H.—l9b.

189

A. W. BOBIN.

284. The Chairman.] Only half-dressed? —Half-dressed on that side of it, but excellent for home defence. Had the enemy come here instead of us going to them we could have coped with them, because we were prepared for home defence; and now we have to step into an army going abroad alongside other armies who have their equipment, medical organization, and ambulances, and everything must as far as possible be interchangeable.. 285. Mr. Gray.] You had to prepare for an active state of war in another country? —Yes, in another country; and that is forgotten and overlooked. Ruby Hanna sworn and examined. (No. 45.) 1. Mr. Salmond.] You were nursing at Berhampore Hospital? —Yes. 2. Can you say the dates, approximately, that you went to Berhampore and left?—l went there on the 27th May, and left on the 17th July. 3. Do you remember a patient named Pollard being there? —Yes. 4. Do you remember him coming? —Yes. 5. Had you anything to do with him? —Yes. 6. How long was he in the hospital? —I could not say. 7. About a week? —Yes, I think so. 8. Do you remember him dying? —Yes. 9. Do you know what condition he was in when he came to the hospital?—He had a bit of a high temperature. 10. What do you mean by a "high temperature"?—lol. It may not have been quite as high as that. 11. Was it a case of measles? —Yes; he came in for measles. 12. Did the rash come out when he was in the hospital?—No, I do not think so. 13. Was he over the rash? —Yes. 14. The Chairman] Have y 7 ou any records to speak from, or are you speaking from memory? —Just speaking from memory. 15. Mr. Salmond.] Was his temperature taken every day? —Yes; twice a day at first. 16. On a chart or in a book?—We only took in convalescents, and any with a high temperature we just booked them; but Pollard was put on a chart afterwards. 17. During the first few days he was there did you regard his case as serious?— No. 18. Did you regard him as a convalescent from measles?—He had a pretty high temperature, but he was kept in bed all the time. 19. In the main ward?— Yes. Any one coming in with a high temperature was not put in the tents. 20. What medical attention did he get for the first few days ?—I do not remember what medical man came to him. 21. What sort of attention would a patient of that sort get?—He was sounded thoroughly. 22. Would he be visited once a day regularly by the doctor? —Yes. I do not know whether the doctor visited once a day, but if at any time we were at all alarmed about patients we just had to ring up the doctor. 23. But here was a patient who came in suffering from measles and in bed in the main hospital with a temperature of 101. I want to know whether a patient, of that kind would be regularly visited by a doctor once a day? —I do not remember that. 24. You do not remember what sort of visits were paid by the doctor to that hospital?—He may not have been for the first day or two, but latterly 7 they were visited every day by the doctor. 25. What do you mean by " latterly " : at the time Pollard was there was the doctor coming every day? —I do not know when Pollard first came in whether the doctor was coming every day; but two or three days afterwards we had the doctor every day. 26. That was because Pollard was getting ill?—It was because his temperature was not going down. 27. The Chairman.] Do you remember Dr. Harrison?—Yes. 28. How often did he come in?—AVhen he had medical supervision of the hospital he came every day 7, and we had permission to ring up for any doctor in AVellington if we could not get Dr. Harrison. 29. Mr. Salmond.] Did Dr. Harrison examine every patient in bed? —He did the rounds. Some were quite well, but we kept them in bed on account of it being measles. 30. Do you remember the day when Pollard became much worse ?—He gradually got worse; I do not remember the day. 31. Do you remember when you first came to the conclusion he was dangerously ill?— Yes; I think it was about Sunday. 32. You have not got any record in your book of the dates?— No. 33. Do you know on what day he died? —No. 34. As a matter of fact, he died on a Friday. With that in your mind, how soon before that would you come to the conclusion he was dangerously ill—the day before? —More than that. We watched him night and day, and nursed him night and day. 35. For many days? —It was Sunday or Monday we took it in turn going on duty. Before that we left him ordinarily from 10 o'clock, 36. Was that on account of Pollard's illness?— Yes, Pollard and another man. . . 37. The Chairman.] Are you sure it was Monday or Tuesday?— No. 38. Mr. Ferguson.] Do you know how y 7 ou made the changes: did you take the first night? —Yes, and I had the last night.