B.—3b

88

174. What were your feelings towards the Brothers? Were you fond of them?—l was not very fond of them ; I was afraid of them. 175. If you wanted anything, did you find any difficulty in asking for it ?—I was frightened to ask. 176. Were your clothes sufficient ?—No ; they were not warm enough. 177. Mr. Fell.} Were the clothes very much the same all through your time?— Yes ; I only once remember having a jersey. :M 178. How many times did you get whacked as described, and what had you done ?—Once. I had stolen meat. 179. Did you ever get punished for asking the Brothers for food or clothing? —I never got punished for asking for food ; but I did not get it sometimes. 180. Which Brother were you afraid to speak to ?—Brother Wibertus. 181. Mr. Bush.] Was he the only one?— Yes. 182. Mr. Fell.] He was the one who gave all the punishment?— Yes. 183. Mr. Harley.'] He looked after the clothing, and he was prefect ?—Yes. 184. Mr. Bush.] Did you always have sheets on the bed?— Yes. 185. How often were they changed ?—I am not sure. 186. How many pairs of socks did you have at a time ?—Two—one on, and the other dirty. Joseph Gebbe, examined on oath. 187. Mr. Harley.] You were formerly in the Stoke Orphanage. How long is it since you left ? —To the best of my knowledge, I left about four and a half years ago. 188. During the last six months you were there were you thrashed?— Yes; I got it with another boy named Carroll, for chopping wood without sawing it. I have got some of the marks on my body to this day. 189. Were the marks from this one thrashing ?—I cannot say. I have had three floggings. 190. How many strokes did you get? —Between twenty and thirty. I was that sore, I could not sit down for two or three months. The coarse shirt made it worse. 191. Was your skin cut?— Yes ; there are rises on my skin now. The lavatory was the main place for the floggings. When you got in there, Brother Wibertus would tell you to peel off; and that meant every stitch. 192. Mr. Fell.] Did you ever complain to Brother Loetus about these floggings ?—No ; I know the pity I would have got would have been a poor plaster for it. Brother Loetus knew all this was going on. I would not have got any satisfaction from him. 193. Did you ever complain to Father Mahoney ?—No. 194. Did you ever complain to any one else at the time? —Not to my knowledge. 195. When did you first tell any one of these beatings ? —Since I left the Orphanage I have often spoken of it when the subject cropped up. At the time of Mr. Lightband's inquiry, about two years ago, I published a letter in the Evening Mail in reply to Brother Loetus. 196. What standard did you get into at the school ?—That was one of my complaints. I was in tiie highest standard; but when the Government Inspector came I was put back to the Fourth. I was also excluded from examination for the Fifth a fortnight before it came off. I was working in the Sixth Standard. William Boss, examined on oath. 198. Mr. Harley.] You were a boarder at the Orphanage ?—Yes. They did not treat me as a boarder. 199. How long is it since you left the school?—A little over four years. 200. Were you put in with the other boys ?—Yes. 201. Did you know anything about the hill-work there?— Yes, I had to do it with the other boys. 202. How many times have you been up there?— Six times a day—seven times at the most. Five times was the regular thing. 203. Mr. Bush.] Do you mean seven times up and seven times down ? —Yes. Three in the morning and four in the afternoon. 204. Mr. Harley.] Was it tiring or otherwise ?—lt was very tiring and hard work. 205. You knew Brother Wibertus ?—Yes ; he used to chase us up the hill with a supplejack. 206. Mr. Bush.] Was he as stout then as now? —No. 207. Mr. Harley.] You were at the Orphanage on a visit lately ?—Yes, last Monday. The boys were having the same stew then as when I was there. 208. Mr. Bush.] Were you doing hill-work in Brother Cuthbert's time?—No, it was in Brother Wibertus's time. Feank McCormack, examined on oath. 209. Mr. Bush.] Will you tell us how old you are; when you went to the Orphanage, and when you left ?—I will be twenty on the 19th of next October. I cannot say when I went Co the Orphanage, but I left about four and a half years ago. 210. Tell us what complaint you have to make? —I was treated more like a pig than a human being when I was there. f 211. During your last six months were you treated in this way?— Yes. 212. Mr. Wardell.] Of what do you complain?—Of the tucker and the clothing. The stew and the bread-and-dripping were not fit for pigs. When I ran away I got a note from Father Mahoney saying I should be let off; but when I got back to the school I was made to kneel four hours, and then flogged.