PDF (Whole thesis) - UTas ePrints - University of Tasmania

203
CHAPTER 14
THE SANITARIUM FOR INDIA AFFAIR
Hall's assiduous study of pub lications , such as the Australian
Medical Journal, Lancet , The British edical Journal , The Medical Tiwes
and Gazette , The British and Foreign ·Medical and Chirurgi cal Review,
The Journal of the Statistical Society of London, The Builder, British
Parliamentary Repo rts and the like, most of which were displayed for
pub lic perusal at the Mechanics ' Institute, had extended his knowledge
of vital statistics and sanitary principles far beyond that of his less
di ligent contemporaries . Since he always endeavoured to apply his
knowledge to the circumstances in his own city, this difference in
understanding naturally produced further conflict in new areas . In
April, 1858, he became involved in the Sanitarium for India Affair.
For many years the British Government had toyed with the idea
of establishing a sanitarium for invalided British soldiers in India.
The suitability of Tasmania for such a hospital was first mooted as long
ago as 1836-7 when the Lancet reviewed an article by T.E. Dempster,
'1The Climate of Tasmania as a Resort for Invalids from Indiatl , which was
pub lished in the seventh volume of the Transactions of the Medical Society
of Calcutta. Dempster spoke in glowing terms of the colony and its
healthy climate. 1 Public interest in the idea was further aroused in
Tasmania in 1858, when D.T. Kilburn, a resident magistrate in the colony ,
wrote to the Times , describing the hygienic advantages of the island as
a resort for invalids . Hall was most interested. On April 13 , he
wrote to the Under-Secretary of State at the War Office, soliciting an
appointment as Sanitary Officer in the event of a Sanitarium being
established in Tasmania or any other of the Australian colonies . 2
momentum.
The idea of a Sanitarium for India in Tasmania quickly gained
In response to pub lic request, on July 1, 1858, Young
1
2
Lancet, 1836-7, v. 11, p. 309.
Hall Papers , NS 308/2.