H.—6c.

46

[teooper p. mellok.

944. Did you make any complaint to your officer regarding that matter?—No, I did not; I did to the sergeant of the guard. 945. Did you ever complain to Colonel Davies when he came round for inspection ?—No, sir. 946. Now, with regard to the food, what do you mean by saying that some was rotten ?—The meat was very bad indeed. 947. What was done with it ?—lt was thrown overboard after complaints were made that it was unfit for human consumption. 948. Was the complaint made to the officer of the day ?—Yes; every time we had meat for dinner there was a complaint made to the officer of the day. 949. Eecall to your mind one specific case of complaint to an officer, and tell me the name of the officer ?—A dinner complaint ? 950. One case where a complaint was made at meal-time that the food was rotten ?—Yes ; we complained to Colonel Davies, and every man of the South Island regiment went to Colonel Davies on the deck. That was the day of the bad fish. 951. .Was it a complaint that the fish was rotten ?—Yes, sir. It was lying on the deck, to my knowledge, for two or three days. 952. What was done as the result of the complaint ? —I believe we got some bully beef. 953. Do you not know you got it? —Yes. 954. Then, Colonel Davies attended to that complaint ?—To that complaint. 955. Do you remember any complaints of rotten food that were not attended to by an officer ? —Yes. 956. What was the name of the officer the complaint was made to ?—I do not think I can give you the name. 957. Do you remember the date? —I do not know. 958. Was he a captain or a lieutenant? —He would be.a lieutenant. 959. Do you remember the squadron ?—I would not like to say for certain, but I think it was Lieutenant Manson, of E squadron. 960. Was it that the fish was rotten?—No ; it was only one day we had the fish bad. 961. What sort of meat was it that was bad ?—lt was green when it came out of the hold before it was cooked. 962. What was the complaint to Lieutenant Manson ?—That the meat was bad. 963. What did the lieutenant say ?—That he would look into it, but we heard no more about it. 964. Did you get all your food at your mess-table ? —Not all of it; I used to buy some. 965. Where did you buy it?—l used to get it out of a porthole in the saloon galley. 966. What did you pay for it?—l gave Is. for a couple of sandwiches and some tea. 967. Mr. Millar.] You said complaints were made every dinner-time about bad meat ?— That was after Albany. Before that there was no use making a complaint; there was no satisfaction. 968. A different officer had charge each day ?—Yes, sir. 969. Then, your charge is against every officer ? —Not against every officer. Some told us to go and get other meat. Lieutenant Duigan told me, and I went up and got a fresh piece of meat. 970. Can you tell me another officer who attended to the complaints ?—Lieutenant Harper. 971. Another? —Lieutenant Manson. 972. You can remember these distinct cases where complaints were lodged and the officers took steps to rectify them ? —Yes. 973. You say complaints were made every day?— Yes. 974. Then, your charge is against the other officers? —No, sir. 975. It was not rectified? —Sometimes it was, and sometimes it was not. 976. Then, we are left in the dark as to who were the officers who neglected it?—l did not make a note of it. 977. These three officers had the matter rectified?— Yes. 978. The Chairman.] Give us the name of one officer who refused to attend to a complaint ? —I could not. 979. Then, you wish the Commission to infer that every officer attended to the complaints ?— No. 980. You say you know the officer, and you do not care to name him ?—I do not remember the officer. 981. You make a charge that officers neglected their duty. You name three officers who did their duty. Name another? —I cannot. 982. Do you mean will not ?—I cannot. From Durban to Albany very little notice was taken of complaints. After Albany bully beef was given to us. 983. Can you give us an instance where the men had to eat bad food because the officer would not take steps to remedy it ?—No, I cannot remember one. 984. Then, you say there was no occasion to eat bad meat ?—Yes, there was. 985. Was a complaint made ?—Yes. 986. To whom ?—There was no attention paid to the complaint. 987. Cannot you say to whom the complaint was made ? —I cannot. 988. I again ask you, Is it that you will not answer, or that you cannot answer ?—I cannot answer. 989. Then, you do not know?—l do not know. 990. You say it was very hard to go on duty on deck for two hours and then have four hours off: how would you remedy that ?—lt was not necessary to have men there when-it was raining. I had to keep the men off the deck, and it is not likely men would want to sleep there then.