H.—l9b.

117

D. ROBERTSON.

7. You were secretary of the committee? —Yes. 8. What did you do to carry out that end?— Wishing to get a bed as near to military purposes as possible I wrote to the Commandant of the camp, and asked him to give me full particulars of a military bed, if such a thing was in existence. He replied through his secretary stating that as everything in connection with the hospital was being given as gifts to them they preferred to have nothing to say about it. 9. Who wrote this?-—lt was signed by a lieutenant, and he advised me at the same time to get into touch with Mrs. Luke, the Mayoress of Wellington, who had these matters in hand. 10. Did you communicate with Mrs. Luke?— Yes, and I have her reply here. [Letter put in and perused by 7 Commissioners.] IT. The Chairman.] The purport of this letter is that it was suggested that it would bo best to hand over the money to the Mayoress so that everything should be of the same character and quality ?—Yes. 12. Or else you could devote the money to any other part of the equipment, seeing that they had bought the full supply of beds?— Yes. 13. What did you do in reply to that letter?—A\ r e wished to see our Petone bed established at the Trentham Camp, and for that purpose my committee with myself visited Trentham on the following Sunday. 14. You visited camp on the 7th March?— Yes. 15. Mr. Skerrett.] Whom did you see at the camp?— First of all I saw a sergeant, and told him for what we had come, and he immediately brought Major Fyffe (Dr. Fyffe) and introduced us to him. I notified the doctor of what our mission was, and told him that we intended to give a bed. " But," T said, " You have not got a hospital " ; and he said, " Come and have a look"; and he was most condemnatory of the action of the authorities as regards the hospital at Trentham. 16. The Chairman!] What did he show you?—He took us into an open marquee in which there were four beds. t7. Mr. Skerrett.] Was there room for more?—No; in fact, there was only room for three. 18. Were they occupied—the four beds?—l remember that at least two were occupied; and he was most condemnatory of the action of the authorities for not having better equipment. 19. The Chairman.] Could you tell us what he said and then we can judge?—No, sir; 1 think those words convey his expression. He said, " I know not where to get supplies, and I knownothing about, it. I have sent to Wellington, but cannot get any satisfaction." 20. Supplies of what?— Material for his beds. He did not have a change of sheeting. He had to wait until one man got out of bed. 21. Mr. Skerrett.] Did he make any reference to the mattresses?—l saw the mattresses. He drew our attention to them, and the poor quality of them. There was no stuffing. The men appeared really to be lying on wire screens with just a slight covering. 22. The mattresses were unfit for the purpose?— Quite unfit. 23. The sheets—did you see them?— Yes, I saw them. He asked the sergeant to bring specimens of the sheeting. One was simply a bolster which had been cut in two. The other was a mass of patchwork. 24. What was the width of the bolster-sheet? —Roughly speaking, from 18 in. to 2 ft. 25. In width?— Yes. 26. Had the marquee a floor?— No. 27. Just a grass floor?—A dust floor. 28. Was there a substantial amount of dust in the marquee?— Yes, everywhere. The only place where there was not dust was in the dentistry department; there was a wooden floor there. 29. Was there a dispensary attached ? —Yes, there was a dispensary, which was covered with dust. Everything in the dispensary ward was covered with dust. 30. Was there any floor to the dispensary?—No, the floor was just dust. 31. Were there a few packing-cases in the ward?— There were a few, on which articles were placed. 32. Did you see any provision made for the performance of operations there—in the marquee?—No, sir. 33. What was the size of the marquee?—l can only describe it by saying that it was just about big enough to hold three beds. 34. Was the dispensary a separate tent?— Yes. 35. A bell tent? —No; an ordinary marquee or canteen tent, they 7 call it. 36. AVhat did you do in consequence of your interview with Major Fyffe?—l suggested that if he would take the responsibility we would hand him direct our £10 for the purpose of buying what he thought was necessary to help to properly equip his hospital, and at the same time I told him that I would write to the papers to create a stir over the existing things at Trentham Hospital. 37. What did Major Fy 7 ffe do?—He said, " I shall be only too pleased to accept the £10." 38. He accepted the .£lO, and I understand he forwarded to you afterwards a list of the materials upon which he expended the money?— Yes. [List put in.] They are nearly all kitchen utensils. There were no kitchen utensils at all at the hospital. It was the custom for the men when taken to the hospital to bring their own utensils. 39. Are you satisfied that at this time this marquee was the only hospital accommodation available in the camp?— Yes, sir, with two other bell tents in use. 40. Being used for patients?— Yes. 41. You say that you wrote a letter to the Evening Post, which was published on the 9th March ?—Yes.