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Criminals m Fremantfe Hospital
(To the Editor. ? r
Sir,— We , really are an extraordinary
people. We build a special van to convey
prisoners from Perth to Eremantle.so that
their i'eeliags may not be hurt during their
progress. We exercise such tenderness and
clemency towards criminals that we tend
to become a laughing stock to other
countries. Yet it . appears that no one is
going to take any notice of the fact thai;
recently a half-caste who committed a dia
bolical murder -on very slight provoeatioa
was turned loose in a ward of the Fre
?jnantle Hospital among helpless patients
and Jiurses — mostly young girls — who had
to look after him, and who, by the way, '
were never given the slightest hint that
the- man wag a murderer, so that they
might be -on. the watch. Is no one going
to ask why the gaol-authorities allowed a
murderer — no matter how ill — to1 be put In
a public ward with decent patients, and
with, women . to ..nurse him*? . And what
were the hospital authorities doing to allow
such a thing? If a. prisoner is admitted
to the institution the superintendent would,
of course, know what crime the man had
committed — it wou?d be the business of the
police to make him au fait with all details,'
And if the man was so ill as to preclude?
the. necessity for a guard, why was he abitf
to walk across from the gaol to the hos
pital- when admitted? And how was it
that he *ras up a good deal of his time
while- there? Yet the Press were told thai;
his condition was so serious that a guard
was not needed. And is it. possible that
the parents and relatives of the girls in
training as nurses, and the . relatives of the.
sick in hospital, are going to let the matter
drop?— -are prepared to submit to a state
of affairs which would not be allowed to
exist in any other part of the British Em
pire ? — I think I would be safe in saying
in any other part of the civilised world?
' Surely they are going to -demand from
the' Hospital Board and hospital authori
ties a guarantee that such u- dreadful state
of affairs ?? shall never 'again be allowed to
existi Nurses should never be called- upon
to ntirEe murderers-; 'men — and '.men only—
should attend - them. But with our in
finite tenderness- towards these- -creatures,-
the welfare, and even the life, of ti young
girl seeins to be a very ? small thing1, com -
pared to' the weighty importance ' of
making them quite cosy and comfortable'.
A plaintive wail goes up from Hospital au
thorities from time-to time re the shortage
of women for the. nursing profession. But
I for one shall do mv utmost to dissuade
? any -^ girl from entering for fvyaiiiiug any
hospital in this State until the authorities
will guarantee ' them more, decent- and
humane treatment than these' incidents
from time' to .time reveal.— Yours; etc..
'HORBTVIED.'
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