CO885-5 — Page 526

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885/

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Management ..f ventilation.

Proper

Jiffusers

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seem to wish to ventilate a ship as if she were always to lie at anchor in the tropics,) and when a ship gets to sea in a breeze the Surgeon Superintendent will find that his care will be to moderate the draughts on his people caused by the immense quantity of air sent down by the sails when set on a wind. This becomes more and more important as the ship gets into colder latitudes, but I know no time when it is more imperative than when the ship first begius to move after lying in the doldrums under the sun. I consider this one of the most dangerous times in the voyage and that at which a great many of the serious forms of illness originate, and the Surgeon Superintendent cannot pay too much attention to his ventilation at this time. For this purpose he can turn his cowl-headed ventilators to leeward, and close partially or wholly as required the covers of the air-shafts and hatches; and curtains are provided at each hatch which can be let down when necessary, and which I generally secure at the bottom by sandbags laid upon the lower edge. as part of one side of the hatch must always be left open for the people to pass up and down. Each cowl-headed venti- lator used to be fitted with an iron-plate as a diffuser of the air below and to prevent it from striking direct upon the people. These plates were made a little larger than the lower open- ng of the ventilator, and had a long male screw rivetted through the centre working in a female screw cut through the crossed part of two iron bars in the lower opening of the ventilator, and by working these screws up or down the quantity of air to be admitted could be regulated as desired. For this excellent arrangement, which ought to be restored, shipowners have substituted a square wooden diffuser fastened some six or eight inches below the lower opening of the ventilator, and of course, admitting of no movement, for no apparent reason but to save the expense of the proper diffuser above described. The further south the ship has to go the want of these diffusers will be the more severely felt, and in a voyage with return coolies from the West Indies I was obliged to have sacking tied over the mouths of the cowl-headed ventilatore, which certainly kept the cold air from going down, but also kept the foul air from escaping. In dead calms within the tropics only can any deficiency in ventilation be complained of, and I do not see how this can be remedied except by a "thermantidote" or fanner driven by steam from the boiler of the condensing apparatus. Thier's so-called "automatic" ventilator is fitted in most ships but has entirely failed, as far as my experience goes, as, being dependent on the rolling of the ship, I have found it, in these calms, almost inert. I have been led on to anticipate what I intended to say later as to regulating

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ventilation, but I may have a few words more to say further on. (Vide page 48.)

By the new Regulations (Act XXI. of 1883, p. 89.) Compartment- separate compartments for the single men in the fore, and for the single women in the after part of the 'tween decks have been ordered. I hold that it is one of the most im- portant duties of the Surgeon Superintendent to prevent by every means in his power any interference with the single women, but I may be allowed to express my doubts as to the expeliency if not the utility of these bulkheads. If I have any knowledge of human and coolie nature, the more obvious the restraints you put upon it, the more you will call ingenuity or perversity into play to overcome them, and I do not see that "two wooden or iron bars, "horizon- tally placed two feet apart" will form any bar to any Coolie or other man going into, or any woman coming out of this specially reserved compartment; and I believe, and in tact am sure from experience, that holding each sirdar strictly responsible for the good conduct of the group or "chukan under his charge, as laid down in par. 162, p. 67, of the rules will be found far more efficacious. (Vide postea, under "Discipline.")

With regard to par. 166 on the same page, I would Night watch- merely ask "quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" and how are men, these night watchmen to be paid, or is this to be regarded as

a labour of love?

On coming on deck after finishing the inspection of the Hospital. coolie deck, attention will naturally first be given to the Hospital, which should always be in a house on deck, and most conveniently on the quarter deck. This is generally divided into male and female hospitals by a partition running fore and aft. This I consider a mistake, as by having this partition or "bulkhead” athwart ship more efficient cross- ventilation and a more complete separation of the men from the women would be secured, and either compartment could then be used for isolated cases. For this purpose the bulk- head should be thoroughly caulked or battened where the planks join, and should reach from the floor to the ridge of the skylight, which should have two flaps on each side reaching as far as, and no farther than, the bulkhead; each compartment having at least one scuttle not less than seven inches in diameter on each side, and a door in the centre in front of the forward and in rear of the after compartment. Thus, by making the after compartment the female hospital, and the forward one the male hospital, all communication would be cut off, and men and women would enter by separate doors; and if, for the sake of convenience,

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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Reference :-

C.O.

885/5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO