The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-16 00:00:00

THE FARNHAM WORKHOUSE INQUIRY.

The inquiry was resumed yesterday morning,
and the examination of Dr. Powell, the house surgeon,
was again proceeded with.

Dr. Powell, examined by Mr. Smith, said—Nine-tenths
of the men in the able-bodied ward are infirm. Ido not
consider that the ventilation of the dormitories is " nearly
sufficient," as stated in the report of the Lancet com-
missioners. The smell is very offensive at night, and
worse every morning. The inmates are locked in at
night, and there is no water-closet inside, but • night com-
mode is placed in one of the wards, I think in that of the
males. I am, however, inclined to think there is one in
each. I have never seen a bell by which assistance may be
called. I took the Lancer commissioners to the able-
. .

bodied male ward, which is a brick a tile-floored
room, and there were then four inmates in that ward.
At present, whatever the classification may be,
there is only one man really able-bodied in this house
The whole of the men in the able-bodied ward were dis-
eased or infirm, and were on the medical book. It is
true that the Lancet

could one no really
- th

healthy people except a few young women, mostly wit
babies, and a few young shin. I will not take upon
myself to say that the tramp-receiving wards look like rab-
bit-hutches ; I leave the public to judge for themselves ;
but I consider them very WA receiving wards for tramps,
or any human being whatever ; nor are they fit for human
beings. In the male wad there is loose straw to sleep on;
I could not say it was frowsy, se it is no pert of my
duty to see. In the female wards the straw is enclosed
in ticking. I think there is a rug for each tramp in these
ward'. Loth wards are fastened with huge padlocks. I
know no limitation's' to the hour of receiving tramps at
this house. There is no bell, or any other means of com-
munication whatever with the olitaide world. It
would be perfectly impossible to make any offi-
cial hear. I have always understood that the men
on admission are allowed no food, however weary and
faint they may be. The women are allowed a piece of
bread on admission, if they have children with them, not
otherwise. On the Bth of July last 1 made a representa-
tion to the guardians that the women should be allowed to
have food on their admission. I remember the case of a
female who had been in the tramp ward, respecting whom
I wrote to the board about the Bth of J ulv.
Mr. Barrow objected to the letter then written being
referred to, inasmuch as there was no evidence as to its
having come to the hands of the board of guardians, and
he was instructed that the guardians had never seen it.
Mr. W. Chapman, reporter to the County Chronicle,
was then sworn. He stated that he was present at the
meeting of the guardians at which the letter alluded to by
Dr. Powell was read, and he well remembered a lengthened
discussion arising upon it, in the course of which Mr.
Rounrien, a guardian, said that the tramp wards ought to
be improved, that the inmates were obliged to " rap like
criminals," and that the action of the guardians was
fettered by the Poor-law Board, more especially in respect
to the allowance of food to the tramps, in which remarks
the other members present unanimously concurred.
Mr. Lambert read • minute of the Poor-law Board, in
which it was clearly laid down that tramps should be sup-
plied with bread or potatoes upon their admission into the
house.

Mr. Chapman mid that the guardians referred to some
document to allow that they had no power to alter existing
arrangements, and expressed regret that such was the

The witness was crasrexamined by Mr. Barrow as to the
reading of Dr. PowelPs letter before the board, but his
testimony was unshaken, and the report from the County
Citroniee, in which the substance of the letter appeared,
was put in evidence. It was to the effect " that a woman
named Frances Hopkins and her husband applied for ad-
mission, when the husband was refused and the wife
admitted and sent into the infirmary in labour, about
eight o'clock on Sunday morning. She stated that she
had not tasted any food after leaving Cobham at seven
o'clock on Saturday morning, until nine o'clock on Sunday
morning, when the nurse gave her some bread and butter,
and that an interval of 27 hours had elapsed without her
partaking of food, of which 14 hours were spent in the
workhouse. The general custom of the Farnham work-
house was to give no food to tramps on admission. He
did not bring the case as a complaint, but that the custom
might be altered if the board thought it advisable."
Dr. Powell'ip examination continued—The woman com-
plained when I saw her that she had applied for food, and
had been unable to get any, and that she had
protested against being locked up when she was
so near her confinement. The government of the
house, so far as I know, is accurately described
as being " a despotism on the part of the late
master." Almost everything I tried to do for good he
thwarted, and the things I suggested were for the sick and
for the benefit of the house. For the last four years,
nearly, I have been trying to introduce changes for the
benefit of the sick. The master usually carried his way
with the guardians when they remonstrated with him, and
was virtually their master. I remember the case of John
Tuckey, the epileptic who fell into the cesspool. Ido not
know at what time he was taken out of the cesspool, but I saw
him at half-put eleven o'clock in one of the dormitories.
I heard that he had afterwards had a warm bath and a
glass of gin, and I consider all that was done for him very
proper. When I saw him he was becoming comatose,
but was not insensible, and was apparently very sleepy.
The matter vomited by him was dark and offensive,
and appeared to have been swallowed from the cesspool.
In my opinion he certainly died from the effects of fallinginto the cesspool. The late master threatened me with
violence on the 16th or 17th of September last. He said
he would wring my nom, and I at once applied for a sum-
mons against him, the moult of which was that he was
bound over to keep the pease. An investigation took place
in reference to the master's conduct on the 4th of July by
order of the Poor-law Board.

