§ MR. DELANY (Queen's County, Ossory)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that Charles Vernon Freer, a private in the Cape Mounted Specials, when recovering from a wound received at Tweebosch, died at the General Hospital, Kimberley, after being put under chloroform for the purpose of extracting teeth; whether 86 he will order an inquiry into the circumstances of this man's death; whether he will state why his parents received no official notice of his death, and why the friends of deceased at Kimberley were not permitted to see the remains or attend the funeral; and whether compensation will be made to his parents for the loss sustained by his death.
(Answer.) The man died as stated in the Question. As the verdict at the inquest was to the effect that "due care was observed by the professional men engaged in the operation, and no blame attaches to either the surgeon or to the dentist," no inquiry appears necessary. I have no information regarding the notification of the death or the treatment of the friends of the deceased. No question of compensation arises.—(War Office.)