H.—6c.

66

[troopeb f. c. moobe.

740. If the veterinary surgeon swore that over 1 lb. per man was given, would you still swear it was not so ?—Of course, I do not know that it was not so, because he had more experience. 741. With regard to the complaint about the latrine, I understood you to say that when it was complained of it was remedied ?—Yes. 742. Then, your complaint was that the ship's arrangements for the latrines were not up to what they should be"?— Yes. 743. Did the officers do what they could to remedy it ?—Yes. 744. With regard to the cooking of the meat, your complaint is generally that the galleys were not big enough ?—Yes. 745. Of course, you cannot blame the cooks for that ?—No. 746. Colonel Davies.} You say the blankets were not rolled when issued ?—No. 747. Not rolled in swags ?—No. They were folded in heaps, just as you would double a blanket up and lay it down. 748. When did you go to South Africa? —I went in the " Drayton Grange." 749. You landed on the 17th May, or about that?—l cannot tell. 750. Did you ever hear of men applying for more meat and being refused ?—No. 751. You never heard of a man making a complaint that he did not get what he asked for ?— No. I saw the quartermasters get 14 lb. tins of meat and give it to the men, in addition. 752. Was there any reason why you should not have a full basin to wash in ?—No; but you had to consider your friends. If you stood there, it would certainly mean that your friends would have to go without a wash. 753. There was plenty of water? —Yes. It was the want of time. 754. You say you had the alley-ways to walk about in : were there not the poop and the forecastle also ? —Yes ; but the men were sitting down to allow the others to pass. 755. You had the poop and the forecastle as well as the alley-way ?—Yes ;we used to go forward to them, and they came aft to us. 756. Surgeon-Major Pearless.] The sick men paraded before the hospital-door ?—Yes. 757. Was there any other place except your deck for these men to parade on ?—Only the top of the steps by the canteen. 758. You think fourteen men was the average attendance outside there?—l saw them come and stand there so that we could not clean the deck. 759. You preferred that sick men should stand up on the upper deck rather than you should suffer any inconvenience? —If they stood aside until we finished our breakfast we could have cleaned up our deck. 760. You would prefer to see sick men standing in the cold rather than you should be inconvenienced ?—No, sir; but they used to be down there till close on dinner-time to see the doctor. 761. When was the hospital parade?—l do not know much about it. 762. You say they could only be where they were, or up on the cold deck ?—Yes. 763. Where else could they go ?—I do not know. 764. Mr. McNab.] Did the colonel at his inspection ever complain that you had not your deck clean ?—No. I have heard him say, and I have heard the lieutenant say, it was the best-kept deck he saw. There were two or three of us who were not satisfied until our part of the ship was clean. 765. You did not come under the displeasure of Colonel Davies because your deck was not c l ean ?—No, sir; I have stood at the table and have heard him say it was the cleanest deck in the ship. 766. Mr. Millar.} How was the meat sent down from the galley to the mess-table: was it in one piece ?—Yes. 767. Did the mess orderly cut it into pieces? —Yes, he served it out to the men. He could only cut it into pieces and give some to each man. 768. The Chairman.] You say you saw 14 lb. tins of preserved meat given to the men in addition to other meat ? —Yes. 769. How many was that divided amongst? —Sixteen men. 770. So that on that occasion the men had a bellyful ?—Yes. Sergeant Otto Richard Cook examined on oath. (No. 19.) 771. The Chairman.] Were you in either of the contingents ?—No, except in the Eighth. I was over there in Kitchener's Horse. 772. What was your rank in the contingent? —Sergeant. 773. Where did you join ?—ln Christchurch. 774. You expressed your desire to give evidence before this Commission. Will you make any statement you think fit?—l have travelled on several boats. I went to South Africa in the " Ormazan "in the first place. I returned in the " Orient "as far as Sydney with the New South Wales Bushmen. Afterwards I went out again in the "Cornwall," and returned by the "Britannic." Comparing the " Britannic " with the other three boats, it was the worst of the four. In the first place, we had too many men on board. They had not quite sufficient cooking-accommo-dation to supply the food properly to the troops. The food was very bad indeed, and there was not sufficient of it. The sleeping-accommodation was very deficient indeed. There was not nearly enough room for any of us. Another thing was that there was not nearly enough space for us on the deck. We should have had more space. I think that is all. If any questions are asked me I shall answer them. 775. Is there anything else you would like to give evidence about ?—That is all. 776. Mr. McNab.] You have been in two vessels coming with troops from South Africa to the colonies ?—Yes. 777. And on two vessels going to South Africa? —Yets.