H.—l9b.

244

jYv. MOBBIS.

121. Mr. Ferguson.] Did you ever talk it over amongst yourselves that the money had been spent on these things ?—The £10 had nothing to do with me. 122. The Chairman!] You know what was bought with that £10 ?—I saw the list. I could not recollect exactly what it was. 123. Do you remember if the things that were on that list wore in camp ?—I saw some cases. 124. Had you things like those in camp I—Not1 —Not at that time. 125. There was a shortage, then ? —They seemed to be extra, because they were not used for some time after. 126. Mr. Gray.] What were not used ? —Pots- saucepans. 127. Mr. Ferguson.] There was no place to use them ?—No ; we only had the two small stoves. Gordon Graham: Pearson sworn and examined. (No. 62.) 1. The Chairman.] You are a private, are you not ? —Yes, sir. 2. Where did you live before you joined ? —At Carterton, Wairarapa. 3. When did you join ?—I came down with the Trentham Regiment on the 29th May, and on the following Friday was transferred to the Sixth Reinforcements. 4. Yeu fell ill, unfortunately, did you not . —Yes. 5. What date was that ? —I could not say. It seemed to me to be about three weeks after I went there. I was reported sick on a Wednesday. 6. What happened when you were taken ill on the Wednesday : you went to sick-parade, I suppose ? —Yes. It was a rather raw sort of day, but there was no rain. I think it was about 9 o'clock when I got off. 7. You went at about a quarter past 8, and got away at about 9 ? —Yes. 8. What medical man saw you in the tent ?— 1 do not know the name of any except Dr. Harrison. 9. You think it was Dr. Harrison ?—No, it was not he. It was a tall man with a dark moustache. Dr. Purely : It would be Dr. Stout. 10. The Chairman.] After you had seen the doctor, what was done with you ?—He wrote out a slip. He told me to give it to the clerk. It had my temperature on it, and underneath " Admit " —evidently to admit me to the hospital. The clerk or orderly there told me to get my blankets and go to the hospital. I went out of the tent and to my corporal. He said, "Go over to the lines and wait till I come, and I will carry your blankets." I only took my blankets —nothing else—because I did not know what I was going to. I reported over there to the orderly 7, and after waiting in the shed for a while —I do not know how long—l was put in one of the loose-boxes. I had no oil-sheet or pillows, and I had to put one blanket on the floor of the loose-box. 11. Coidd you not ask the orderly to get you your things ?—The man just told me to go into number such-and-such. 12. And you just went in '.—Yes. I did not know but that there were beds in there. I suppose that would be about 10 o'clock. 18. In the morning ? —Yes. A little after 10. I went to sleep, and they woke me up and gave me my dinner ; and that night they took me over to the tea-kiosk. 14. You did not spend the night in the loose-box ?—No, I was just there for the day. 15. Did any one come to see you during the time you were there, except to give you dinner ? But you say you went to sleep ? —Yes. I was not feeling too well, and I went off to sleep again after dinner. They woke us up and told us to get up again, and they took our blankets and so on in a car round by the road to the tea-kiosk. I suppose it would be about 5 or half-past 5 in the afternoon when we were taken aortss there to the tea-kiosk. 16. How long were you there ?—I was there from the Wednesday night to the Saturday morning. 17. Then on the Saturday what happened ?—I complained to the doctor of not feeling at all well, and he examined me and told the orderly who was with him that I was to be carried out. 18. Mr. Gray.] Which doctor was this ? —I could not say. He was an oldish man. 19. The Chairman.] Clean-shaven ? —Yes. Then they took me over to a. little place with four bunks in it. There was a mattress on the bunk and I had my blankets with me. I felt a lot better then. My temperature was pretty high—up to 103—while I was lying in the tea-kiosk. The orderly there looked after me pretty well. He sent over to my tent, and got my kit brought over. 20. You were made nice and comfortable there ? —Yes, there. 21. But not in the kiosk ? —No, I was just the reverse there, because I had only the blankets. I saw only one bed inside the tea-kiosk, but I believe there were one or two out, on the verandas. 22. You were on the floor in the tea-kiosk .—Yes —in fact, in all but this one. 23. You weie there before the nurses came . —Yes. That evening my nose started to bleed. It had bled previously in the tea-kiosk, but not very much, and I managed to stop it; but this time I could not. I called the orderly, and he did his best, but he could not stop it. That was the last I remembered till the Tuesday morning. 24. What is your next recollection ? —The next was coming to at a place which. I did not know. 25. It was really Kaiwarra, was it, not ?—No ; Wellington Hospital. 26. Then you were some time in the Wellington Hospital, were you not ? —I came out on the Sunday following the Tuesday. On the 4th of this month I was taken to Kaiwarra—on the Sunday. 27. You went to Kaiwarra : and how long were you there ?—I was discharged, from there on the 16th. 28. Do you remember being visited while you were there ?—I was visited by Mr. Hornsby,