The M.A.B. and Motor Ambulances.
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The Metropolitan Asylums Board, at its meeting on Saturday, considered the Ambulance Committee's report as to the want of accommodation for motors used for the con veyance of patients. The Committee stated that the vehicles were kept at present at the South-Western Ambulance Station, at Stockwell, but this building would not be sufficient for the number of machines which would ultimately be required. It was of opinion that the Mead Ambulance Station, at Fulham, which had a large yard, and extensive coach-house and stables, could be adapted for the accommodation and repair of motors at a comparatively small out lay, and would be sufficiently commodious to meet future requirements. The Committee recommended that the Works Committee be asked to arrange for (I) closing in the ends of the covered yard (if sanctioned by the L.C.C.); (2) heating the coach-house with hot water ; (3) installing the necessary electric light; (4) constructing an inspection pit; and (5) transferring the fittings from the motor workshop at the South-Western Station to the workshop at the Mead Station. The Chairman of the Ambulance Committee (Mr. H. Thomson Lyon) said he must ask the Vice-Chairman to move these recommendations, as he was not in favour of them. When this matter came before the Committee, it was decided to send the report to the Board without a recommendation, and subsequently the recommendation was added on the authority of the Clerk. The Vice-Chairman (Dr. Gell) I very much regret that the Committee cannot carry the support of the Chairman in this matter. The Committeemen were absolutely unanimous, with the exception of the Chairman, and they were supported in their opinion by all the permanent officials—the Engineer, the Superintendent of the Ambulance Station, and others—who could give an opinion. The question is one of considerable urgency.
A proposal to adjourn the consideration of the matter was moved, Dr. Gell : I must oppose the adjournment. The work of the station has absolutely outgrown the accommodation, and the number of motors will shortly be increased by one motor ambulance and three motor omnibuses. Last winter, the speaker continued, they had great trouble in protecting the machinery of the motors from injury by frost, and this winter the difficulty would be still more acute.
The proposal to adjourn was put to the vote, and lost. Mr. Thomson Lyon said, if the Board had the least idea of the importance of this subject there would not have been a single hand held up against the adjournment. The Board was asked to vote in the dark upon an important matter. There was no immediate haste, it would be at least a month before the motor omnibuses would be ordered, and at least three months would elapse before they were delivered, so that it would be four months before the additional accommodation was required. It was true that the protection afforded to the vehicles at the existing premises was not all that could be desired, but improvements had been made. The damage done last winter was very trifling. He had no. hesitation in saying that they could get through the present winter with the existing accommodation. The Committeehad brought forward this recommendation without any consideration as to what the cost would be per annum or the staff necessary to take charge of the proposed new station.. On a conservative estimate, the irreducible minimum of cost would be £1,200 per annum. The Board .was only, ostensibly, asked to sanction a few small changes, and was not told what the new arrangements would cost. The effect of the proposal would be detrimental, because the motor drivers would have to change their places of residence, thedistance the vehicles would have to travel would be largely increased, and a motor superintendent would have to be appointed, with an assistant to act in his absence. He moved that the recommendation be referred back to the Committee for figures to be submitted showing the estimated annual, cost of the proposed scheme. Mr. Johnson claimed that the Committee did consider the question of cost. He said that to fit up the South-Western Station properly would cost „1,5oo. Was it worth while tc* patch up an old station, which they knew would soon be inadequate to contain the motors? The Committee found that, if the vehicles were packed as tightly as possible intothe old station, it would just hold them, but they would have to be as close as herrings in a barrel, and it would be impossible to get the hindermost out at all.
Dr. Gell said Mr. Thomson Lyon's estimate of .1,200 as the annual cost of the alteration proposed was absolutely conjectural—entirely a figment of his own imagination. The figure should not be advanced, unless it could be substantimed. They would not require an additional Superintendent as Mr. Lyon suggested. The proposed garage would be under the control of the present Superintendent, and only an additional clerk and storekeeper, an additional cook, a general servant, and a coachsmith, would be required. Even, if the Board continued using the South-Western Station, these appointments would have to be made. In the process of the evolution of this scheme for the transfer of patients by motor vehicles, they were advancing further and further in the direction of centralisation. The work which used to bedivided amongst all the stations was being drawn from them, and centralised in one place. This must involve additional expense at the central station, but the Board might look for a reduction of the expenditure at the other stations pro rata.
The amendment to refer the matter back was lost by a large majority, and the recommendation of the Committeewas approved. The Board accepted the tender of Messrs. Clarkson to supply and fit a " Lune Valley" boiler to one of the motor omnibuses used for the conveyance of patients, to make all necessary alterations, including new dash and front fittings, new slide valves and cylinders, and to overhaul the mechanism, for the sum of 4'165.