Mr. Smith kiroduced• letter from the Poor-law Board,
dated July %, 1867, which was here read. It related to a
charge of improper intimacy on the part of the master
with one of the paupers named Ann Stubble., which re-
sulted in her giving birth to a child in the Windsor work-
house. The Poor-law Board required the immediate re-
signation of Mr. Sargent, the master.
Examination continued—After my first taking office I
confined myself to making verbal requisitions to the
muter, which were not always attended to They were
certainly not satisfactorily attended to. It was in conse-
, quence of this that I hit upon the plan of entering them in
the medical book, under the head "Remarks." The several
entries in the medical book produced, containing various
applications to the guardians, were written by me. Some
of these applications were granted by the board. The
supply of milk to the inmates has always been a vexed
question, and the nurse has complained that skim milk
was often used for the children instead of new, and that the
rice was boiled in water. I made no representation of this
to the guardians, *ant to the master, and I never afterwards
heard any complaint reepecting the milk. I once reported
that the wine was not of such good quality as I could
wish, and it was remedied for a short time. The constant
complaint was that it was merely wine and water, but this
was a matter which neither I nor the guardians could
remedy, ea the wine passed through so many hands. The
medical appliances required by me were duly applied.
About March, 1866, the witness went on to my, he at-
tended before the guardians, and it was then suggested by
the master that his reports should be made verbally, and
not eirered in the medical book. He refused to adopt
that course, having no confidence in the master, and the
guardians directed that a separate book should be pro-
vided, on one side of which the report cf the medical
officer should be entered, and on the opposite aide the
master's observations. Numerous and important requisi-
tions were entered in this book, but witness bad not
seen it since about February last, when it was in the
master's office. One of these requisitions was for
a fire-guard for the laundry stove. This was not put
there, and about July or August last a child of one of the
inmates followed her mother into the laundry and placed
both its hands against the stove, burning them very
severely. The mother obtained her discharge in the
hopping time before the wounds were healed, and on
returning to the house the right hand was contracted, and
the child ruined for life. If the requisition had been
attended to this accident could not have All occurred.
the other requisitions were small. Witness resumed
making his representations in the medical book, as there
was so much squabbling between the officers, and he
abstained from going into the office where the other book
was kept. The master very often used abusive language to
him. Fifteen additional entries of unimportant things up
to September last were all supplied. The witness then con-
tinued. When I first took office, in 1864, the females did
not wear night dreams ; they were subsequently intro-
duced at the instance of one of the guardians. There are
no stomach warmers in the house now, and I have never
applied for them. I have observed that the water closets
woolly smelt badly, but on some occasions they are much
cleaner than others. Bouts or oboes are supplied to the
paupers by the guardians, but it is a fact that the majority
of the male inmates have worn their own boots, and the
master has told me that he had the discretion of allowing
them to do so if they wished. On my next visit I found
that all the men requiring them in the infirmary bad been
supplied with slippers or shoes. I have often seen vermin
in the heads of adult patients after they had been in the
infirmary for some time. The infirmary was very dirty
when the Lancet commissioners went over it on the 12th
of O,.tober, but it is now as clean as soap, soda, and
labour can make it.
The inquiry was again adjourned.

CRYSTAL PALACE. - ONI 81IYLLIN6 DAY.-
FRIDAY, Nov. M.—Admissions on payment. 50:5; ditto
by season tickets, 1,104. Total viiitots, 1,609.