W. F. SOLOMON.]

165

H.—l9b.

14. When did you get your equipment? —It was close on 11 o'clock when I got mine. 15. Will you explain what happened: were you all marched down to the Quartermaster's? —Yes, down to the store. 16. How many of you?— Hundreds of us; we all went together. 17. What sort of night was it? It was a dirty sort of night—sometimes raining: not a heavy rain, but just enough to make things uncomfortable. 18. When do you suppose you got to the store? —I should say about half past 6or 7 o'clock. 19. When did you get your equipment?— Close on 11 o'clock when 1 got mine. 20. AVhat were you doing in the meantime? —Just standing by waiting for my turn to come. 21. Were you the last of them?—No; there were a good few behind me. My mate Pollard was behind me. 22. Do you know when he got his?—He told me it was 12 o'clock when he got his, and he only got part of it. 23. The Chairman .] AVas he in the same tent as you?—No; we were split up. He fell out as a bandsman, and by that means we got separated. 24. Were you put in a hut or a tent?—ln a hut. 25. Mr. Ferguson.] What was the number of the hut? —It was No. 38 when 1 left Trentham, but it had been altered. 26. Mr. Salmond.] You were given in your ordinary equipment a pair of boots?— Yes. 27. Did you ever get two pairs?— No. 28. Did you get all the rest of the things you needed that day? —I do not know. 1 got, a big coat, a pair of boots, dungaree suit, shirt and undershirt and pair of underpants, two pairs of socks, a ground waterproof sheet, three blankets, and a hat. 29. Did you get a mattress?—l got one by paying for it. 30. You bought the straw?—No, I bought a, palliasse to put the straw in. 1 got tlie. straw from the store. The quartermaster-sergeant was selling the palliasses as we came along. I paid 2s. for the mattress. 31. Have y 7 ou got it now 7 ?— No; I burnt it at Trentham. 32. Have you got another one?—No; I have heard a lot about it, but I have not got one. 33. Where are you stationed now?—At Rangiotu. 34. What are you sleeping on now? —A bit of straw on the floor, and a waterproof sheet on that, in a tent. 35. You got your equipment about 11 o'clock at night and then you went to the hut?— Yes. 36. How many men slept in the hut with you that night?— Between seventy and eighty men. 37. It was a pretty tight lit?— Yes, it was a tight fit; just like herrings packed away—too tight to be comfortable. 38. On the succeeding nights was there the same number? —Yes. When I left Trentham on the 3rd July to go to Christchurch to my mate's funeral there were close on seventy men there then. Some were away on sick-leave. 39. What was that period?— Five weeks. 40. During that time were there usually seventy men in the hut? —Yes. 41. The Chairman.] How did you get at the number: did you count them?— Yes, they counted them. We were told by the sergeant there were seventy men. 42. AVell, they have told us here that fifty men was the limit? —They told us they were built for fifty men, but all the time I was there there were close on seventy men. There w 7 ere several away on sick-leave. 43. Seventy men would not- be sleeping there all the time?— Yes. 44. Mr. Salmond.] Are you counting those on sick-leave amongst the seventy?— Some would be going away and some coming back. 45. The Chairman.] I want to know whether fifty, sixty, or seventy slept there?— Until the sickness broke out there were seventy men sleeping there. 46. You went there on the 29th May? —Yes. To give you an idea, there was not room for the men to sleep, and they had to sleep under the tables. 47. Mr. Salmond.] There arc four tables in the hut?— Yes. 48. And was it the regular practice for some men to sleep under the tables?— Yes, it was for a time. Of course, some sick men went away for a fortnight and a week, and then those sleeping under the tables would take their places. 49. Was there room at the tables' for meals for all the men?—No, not by a long way. 50. How 7 did the extra men get their meals?— They had to sit, on the floor, and put, their dish on the floor and make the best of it. 51. Are they supposed to sit at the tables for their meals?—l do not know. 52. There are no seats there?— There are forms to sit on, but those men could not sit there because there was not room. 53. Mr. Ferguson.] What seating-accommodation was there —room to seat fifty men ?—There were four tables. 54. The, Chairman.] AVould each table hold twelve men?— More than that; about fourteen or fifteen. I could not, tell to one or two. 55. Did your corporal or sergeant live in the same hut?— Yes; all the corporals, sergeants, and sergeant-major lived in the same hut. 56. Who was the sergeant-major: he is top, is he not?— Yes; Sergeant-major Hartley, of D Company, 15th Platoon. 57. Who was the next man—the sergeant?— There were two sergeants—Sergeants Gear and Blackman.