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Dr. James Garfield Crawford sworn and examined. (No. 65.) 1. The Chairman.] You are a medical practitioner . —Yes. 2. And Captain at the Trentham Camp now ?—Yes. 3. There was a case, of Ernest Smith, which came before the Commission yesterday andjof jwhich we wish some information : do you remember him ? —Yes, I remember him. i%Sfj 4. When did he first come under your notice ? —He came under my notice when there wasjan urgent message received on the 7th July to go to the kiosk ward to see a patient who had taken seriously ill at about 1.30 p.m. |I was there at the time, and I went along to the ward, although it was not my ward. 5. What was the matter with him ?—I found him there in a state of collapse. Hejjjhad a hsemorrhagic rash over his body. He was removed to the special meningitis ward at 2 p.m., and, although I had really nothing to do with the treatment of the case, I followed up his case, and I have some notes to say that he gradually got worse. 6. Dr. Martin.] Who was treating him . —He was under the care ofjOaptainfFerguson, 7. In the meningitis ward ?—Yes, alongside the trainers' quarters. 'J 8. You put him in the meningitis ward : was that because he showed symptoms ? —Yes. 9. What happened after that ? —I followed up his case. He gradually got worse and showed no signs of recovery. Double bronchial pneumonia set in on the morning of the Bth, and he died shortly after 12 o'clock on the Bth. 10. You sent a telegram ?—Yes, I had a telegram sent to his relatives on the afternoon of the 7th. 1.1. Was he ever sent to the Wellington Hospital ? —I could not say. I never knew the patient till the 7th. I just came into camp on the 4th July. 12. You were not treating him ? —No, I was not responsible for his treatment. 13. Who signed the death certificate ? —I think Captain Ferguson. lam not sure. 14. What was the cause of death ?—I could not say. Ido not know what he signed as the cause of death. 15. He was admitted as a meningitis case ? —He was admitted to the observation ward, which was the meningitis ward. I saw the parents on the morning of the Bth. 16. Who treated him at the kiosk ? —Captain Ferguson. He was in the kiosk when I first saw him. 17. Mr. Ferguson.] It is said that the mother found when he was in bed in the trainers' quarters that he was not properly dressed —that he only had a dress-jacket on and nothing else ? —He was properly dressed. 18. Dr. Martin.] Were there any other meningitis cases at the trainers' quarters ?—The definite diagnosis of meningitis had not been made at that time. All tho cases were under observation, and it was because he had developed this rash that I had him removed from tho kiosk to the observation ward. Sidney Weldon sworn and examined. (No. 66.) 1. The Chairman.] What are you ? —A private. 2. What were you before you came into camp ? —A bushman. 3. When did you come in ? —On the 19th April. 4. Have you been sick at all ? —Yes, I have been pretty bad with influenza. 5. When did you get ill ?—About a week after I arrived. 6. Did you go into the hospital ? —I attended sick-parade. I attended it once, but it was no use attending it again. 7. Did you get better ? —No, I got worse. 8. Did you go to the hospital ? — No, it was no use : they did not want sick men there. I reported once, and the treatment I received was no use to any one. 9. Did you get better ? —Yes, I got better eventually. 1.0. What was the treatment you received ?—I attended at sick-parade with about a hundred and fifty other men. We were told off in groups of twenty, and the doctor said, " What is the matter with you ? " and we told him to the best of our ability that we had a bit of a cold, and so forth. There was no pulse felt, and no examination, and no temperature taken or tongues seen. He wrote something on a piece of paper and said, " Take that into the next marquee." I received something from the dispenser. The doctor wrote out the prescription in Latin. 11. Mr. Ferguson.] Did he write out the prescription himself ?—Yes, I think so. He gave me tho prescription in the marquee, and I had to give it to the dispenser. 12. The Chairman.] And you got some medicine ?—Yes. 13. Did you take it ? —Yes ; it was a liquid and a pill. 14. Did you attend parades every day after that ? —Yes, I attended parades and did all my work, and never lost a second of drill. I was bad for six weeks. 15. And never reported yourself again ? —No ; I was satisfied. 16. Dr. Martin.] Were you able to take your food all that time , —-No ; sometimes I went without, and sometimes I did not sleep. I was coughing and retching, and not only disturbed myself but was disturbing others. 17. Mr. Ferguson.] Are you in the Sixth ?—Yes. 18. Have you been in tents all the time ?—-Up till a week and a day ago. I have been in a hut for eight nights. 19. Have you something to say about the ventilation ? —-Yes; it is no good, and never will be the way it is; it is too draughty.
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