55

E.—3b

36. Will you say that they do have them ?—No; I will not. I do not know whether they have them or not. 37. Mr. Fell.] Have you any duty at meal times ?—No; no usual duty. Brother Killian does that. I have taken it occasionally. 38. Mr. Bush.] Can you say what part of the bush you got the posts from ?—Not more than two chains down the hill in a direct line. None were got in the bottom of the gully. The greatest distance they were carried was 23 chains along the track. Basil McElwaine, examined an oath. 39. Mr. Fell.] You are licensed out to work from the Stoke Industrial School?— Yes, to Messrs. George and Albert Hunt, Eighty-eight Valley. I have been with them six months. I was in the Orphanage about three years. 40. What have you learnt ? —I was in the Seventh Standard. I was taught algebra, shorthand, and Euclid, at Stoke. •41. Where were you before that?—At the Mount Cook School, Wellington. 42. Whilst in the Orphanage what work had you to do ?—Sometimes writing for Brother Loetus; sometimes looking after horses, and farm work. 43. Did you ever go up the hill to get posts ? And did you like it ?—I have. I always regarded it as amusement. There were a few boys who did not like it, because, I suppose, they did not like work. It was regarded as a kind of holiday. 44. What did you do ?—We started in the morning after breakfast. The whole lot of us went up the hill together. When we got to the top of the hill we waited for the Brother or Brothers. When they came we went down for the posts. If the posts were about 100 yards down we would take them straight to the top. If they were further down we would take them up in spells. I could take one myself; and if a smaller boy could not take one, two or more would take it. If there were a good few posts we would work there through the day. Dinner was taken up—bread, dripping, jam, honey, and tea. When we went home we would take a post each. 45. Did you ever see a boy whacked for not doing enough post-pulling ?—No. 46. How many times a day would you go to the top of the hill ?—Sometimes only go up twice, and sometimes we would fetch one halfway down and then go back for another. 47. Did you ever know a boy to fetch two posts right from the top to the bottom in one day ?—Yes ; once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I have not known more than that to be done. I never tried it. Ido not know whether I could do it. I was never asked to go more than twice. 48. Did you always have enough to eat ?—Yes ; there was always plenty to eat. If the first helping was not enough we asked for more, and always got it. 49. Was there ever any food left over from the meals ?—Sometimes there was enough left to feed a dozen ploughmen. 50. Was that because it was bad, or because there was too much ?—There was too much. 51. Have you ever heard complaints of the boys being hungry; or have you heard of food being taken out of the pig-tub by them ?—No; I have always had enough. 52. Did you learn to swim there?— Yes. 53. Did you wash yourself in the winter ?—Yes ; the face, hands, and feet. We washed our feet in the creek. 54. Did you never have a bath in the winter ?—No; not while I was there. 55. Did you have enough clothes to keep you warm?— Yes. 56. What sort of shirts had you ?—Those linen ones. They were sometimes washed before we wore them. 57. Supposing your clothes wore out, what did you do?—We asked for more, and we always got them. 58. Did you wear socks all the year round ?—Yes. 59. Were they washed ?—Yes—by the boys—as often as we asked. There was no arrangement as to time; but I used to get them washed as often as I thought fit to take them to the ■wash-house. 60. Mr. Busk] What did you do while they were being washed ?—Went without. 61. Mr. Fell] Were you ever punished there on the body?— No. I had the supplejack on the hands 62. Mr. Barley.] When you thought the socks wanted washing, used you to take them to the wash-house boys ?—Yes. 63. Was there any examination of the socks by the Brothers ?—No. Sometimes when they saw a boy with his stockings down, they would tell him to pull them up. 64. Was there any rule or any stated time when the socks should be washed ? No. 65. Supposing you did not ask for new clothes, did you get them ? Yes. 66. Shirts were washed once a week ?—Yes ; that was the regular rule of the school. 67. When the socks were being washed, had you any others ?—Yes; if a chap asked for another pair he would get them. 68. Who taught you algebra, Euclid, and shorthand?— Brother Augustine. 69. I suppose you were looked upon rather as the scholar of the school ?—I might have been. 70. Were there any fires in the evenings in the class-rooms?— No. 71. How long did the lessons last?—ln the mornings we would get up at 6; go into the school; study until 7.30. In the afternoon we would again go into the school till 4 o'clock, and from 5 till 6.30, when we had tea. Every Friday we had tea at 6 o'clock. After tea we would go into the school-room for recreation until 8 o'clock.