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5427. You had forgotten that such a report had been prepared ?—Yes. 5428. Do you approve of the system by which the Dunedin Hospital is ventilated ?—No; that might be improved. 5429. What is that system of ventilation ?—The wards are simply ventilated by means of open windows and fireplaces. 5430. Is that satisfactory ? —Not altogether. 5431. Have you ever seen any other hospital ventilated in the same way ?—The hospitals that I saw were old ones, except Lincoln, and I do not recollect much about them. 5432. You have seen the Christchurch Hospital?— That was upwards of five years ago. I believe it has been altered since then. 5433. Do you think the ventilation, which you say you do not approve of, is a matter of serious importance ? —I do not think it is so serious as all that. 5434. Then, you do not think it is serious ?—No. 5435. Do you see any particular objection to allowing the ventilation to remain as it is ?—No, I cannot say that I do. 5436. Do you think that there is any necessity at all for reducing the number of beds ?—No. 5437. Any necessity, in your opinion, for removing the closets?— No. 5438. Do you see any particular objection to the floors ? —-The floors might be in a better condition. 5439. Do you think that the matter is of any great importance or is of minor importance ?—Of minor importance. 5440. Can it be quite safely left as it is ?—Yes; there is no immediate necessity to do anything. 5441. The walls and the ceilings: is there anything the matter with them?—No; nothing worth mentioning. 5442. Tell us now if there is any necessity to alter anything at all in the Hospital?— The baths might be removed, and the lavatories also, because the steam from the baths gets into the wards. 5443. That is the only thing which you think requires any alteration? —So far as I can see, that is all. 5444. Have you devoted any attention to the study of particular drainage ? —-What drainage ? 5445. Well, to the study of sanitation or hygiene?—No; I cannot say that I have. 5446. Have you taken the trouble to inquire how many beds, according to the number of patients, these wards should contain? —No. 5447. Then, you do not know how many they should contain?— No. 5448. Though you do not know how many they do contain or should contain, you say that the wards are not overcrowded ?—So far as I know, they are not. 5449. But on what basis do you form that opinion?—On what I have seen in other hospitals. 5450. Have you ever read how much floor-space a patient ought to have ?—I think so. 5451. How much space clear should there be between the beds ?—I do not know ; I have not measured it. 5452. About how much? —I cannot say positively. 5453. Suppose I tell you that persons who have studied this question tell us that wards which contain fifteen patients should certainly not contain more than eight : what do you say to that; are you prepared to contradict them ?—I do not know. 5454. Do you know anything about it ?—No. I am not an expert on these matters, and I have not posed as one either. 5455. On what basis do you form your opinion as to the number of beds ?—I have already told you that I judge by what I have seen in other hospitals. 5456. How long is it since you saw the last hospital, other than Dunedin ?—ln July last. 5457. What hospital did you see then?— The Nelson Hospital. 5458. Are the beds close there ?—I think so. 5459. Did you find them so in the Ohristehurch Hospital ?—lt was upwards of five years ago since I saw that Hospital. 5460. How did you find it then ?—The beds were just as close as they are in the Dunedin Hospital now. Mr. Nathaniel Y. A. Wales sworn and examined. Witness : lam an architect practising in Dunedin. I have been practising here for about twenty years. 5461. Mr. Chapman.} Have you acted in connection with the Hospital?— Yes, I have. 5462. For how long ?—Occasionally ; about 1876 and 1877,1 think, was the first time. I have had nothing to do with it since it became a Hospital. We were employed then to make several alterations in the building. 5463. The Chairman.] But you have a much earlier knowledge of the building ?—Yes. 5464. You were with Messrs Clayton and Mason ? —Yes. 5465. You were clerk of works ?—I was constantly at the work, but Mr. Mathews was clerk of works. I was in the office, but I had occasion to be at the work almost all the time it was going on. 5466. That was in 1864? —Yes. It was in 1876 or so that we were required to make alterations. 5467. Mr. Chapman.] Had you anything to do with the original alterations when it was fitted up as a Hospital?—No, not when the patients were first removed into it. 5468. Now, there are various matters on which the Commissioners wish you to supply them with information. If you have a note of the different matters you have been asked to direct your attention to perhaps you will just mention them ?—I scarcely know in what order to take them.