H.—6o.

96

[SEBGEANT G. K..BABNER.

168. Was the bread good ?—Yes, very good bread. 169. What about the biscuits?— There were barrels of biscuits—good biscuits. I think'there were as many biscuits as they could possibly want. 170. And they were good ?—Yes, good wholesome biscuits. 171. Is there anything in the statement that there was not enough sugar?—-No; we always had sugar. Of course, on some of these questions I can only speak for the sergeants' mess. 172. You saw no shortage of sugar?— Not with us. 173. In regard to milk? —There was milk in the tea we got ; none otherwise. There was always sufficient milk. 174. Did you hear complaints from the men regarding the sugar or the milk?—l could not say that I did. 175. Do you remember what the potatoes were like that were supplied to the men?— Yes; We had the same potatoes. 176. And were they wholesome ?—No ;as a rule, they were not. They were eatable most of the time, but there were a few times when they could not be eaten. They seemed to be frostbitten, or had gone bad in the freezer. 177. Were they frozen potatoes ?—They were kept down in the hold. 1 could not say that • they were frozen. 178. Eegarding the meat that was issued, was it ever badly cooked ?—Oh, yes, often underdone terribly. 179. Was the meat itself at all tainted ?—Yes ; on two or three occasions it was very much tainted. 180. Do you remember whether that was before you got to Albany or afterwards?— Well, it was tainted before we got to Albany, and whether we got it afterwards I could not say. 181. You remember that Mr. Young, the veterinary surgeon, examined the meat?—No, but I heard about it. 182. You did not know of your own knowledge ?—I did not. Things happen on a troopship that, of course, I would not know about. 183. Speaking for yourself about the accommodation, had you sufficient room to swing your hammocks ?—Yes. I did not swing a hammock ; I slept on a table. I did not sleep more than three times in a hammock. 184. Did you sleep for preference on a table ?—Yes, for preference. 185. Do you think throughout the ship there were many men who would prefer the table to the hammock ?—-Yes ; a lot of men used sooner to sleep on the floor in preference to a hammock. 186. Did you hear complaints from men about having to sleep on the floor ?—Well, no. A man hears complaints on a troopship every day, because some people are always making complaint. 187. What vessel did you go out in ?—ln the " Cornwall." .188. Eecalling the conditions on the "Cornwall," did you find throughout the voyage any large number of men who might be said to be always growling?— Well, there were always a ■fewcomplaints ; but, as I said before, they were complaints that a man would take no notice of. There was never much growling about food on the " Cornwall." 189. Were there more coming back in the " Britannic ?—Yes, certainly. But there is one thing I should like to say. We had horses to look after on the " Cornwall," and there was onlyhalf the number of men on board. When a man got up on deck he had horses to look after, and had not so much time to growl. 190. If a man could be given work to do throughout the day it would have the effect, of reducing the number of growlers ?—Yes, to a certain extent. 191. I suppose, then, where little work is done it generally causes men to complain of their surroundings ?—Yes. 192. Do you think in the " Britannic " that any work could have been given to that large body of men to occupy their attention and their muscles, say, from midday onwards ?—Not very well. There was no room. But a man could get a certain amount of exercise if he wanted it; but as for giving them work, there was absolutely no room. 193. You think that the idleness Jrom midday onwards was unavoidable ?—Yes, sir. 194. Were you ever in the hospital coming across?—l was down there on two or three occasions—not in the hospital myself, but just to see a friend. "195. Did he ever make any complaint to you about his treatment?—No ; they seemed to get very well treated by the attendants. By the way they spoke, there were complaints about not being sufficient room in the hospital. . 196. You have no cause to complain yourself about it ?—I was not well coming over, but I. was not bad enough to go to the hospital. 197. There was no man you knew of your own knowledge to be ill that was not in the hospital ?—Well, no. I did hear of one case, but I could not mention his name. 198. Do you remember when the blankets were issued to you?— Yes. 199. Were the blankets that were issued to you clean?— They looked clean. They seemed to have been newly washed. 200. Were they not clean ?—1 could not swear as to mine. I had mine only one nighc. I lost them. I slept on my overcoat all the way over. There is no doubt that some of them were not clean, but whether they were clean when they got them, or whether they were made unclean afterwards, I could not say. 201. I suppose a number of men came on board lousy?—Oh, yes, certainly. Some men were lousy on the veldt, and they got no change, and I fail to see how they could come on board not lousy. . .-