H.—l9b

254

G. BELL

5. Did you get your other things ? —Yes, we got a change of underclothing the day we went in, and another change a week later. 6. Where did you live —in a hut or a tent ?—ln a tent. I have been in a hut since Sunday night. 7. You went through the winter in tents ? —Yes. 8. Which do you like best . —Personally I-prefer the tents. They seem more sociable, and you seem colder in the huts and want more blankets. 9. How many blankets have you ? —Throe. 10. You could put your coat over yourself if it is dry ? —Yes. 11. Do you find the huts draughty at all ? —No, I cannot say they are very draughty. They are very fresh in the morning. 12. Do you find them stuffy at all ?- -No, not stuffy. 13. Have you been ill ? —I was before the doctor twice —once with a cold and once with a slight attack of influenza. 14. You have not been laid up in the hospital ? —No, I have not. 15. Have you been suffering from any grievance at all while you have been in camp ? —Not that I know of. 16. Mr. Ferguson.] Is the food till right ? ■--It is not bad : it is as good as could be expected. Sometimes it is not up to the mark. The only thing I objected to was having to wait for two hours for the doctor in a slight drizzle. 17. Was that the morning of the sick-parade ? — Yes ; I went over at 8 o'clock, and it was just after 10 o'clock when I got back. 18. There was no place to shelter in ? —There was one marquee with the side open with twenty men inside, and there was no room for more. 19. When was this ? —About a month ago. 20. Mr. Skerrett.] You passed all the winter in. a tent ? -Yes, up till last Sunday. 21. Can you tell me what the routine was as to airing the tents —by lifting the flaps up ?—Yes ; when the flaps were dry we rolled them as far back as they could go. 22. Did you do that as a practice on every fine day . —Yes, when the tent was dry. 23. What did you do with the blankets and your belongiugs . —When if was dry.outside we brought them outside on the oil-sheet. If it was wet we rolled them up and put them on our beds. 24. What was the practice as to striking tents ? —We have not struck any tents since being here. We shifted them twice before being on leave and brought them back at night. 25. You did not strike the tents at all and replace them in the same site ? —Yes, on the same site on two occasions. , 26. You struck the tents and removed the canvas ? —Yes, we took the tent about 2 chains away and put it up roughly, and shifted the floor of the tent and changed it for the day. 27. Was it a wooden floor ? —Yes. 28. And brought it back and put it in the same place ?—Yes. 29. The Chairman.] Do you at times let go all the ropes so that the canvas flaps against the poles ? —No, I have not seen that done. In the morning we used to undo about half a dozen pegs and roll the flaps as far back as we could roll them. 30. The strainers were not let go ? —No. That left about one-third of the floor uncovered towards the sun. 31. You were with what company ? —With the C Company, Sixth Reinforcements. 32. Were you all in tents from April right on. . —Yes, from the 18th April. They shifted into huts while I was on leave last week. 33. Did many of the men in C Company get ill ? —One got measles in our tent about seven or eight weeks ago, and one took ill about a fortnight ago. 34. Were you better or worse than any other company ?—1 do not think we were any worse or any better than any other company. 35. Mr. Skerrett.] I understand you to say that twice your tent was struck, temporarily put on a new site, the floor removed, and then replaced on the same site the same day ?—Yes. 36. Was that only done twice during the time of your stay in the tents ?—Yes, I think it was twice. It may have been three times. 37. Was there any practice of striking the tent once a week or once in ten days ? —Not as far as the C Company was concerned. 38. Did the practice of your company as to striking tents differ from the practice generally throughout the camp ? —I do not think so. 39. Except on the three occasions, was your tent ever struck and then removed for the day or for the week to the adjoining site ?—No, never. About half the tents of C Company were removed once to the lines that B Company had left. B Company had left about a week. 40. So that there was an opportunity for the sites of B Company's tents to be aerated . —Yes. 41. Then their sites were occupied by part of the C Company's tents ?—Yes. 42. Were you satisfied with the attention you got on sick-parade ? —Yes, I was satisfied except for the waiting outside. 43. It has been stated that there was a great deal'of grumbling among the men as to the casual examination and attention given to them by tho doctors on sick-parade : what have you to say about that . —The first time I went along I had influenza, and the doctor gave me a thorough examination. The second time I had a slight cold and he practically did uot examine me : he looked at my eyes and gave me a prescription.