H.—6c.

86

[teoopee w. mcloughlin.

612. How many do you think bought food every day ?—Some nights there were a hundred or more. There were two or three places where you could buy food. You could buy it from the engineers, from the officers' galley, and from the sailors you could get a bob's worth. 613. Mr. McNab.] You compla.in that the food was not half-cooked, that the tea and coffee were not fie to drink, that there was not sufficient sugar, and there was not sufficient room ?—Yes. 614: Did you ever complain during the voyage about any of these things?— There used to be an officer of the day who came round at meal-times. 615. Did you complain to him ? —Yes ; I stood up and said the tea and coffee were not fit to drink. 616. What officer was it ? —Lieutenant Vallance. 617. What was the complaint you made to him ?—That the tea and coffee were not fit to drink. 618. What did he say?—He said, " Yes; that is the general complaint all round." 619. Did he promise to inquire into it ?—He said he would see what he could do. 620. What did he do ?—I do not know whether he did anything. 621. Did you make a complaint to any other officer yourself ?—No. I heard the men making complaints. There were complaints by others besides me. There was a different officer every day 622. Do you still insist that the water was not kept on beyond about a quarter past 7 ?—I was not kept on more than half an hour. 623. When I tell you that every man so far who has complained about the water has admitted that it was kept on till 8 o'clock, will you still persist in saying that it was only allowed to run for three-quarters of an hour after 6 o'clock?— The reveille was at a quarter to 7. 624. How often was it at a quarter to 7 ?—I do not know. 625. Did the reveille ever sound during the trip at a quarter to 7 ?—I could not swear to it. I had not a watch. 626. What makes you think it was a quarter to 7if you had no watch ? —1 used to ask somebody some mornings, and they said it was a quarter to 7. 627. Was it taking the reveille at a quarter to 7 that you came to the conclusion that the water was turned off in three-quarters of an hour?— About three-quarters of an hour. 628. Here is the copy of the orders of the 6th July, 1902, which I show you, and which says that reveille was at 6 a.m :do you now say that reveille sounded at a quarter to 7 ?—I will not swear to it. I understood that it was a quarter to 7. 629. Will you still say that the water was turned off three-quarters of an hour after reveille ? —About three-quarters of an hour. I used to go up, and when you got up you could not get a wash. 630. You say all this on oath. Then, are we to believe those witnesses who stated to us that the water was running up to 8 o'clock ?—I would not say they were not to be believed. 631. Are we to understand these witnesses may be correct in their statement?— Yes. 632. Mr. Millar.] Was there any improvement in the coffee after the complaint to Lieutenant Vallance ? —No ; it was the same. . 633. Was it ever improved? —No. 634. Do you know of any other complaints which were made and no attempt made to rectify them?—No; we used to complain about the meat, and we got better. ' 635. That was attended to?— Yes. 636. As soon as the officer's attention was drawn to it it was remedied ?—lt might be worse another day, but it was changed. 637. Have you any complaint against the officers or non-commissioned officers during the voyage? —No. 638. Did you see any drunkenness in any part of the ship during che voyage ?—No. I understood there was drink on board. 639. You never saw it taken to excess?— No. 640. There was no regular drunkenness on board the vessel ?—No. They used not to drink the beer, so threw it out —that is, some of them did not drink it. It was not fit to drink. 641. Did you ever get water to wash your clothes?—We got some two or three days before we arrived here. 642. Plenty of water to drink ?—Yes. 643. Your only complaint is there was not sufficient time to wash in the morning?— No. 644. Not if you got up immediately?— You might. 645. But if a man remained in his bunk after reveille he would not ?—You had to wait, because the hammocks had to be put away. 646. When was breakfast ?—About 7 or a quarter past 7 o'clock. 647. I suppose some men would get breakfast while others were washing ?—Yes ; and some would go without breakfast to get a wash. 648. You think the water should have been kept on longer?—l think so. 649. Was there any scarcity of water when it was on ?—Sometimes the taps would not run. 650. Was not that the rolling of the ship?— Yes. 651. You could not prevent that? —No. 652. You have no other complaint?— No. 653. Mr. McNab.] What age are you ?—Twenty-one. 654. Colonel Davies.] Did you go out in the " Surrey " ? —Yes. 655. You belonged to the B squadron ?—I was transferred to it. 656. How often did you try to drink the tea?— Not very often. 657. Did you taste it every day ?—No; I did not go down very often. I would go sometimes to taste the tea to see what it was like.