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589. How many men will it accommodate? —It all depends how many beds it is built for. 590. Is it for half a dozen men ?—I do not think it, will hold more than fifty from appearances. 591. The Chairman.] That is not for the purpose of dispensing altogether with the Wellington Hospital, so far as the camp is concerned ? —No. 592. Or for dealing with epidemics? —No; it is purely a hospital for simple cases in connection with the camp. 593. Has there been undue delay in completing that building? —Yes, 1 believe that the contract time has been overrun. 594. When ought it to have been completed ?—I think, by the end of last month, June. 595. There will be a written contract somewhere : where is it—have you got it?— No. 596. Mr. Salmond.] How long will it be before it is finished? —About three weeks, so the Engineer told me yesterday. 597. Is the work going on now?—No, it is stopped. 598. The Chairman.] Who is the head man of the Public Works Department in charge of that? —I think, Mr. Louch, the District Engineer. 599. Mr. Salmond.] Have you any further facts that you desire to lay before the Commission apart from any specific questions asked?—l would like to lay before the Commission the whole of the difficulties we were placed under in the camp by not knowing the number of men we were to prepare for for months ahead—that, a certain number of men had offered and were to be called up, and that they would come into camp on a certain date. What I mean is that we could not foresee these extra regiments, and consequently could not provide for- them. 600. The Chairman.] Over and above the five hundred a month?— That is so. 601. When was the increase over five hundred a month decided upon, do you know?— Well, at different times. It started in February. 602. What happened then : how many more men were sent upon you beyond the expected quota?—We had, first of all, the Samoan Relief Force of five hundred men. Ihey left at the end of March. Then in February we got a new company of the Army Service Corps, a small company of eighty-five men. In the same month, we got a company of I.ngineers consisting of 238 men, and a battery of Field Artillery of 156 men. Then in March we had a Stationary Hospital (this is an extra) of 116 men. In April we had another battery of Artillery and an Ammunition Column of 464 men, and No. 2 Stationary Hospital, about ninety-three men. In May we had an extra Army Service Corps, fifty; Engineers, seventy-one; hospital ship, sixty-two. Then at the end of May we had new Trentham Regiments, 2,200. Then in June an Army Service Corps, about twenty-five; and Ambulance Corps, thirty; and extra mounted reinforcements, 200. And the strength of our reinforcements jumped up from 5 per cent, monthly to 45 per cent, every two months. 603. Equivalent to an increase from 10 per cent, every two mouths to 45 per cent.? —Yes. 604. Mr. Ferguson. \ Was a corresponding increase of staff given you for dealing with those increased numbers? —I think we are not overburdened with staff. We are working at high pressure all the time. We work from daylight to II and 12 every night. 605. Dr. Martin.] You are short of Medical Officers? —Well, this latter part proved that we were. 606. That is from June?—We were short of medicos during the epidemic. 607. Did you point out that you were short of medical men?—No, it was only proved by the epidemic that we were short. The numbers were equal to meet all requirements in the ordinary course of things. 608. Mr. Ferguson.] That would not be your duty to point that out? —No. 609. Dr. Martin.] But would not the Medical Officer in charge of the camp point that out to you? Did he ever officially tell you that he was short of Medical Officers?—No, never. 610. Mr. Salmond.] Were further medical men brought into the camp to deal with the epidemic I —Yes. 611. How many?— Six or seven. 612. Resident in the camp?— No. 613. But while all these seven thousand men were in the camp I understand that six or seven extra medical men were added ? —No. 614. The Chairman.] Were there extra medical men provided with the accession of numbers ?—Yes; two came in with their units, the Trentham Brigade. 615. Otherwise it remained as before? —Yes. 616. Apart from the medical you had these men coming in unexpectedly" you say. There was a certain amount of publicity given to the fact that more men were coming in : were you not told that more men were corrling in ?—Certainly. I will give you the dates when I was notified and the dates upon which the extra men came in : Samoan Relief Force came into camp 2nd January, notified 4th December : Army Service Corps came into camp 7th February, notified 3rd February; Engineer Company came into camp 7th February, notified 29th January; Field Artillery Battery came into camp 7th February, notified 29th January; Stationary Hospital came into camp 18th March, notified 12th March; Field Battery and Ammunition Column came into camp 18th April, notified 14th April; No. 2 Stationary Hospital came into camp 12th May, notified Bth April; extra Army Service Corps came into camp sth May, notified 3rd May; Engineers came into camp 15th May, notified 10th May; Hospital Ship came into camp 25th May, notified 20th May; Trentham Regiments came into camp 29th May, notified 19th April; extra Mounted Rifles came into camp Ist July, notified 24th June. 617. When you have these notifications sent you what have you to do? Take the case of the 2,200 men coming in on the 29th May, and of which you received notice on the 19th April : what had you to do in order to prepare ?—-We had to prepare the whole of their sanitary arrangements, their cooking arrangements, and their accommodation.