H.—l9b.

124

M. BADGER.

on the one day, and the convalescent patients were on the move all the time. Further, the kiosk being situated on the flat, and being approached by muddy roads, and as the result of these men being continually going out and coming in from these muddy roads, it was impossible to keep the place thoroughly clean. Tho men slept in new blankets, and there were no sheets provided. The men were wearing mostly woollen underclothing, and the result was that the fluff from the blankets invariably adhered to the men's underclothing, and when a man stepped out on to the floor the whole of the surrounding place was a mass of wool, which would be blown about, and as this was going on all day it was absolutely impossible to prevent there being a great deal of this fluff on the floor. Towards the middle of the week I was appointed an acting non-commissioned officer, and the following were my instructions ■ 3. What was the date on which you were appointed? —Four days after I went there —that would be the Friday. 4. With the rank of sergeant?— Yes, I was informed on that day that I had been recommended to be made a sergeant. Dr. Harrison instructed me that the following were my duties : To take charge of all the orderlies and fatigue-men; 1 was to receive every patient who came for admission from the lines; I was to take careful notes of the temperatures of the men, and to try, in conjunction with tho nurses, to expedite the men being got into bed as speedily as possible, giving preference to men with high temperatures and those who showed any signs of distress. Admissions to the hospital would start from the first thing in the morning, and would continue till well on after dark. My instructions were to ask every man if he had any complaint to make as to his treatment at the lines, or coming up from the lines to the hospital. I was to specially note if any patient were carrying his own swag, and I was to report that immediately to Captain Harrison. I was also to see that those patients who arrived were seated in the most comfortable places. 1 was also to be responsible for the moral tone of the men who were in tho hospital, and especially those who were convalescent. I was to see also that any man walking out or about the hospital who was convalescent should be properly clothed, and that he had his overcoat on. The admissions during that week became so numerous that it was found necessary to open up another ward at the grandstand, and I was given instructions to see that stretchers were put up and mattresses placed upon them, and I assisted, in conjunction with the nurses, to get the place ready for patients. I was also to see that the orderlies washed every patient who was not capable of getting up, and periodically in the morning I would go round the kiosk and ask if any man had not been washed. If a man were overlooked I would order an orderly of that section to at once see that he was washed. 'Hie congestion in the admission of patients became so great that it was found impossible to admit them all to beds right away, and a waiting-room was established underneath the grandstand, where patients could go for a little while and wait while beds were being got ready for them. I suggested to Colonel Morice that, as much of the men's troubles consisted in the mental effect upon them, hot tea and beef-tea should be continually provided, as far as possible, for those patients being admitted. That was done, and was very much appreciated by the men who were sent up from the camp. I had great objections to men being forced to walk from the lines to the hospital. One man walked up who had a temperature of 103. 1 pointed this out to Dr. Harrison, and I understand that representations were made to those in charge of the lines that sucli a thing was not to occur again. This did not occur again, as any man subsequently found with a temperature as high as that was brought up on a stretcher. I suggested at the time the provision of an ambulance. Every patient who came from the lines had his swag 'carried for him by one of his mates, and I made very close inquiries into every case to see that no man carried his swag or any of his belongings from the lines to the hospital. Coming back to the matter of the waiting-room, the procedure I was instructed to have carried out was this : as soon as a certain number of beds were got ready I would go over to the waiting-room and ascertain what cases should be dealt with first. I must explain, however, that Dr. Ferguson or Dr. Harrison would go round the ward in the morning and certify a certain number of men as convalescent. As soon as this was done their beds became vacant, and, as 1 said, I would be instructed to go over to the waiting-room and ascertain what cases should be dealt with at once, judging by the distress of the men or their temperature. This process of elimination went on until every man was in bed. I asked every man whether he had any complaint to make regarding his treatment at the lines or on the way from the lines to the hospital, and I only received a complaint from one man. He complained, and I was so much struck by the man that I took his temperature and pulsation. His temperature was 99 and his pulsation 82, and I noticed that the same man was convalescent in two days. That was the only man who made any complaint, He was suffering from influenza. 5. The Chairman.] What was the nature of his complaint?—He complained of being kept waiting in the waiting-room. As soon as the ward in the racecourse was provided as many patients as possible were removed to it, most of whom could be well classified as convalescent, thereby relieving the congestion in the kiosk. As soon as that was done the stretchers which had been extemporized were shut up, and as much space as possible given commensurate with the demand. At the early stages, dating from the 28th, there was a shortage of bed-pans and bottles for the patients, but one must remember that though there was that shortage, yet the supply of patients was increasing at the rate of a hundred per day; still, the demand for both bottles and bed-pans was soon met. I would like here to refer to a question regarding a complaint that men were allowed to get up out of bed with a temperature. A question on this point was put to me the other day by Commissioner Martin. We were faced with one or two difficulties in the kiosk. The beds were close together. A man who was fairly hale and hearty, and eating his meals well, felt a very strong reluctance to inflicting himself per medium of a bed-pan on his mates on either side, and I noticed that many of those men, sooner than call for bed-pans,