ALLEGATIOXS NOT I I'.i ' i:Y THE MlNISTEE. Mr McCoombes (Lyttelton), desired to ask a question of the Minister of Defence, without notice, in regard to a complaint he had received from the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association as to the disposition of t'ne bodies of patients who died at the Cashmere Military Sanatorium. He had received the following letter from the seoretary tp the Association on the subjeci "I was r.equested to advise you of the fact that the bodies of patients who die in the Cashmere Military Sanatorium are placed in a large shed, which is used as a garage and stone for fodder, etc., and iio alteration is made therein during the timo a corpse is lying there. My Association has protested to the A.D.M.S., Christchurch, who stat-ed that although there was a morgue at th,e sanatorium, this building was being oceupied as sleeping quarters for two medical orderlies, My Association again protested and urged that the morgue be used for the purpo&e for which ifc was erected, and the officer-in-charge of the institution has replied that this building 'although uuilt for the purpose of a morgue, has never been used as such, and has never been fitted up for that purpose. Further, there is not suflicient accommodation for these orderlies elsewhere, and their services cannot be dispensed with at present.' "The patients of this institution feel that the bodies of their comrades who succumbed to this disease should at the very least be treated with respect." Appeal was now being "made to the Minister, and he asked the honourable gentleman if he would do something to remedy ihe state of ai'fairs revealed in this letter. HON. SIR HEATON RHODES REPLIES. The Hon. Sir R. H. Rhodes (Minister of Defence) entirely agreed with the writer of the letter that the body of a soldier who died should be treated with every respect, and as far as he was concerned ; he would see that the bodies were treated i with the respect that should be paid to them. He understood that the shed in which they were placed was suitable as a morgue, but he did not agree that the I bodies should be mixed up, as stated, with motor cars, fodder, and other stores. If it were used purely as a morgue it was suitable for the purpose, and he thought it was the only building availahle. He knew the building that was being erected for the purpose of a morgue, but he was under the impression that is was completed. However, he would take steps to see that due respect was paid to the bodies of those men.