6
16. The same errors of construction were observed on the upper floor,
where the verandahs were also occupied by the cots of the men, and the two small
rooms at the north-east end were also found to be inhabited. One of these
rooms is only 12 feet 7 inches broad and 8 3/8 feet wide. In this were 2
men. The other room opening into it is 12 feet 7 inches broad and 5 1/8 wide;
it was used to keep some of their kit in. Such places are improper residences
for British soldiers in India. The three rooms on the north end of the upper-storey
of one of the barracks was told off to 2 serjeants. The two inner rooms are mani-
- f e s t l y i m p r o p e r p l a c e s f o r q u a r t e r s f o r a n o n - c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e r . T h e r o o m
on the south-east corner is also used as a sleeping room. If the recommenda--
tions made above are carried out, the space occupied by the projections would be
reserved for the staircases, and the serjeants' rooms on the north-east would
be thrown into the barrack. Arrangements should also be made for fixing a
glazed stone-ware urine trough for the use of the men on the upper-storey.
17. The quarter-guard and the 6 solitary cells attached to it are in front
of the lines between the new and old barracks. I was informed that about 15
men sleep in this guard-room, which is 40 feet long by 20 feet broad. This is
manifestly too small a space, as each man has only 53 square feet of floor space,
and some of the cots were very close to each other. The following is the space
between some of the cots I measured:—
1 foot 11 inches; 2 feet 2 inches; 1 foot 6 inches; 1 foot 8 inches; 2 feet 6 inches.
There ought always to be 3 feet between the cots. The only means of
ventilation provided are two doors and two windows and a cowl-ventilator in the
roof. The men complained that there was a bad smell at night. The prisoners'
room adjoins the guard-room, and measures 30 feet long by 20 feet broad, and in
it I was told sometimes as many as 40 men have been confined. There are 2 win-
dows, 2 barred doors and a cowl-ventilator in the roof; 7 beds were in it. Of the
6 solitary cells 3 face east and 3 west; they adjoin the guard-room, and, in my
opinion, are utterly unfit for the incarceration of Europeans. They have been
condemned by the Medical Officers. The only means of ventilation they have is
through the door; all the walls require piercing; but though I was informed they
were seldom used, 2 prisoners were confined in them at the time of my visit.
Those on the east side are very bad, and I think they should not be used on any
account. There are some more cells near the female hospital, some of which
are very good, being well ventilated, though the old ones are as bad as those
above alluded to; but the guard-room is a thatched building, and appears in a
tumble-down condition and is not properly ventilated.
18. The canteen is situated in the same building as the coffee-room. It is
badly ventilated and much too small. The coffee-room should be in a separate
building.
19. Two blocks of the married men's quarters are situated in the rear of
the barracks and two on the south-west flank. Two of these are tiled and two
thatched. In the rear blocks the ablution-rooms have been built in the east
verandahs, which is an objectionable practice, and the bed-rooms in these blocks
require ventilation. In one of the other 2 quarters there are three detached bath-
- i n g - p l a c e s b u i l t i n r e a r o f t h e p a t c h e r r i e s , w h i c h i s a g r e a t i m p r o v e m e n t , a n d i s a
course which, in my opinion, should be adopted for the other patcherries.
20. The sick women of the regiment are treated in the old Artillery Hos-
- p i t a l , w h i c h i s a v e r y g o o d b u i l d i n g , a n d I b e l i e v e t h e r e a r e n o a l t e r a t i o n s u r g e n t l y
needed in it, though I think that a latrine is wanted for the hospital servants.
21. The regimental hospital is an utterly bad building throughout, and a
new one is very much required. I am indebted to Doctor Moffit, the Surgeon-
Major in medical charge of the regiment, for the following account of it
: —
"The hospital is the only part of the old barracks now standing and
occupied. It is a one-storied building to the south of the new barracks. It
is on high ground, yet in a dip on the ridge, so that the ground on the east