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A
f.·
SALTWATER RIVER
Reduced on his own initiative to the status of Assistant
Colonial Surgeon at the rate of 10/- per day, plus 2/6 contingency money,
plus quarters, Hall was offered a position at Saltwater River on
Tasman•s Peninsula caring for the lunatics in the place of Assistant
Surgeon Everitt who \as transferred to Ross to succeed Hall as Medical
Superintendent .
Everitt arrived in Ross a few days before Hall's
departure so that the two men could exchange information about their
future duties.
Having resigned as Medical Superintendent partly because
he badly needed quiet and relaxation to restore his health , Hall was very
disheartened by Everitt's account of the unsatisfactory state of the
accommodation, staff, supplies and conditions at the lunat ic asylum .
Half apologizing for his failure to correct th situation, Everitt
explained that he was still suffering from ill-health after his return
from Norfolk Island and had been debarred from active exertion during his
two months' stay at Saltwater River ;
consequently he was ab le to visit
the establishment only once a day and never went out at night .
emphatically warned Hall not to be misled as he had been at first ;
corruption was so widespread that it was not safe to trust anyone and
He
that
that he would be sure to conflict disagreeab ly with convict officials if
he tried to make improvements .
Very concerned Hall sought an
Town on his way to the Peninsula.
interv iew with Shanks in Hobart
Hinting to his superior what he
believed to be awaiting him at Saltwater River , he requested Shanks to
pay an early visit and asked for his support in any reforms in management
he might make .
Shanks regretted that ill-health prevented him from
visiting the Peninsula but promised his support of Hall's reforms.
When as1ed for direction _
concerning the management of the insane , he
proffered some verbal ones and promised fuller instructions in writing
at a later date.
Of the verbal orders given him, Hall was most impressed
by that which insisted that such lunatics as were phys ically fit were to
be worked under the charge of an underkeeper , doing the work of the
station as the ASsistant- Superintendent should require.
When this
direction was emphasized by the Comptroller-General also in Hall's
interview with him, he was both surprised and dismayed, for the prominent
use of this practice in the treatment of lunatics painfully offended his
} professional feelings.
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