3
ward. The following statement is taken from the designation boards of the wards of this
building :—
" Superficial area . . .
D.
E.
F.
672
1,872
768
" Cubic contents . . .
13,440 37,440 15,360
" Accommodation . . .
4
16
4
"There is a front and rear verandah, both being 11½ feet in depth. The former is
enclosed by swinging and fixed venetian shutter and diamond windows, and can be kept open or
completely shut up (which is necessary during the violence of the south-west monsoon), but the
latter is open, with the exception of an overhanging roof and a 2½ feet balance board. The
suggestion by the writer that a balance board would be preferable to chicks was acted on.
This board is sufficient to counteract sun-glare, and the amount of north-east monsoon rain
liable to enter this verandah is very little and readily escapes.
" Nos. 1 and 3 blocks are identical with the central block, with the following exceptions :—
neither possess a central porch, nor in consequence an upper floor reading-room. From the
basement to the upper floor is 10 feet, not 12 feet, and this holds good also with No. 4 block,
and the length and breadth of No. 1 block is 165 x 48½ feet, whereas that of 2 and 3 is
175 x 48½ feet. The verandahs are the same depth in all and there are the same number, viz.,
14 of Dormer windows in their roofs.
" No. 1 block, being somewhat shorter, is built to accommodate 22 men, and its designation
boards are as under
" Superficial area . . .
A.
B.
C.
384
1,872
768
" Cubic contents . . .
7,680
37,440
15,360
" Accommodation . . .
2
16
4
"It will be seen, therefore, by the above that ward a/l differs from all the wards in
hospital in furnishing only two beds. On this account, chiefly, this has been appropriated as
an officers' ward, and the officers of the garrison have been pleased to subscribe a sum of money
which has most comfortably furnished it. This provision for sick officers, both of the station
and from up-country, has been a desideratum for years past. Up to this date, three officers of
the Expeditionary Force, severely ill (one with typhoid fever) have had the benefit, at Rs. 1-4-0
a day, of feeding and nursing, so that the demand for such a ward has been an urgent one.
" A lamp-room at the north-east angle is the only room on the basement of this block.
Until the erection, at a suitable place on the slope at the rear of this block, of an infectious
ward, this room would be utilized for the treatment of a stray infectious case. The remainder
of the basement is open and is useful as an exercise ground for convalescents and for parades
and drills of the army hospital native corps.
" No. 3 block (excluding the porch) is identical in area and space with No. 2, and
consequently like it gives accommodation for twenty-four patients.
" Its designation boards are as follow:—
" Superficial area . . .
G.
H .
I.
768
1,872
672
" Cubic contents . . .
15,360 37,440
13,440
" Accommodation . . .
4
16
4
" It may be remarked that, in each building, there is one room allotted for four which actually
gives accommodation for six ; so that the men's hospital actually provides accommodation for
seventy-six, six more than what the scheme of construction demanded. The disposition of the
doors seems to have made this an architectural necessity.
"The basement of No. 3 block provides three rooms, the usual corner lamp-room, a long
purveyors' store-room which occupies its centre, and near one end a prisoners' room.
" The purveyors' store, 71 x 13 feet, has been fitted with shelves by the Engineer according
to directions ; and. tin-lined boxes for clothing, trestles for bedding, and bins and racks for
liquor contribute to form an orderly hospital store-room.
" The prisoners' room was not in the original plan. The necessity for it was explained and
a general idea as to size and construction given by the writer. It has four barred windows
and a barred space 12 inches in depth round its four sides at the top. It is 13 x 22½ feet and
is a very cool and airy room. It also provides a suitable room for a lunatic or patient with
delirium tremens.
" No. 4 block constitutes the female hospital. It covers a slightly smaller area than the
others, being 143 x 48½ feet, but it has a central porch and consequently an upper floor
reading-room, which is 24 x 23 feet. It has only a corner lamp-room on the basement, the
remainder being useful for convalescent exercise. Its upper floor is apportioned in a different
manner from that of the other blocks. It has three rooms as nurses' quarters, a confinement
room and two lying-in or ordinary sick wards for six patients each, with an intervening