§ MR. MONTAGU SCOTTasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Is it the fact that, on the second of May last, Lieutenant Clarence Noble of the Royal Artillery, attached to the Madras Infantry, met with a severe gun accident when he was carried down from the jungle to the civil station at Chanda, where he lay for four days before any competent surgical aid could be procured, death almost immediately ensuing on the performance of an operation when the regimental surgeon was at last found; and, is it customary for a station like Chanda to be left for many days at a time when the surgeon is on leave without any competent substitute being provided beyond a Native doctor who is merely a dispenser to the qualified surgeon?
§ MR. J. K. CROSSSir, no communication has been made to the India Office in respect to the death of Lieutenant Clarence Noble at Chanda. It is a small civil station, with a garrison of one company of Native Infantry (90 men) for gaol and treasury duties. There is one civil surgeon, who has also charge of the gaol. It is customary to grant an officer holding such a position short leave of 955 absence, provided he can arrange to the satisfaction of his immediate superiors for the performance of current duties during his absence. In this instance, if the civil surgeon were absent, his duties would be undertaken by the assistant surgeon, Mr. Mitter, who holds a diploma as Bachelor in Medicine of an Indian University. This arrangement must have had the sanction of the highest civil authority of the district.