MILITARY DEPARTMENT, 13TH OCTOBER 1880, No. 6462.
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Barracks. —The barracks of the Royal Artillery are on the west side of the cantonment and
at its lowest level. The building was one altered from a private dwelling to serve its present
use ; it is not fully exposed to the prevailing wind, and owing to its irregular form, ventilation
is not thorough ; it is intended to vacate it next year ; for this reason it was not whitewashed
in the present. The average cubic space per man was 2,167 feet, of superficial area 114 feet.
Guard Room. —The guard-room is stated to be well ventilated and to have afforded 2,192
cubic feet of space per man and 104 feet of superficial area. The cells gave only 1,008 cubic
and 60 feet of surface area.
Married Quarters .—The quarters of the married soldiers are stated to be sufficiently com
-modious, except for those with unusually large families.
Hospital.—Is half a mile from the barracks, on higher and opener ground. The average
cubic space for each patient was 2,640 feet ; of superficial area 135 feet.
Lavatory. —The lavatory accommodation in barracks was sufficient ; a swimming bath is
available.
Latrines. —The latrine accommodation was sufficient, and the conservancy was good.
Water.—The water in use is from wells ; the quality was good, it was well filtered.
Rations.—Mutton was issued twice a-week, beef five times ; the vegetables used were
potatoes, onions and pumpkins. The fruits obtainable in the markets were oranges, bananas
and pomegranates, of poor quality. The bread issued for the men in barracks was often
condemned on account of its inferior quality and its under-baking ; that for the hospital was
always good.
Canteen.—The articles supplied from the canteen were of good quality ; no ill effects were
observed in connexion with them.
The clothing of the men was suitable ; their duties were not prejudicial ; their amusements
and recreations were those usual—cricket, foot-ball, skittles, fives and rackets.
If the efficiency of the sanitation of the barracks, &c., is measured by the extent and the
kind of sickness prevalent amongst the troops during the year, it would be considered satisfac
-tory so far as our current knowledge of the causes of illness and our imperfect means for obvi
-ating them extend. The battery of Royal Artillery was in its tenth year of residence in India,
but nearly one-half of the men composing it had been less than five years in the country.
Paroxysmal fevers and fevers returned as continued caused a little more than a quarter of all the
admissions; nearly one-third of the whole were for the different forms of venereal disease. No
deaths occurred, nor were any men invalided.
BELLARY.
The troops stationed here were a battery of Royal Artillery and a regiment of Infantry.
The cantonment is placed on a plateau 1,500 feet above sea level ; the surface of the plateau
is strewn with blocks and boulders of granite of all sizes, some lying singly, others piled on each
other in confused heaps ; the surface of the cantonment itself, however, has been cleared and
levelled. The weathering of the rocks furnishes the soil, but in the immediate neighbourhood,
the so-called " black cotton soil" is common ; this contains a considerable portion of nitrate of
potash. Half a mile south-east of the barracks, a large tank extends round the south side of
the hill on which the old native fort is built, and it communicates by a channel with another
tank close to the native town ; other than these, there are no water-courses or pieces of marsh
near the cantonment. The immediate environs of the barracks have surface drains to carry
off storm water ; some of these are stone-faced, others are not.
The Infantry barracks are in blocks, arranged to benefit by the most prevalent winds
(north-east and south-west) ; they are stone-built, single-storied, raised on four-foot plinths ;
each designed to accommodate ninety-two men ; contains one large room 186 feet long by
forty-eight feet broad, and two smaller rooms at each end meant for the non-commissioned
officers. The blocks are surrounded by broad verandahs. The buildings have flat roofs and
stone floors. They afforded an average cubic space of 1,894 feet per man during the year.
Guard Room. —The guard room and cells are lofty and well-ventilated buildings. The
former gave an average space of 3,400 cubic feet per man ; the latter of 2,160 to each prisoner
of the Infantry regiment ; for prisoners of the Royal Artillery, the cells used were defective.
Some alterations and improvements were made in them during the year.
Hospital. —The hospital (occupied by both corps) is a double-storied, stone-built building,
placed 200 yards south of the barracks ; it is well raised from the ground, and has lofty, well
-ventilated wards, in which each patient had an average of 3,367 cubic feet of space and of 181
feet, superficial area.
Both the barracks and the hospital were limewashed twice during the year.