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On 1arch 8, 1854, Hall extended his personal interests to the
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Royal Society of which he was elected a memb er.
About the same tie
he joined the Mechanics' Institute and was soon elected a Vice-President ;
along \'lith other notab le personalities, including the President the
Rev . J. Lillie, Archdeacon Davies, R. Dry and others , he offered his
services as a lecturer.
His first lecture to an audience of about
one hundred and fifty people was given on a cold wintry night in June
under the chairmanship of Dr Lillie, his subj ect being ''The Structure
and Functions of the Organs of Hearing'' .
The Courier, which reported
the lecture at considerab le length, was enthusiastic in its praise.
The lecturer is evidently well accustomed to the lecture desk;
his style is earnest and impressive - his language simple and
pure. He has the happy talent of deducing simplicity from
complexity and bringing the result of much research within
the scope of the understanding of his unprofessional hearers . 7
At the time of the great flood, Hall also won recognition and the Public's
praise for his fine efforts to save three men swept down the Rivulet by
the rushing torrent .
Although he immediately made preparations to
restore those drowned, no bodies were recovered .
It was a favourab le beginning to the Halls ' new life . However ,
there still remained one part of the community to which the doctor had not
yet been introduced.
This meeting took place in June when a fellow
member of the Medi cal Department , W. Benson, who was in medical charge of
the female convict estab lishment at the Cascades, was absent on sick leave
in Launceston.
Although his duti es at the Hospital were very heavy, Hall
was instructed to take Benson 's place at the Cascades Factory as well.
He was appalled by what he found there. In the nursery attached to the
Cascades there were from 91 to 126 young chi ldren, all under three years
of age, the average nber being about 110. Hall found the chi ldren in
a "most pitiable state'' , most of them needing daily medical treatment .
The mortality was frightful . For the two years ending June 30, 1854,
227 chi ldren had died, more than 100% ; in the last six months 68 had
died. None of these deaths had been due to measles or scarlet fever ,
but rather to the general mismanagement of the children. The Cascades
Factory was in a notoriously cold, damp situation in a valley at the foot
of Mount Wellington, where the sun 's rays , especially in winter , hardly
penetrated . In spite of the cold, dank atmosphere the young children
were kept out in the yard all day, whatever the weather , with only an
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Corier, June 10, 1854 .