Sessional_Paper_1894 — Page 362

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TROOPS.

The average number of Troops in Garrison last year was 2,718 as compared with 2,370 in 1892. There was an increase of only 32 in the number of White Troops, yet there was an increase of admis- sions to Hospital of 252 as compared with 1892.

There was an increase of 316 in the numbers of Black and Chinese Troops, yet there was a decrease in the number of admissions to Hospital of 169 as compared with 1892.

Among the White Troops there was an increase of 1 in the number of deaths here as compared with 1892. Among the Black and Chinese Troops there was a decrease of 4 in the number of deaths here as compared with 1892, but six deaths occurred among men of the Hongkong Regiment away on leave. Some of these may be attributed to Hongkong as possibly some went on sick leave. Notwith- standing that while the White Troops suffer more and more every year, there is a great improvement in the health of the Coloured portion as I predicted last year there would be as they became acclimatized. In the total number of Troops there is a considerable improvement in both the number of admissions and the number of deaths but this, as I have shown, is due principally to improvement in the general health of the Coloured Troops.

The following table gives the sickness and mortality among the Troops for the past ten years :-

Admissions.

Deaths.

..12

1884,

..1,097..

1885,

.1,190..

***.24

1886,

..1,607..

9

1887,

.1,749.

.14

1888,

..1,485..

.21

1889,

..1,732.

..16.

1890,

.1,915.

.15

1891,

.1,851...

.17

1892,

1893,

.2,844. 2,718,

.31

.28

2

As will be seen in Table IV the total numbers of White Troops for the year averaged 1,414; their admissions to Hospital were 2,015, deaths 17.

The total number of Coloured Troops averaged 1,304, their admissions to Hospital 912, deaths 11. So that with only an excess in the total average number of 110 over the Coloured Troops they exceeded them in admissions to Hospital by 1,103; in fact they showed more than double the amount of sickness by 191.

The majority of the Coloured Troops are housed in mat huts. The majority of White Troops are housed in old barracks and Chinese houses converted into barracks; originally the drainage of the old barracks in 1874 was very bad indeed, and by quoting my reports at the time the Department of Royal Engineers obtained a vote of £5,000 to remedy this as far as possible, but as I pointed out in those reports the main drainage of the town was itself defective and though a great improvement in the health of the troops was apparent for a time, this improvement did not continue and, as is shown by the preceding table, has been steadily going from bad to worse for the past ten years. At the time of writing the Barracks have just been all connected with the new drainage system and it remains to be seen if that will produce any improvement.

GOVERNMENT CIVIL HOSPITAL.

The Superintendent's report for this year is very satisfactory in every respect with a considerable increase in admissions from disease; there is a decrease in the deaths, also a considerable increase in the cases requiring surgical operations with a decrease in deaths. A considerable increase in the number of private paying patients shows that the nursing staff are fully appreciated and in most years now we have more applicants for private wards than we can accommodate. Though the charges for this accommodation have been increased this year 25 per cent. the demand is not diminished and the charge is, I think, still too small being barely the ordinary charge for a room in a hotel less airy and not more comfortably furnished with no charges for coals, gas, extras, medical attendance or nursing. The private patient has food brought to his own room, all the wine, spirits, milk, extracts of beef, &c., requisite for his case, nursing such as he could not procure better in his own house in Europe, medical attendance at least as good as any he can get here for the sum of $4 per diem or $120 a month. Then the patient gets board, lodging and attendance in his own room which cannot be procured at an hotel for the same price, and in addition medical attendance, medicines, nursing and other extras, each of which would have to be paid for separately under any other circumstances. Accommodation of this sort is becoming every year more necessary when so many people live in hotels, apartments, and messes where it is impossible in serious cases for them to get proper attendance.

The Superintendent's report is so complete that there is little to add except as regards his recommendations. The necessity of a permanent structure for cases that require segregation being