3
through the floor and ceiling of the serjeants' bath-room below, where it termi-
nates about ½ a foot above the stone floor of this bathing-place, which is thus
kept constantly wet by the water falling from the room above and by that used
by the occupants of the serjeants' room on the ground-floor, which escapes by
a pipe led through the wall into an iron receptacle which is never properly clean-
ed,—in fact, which I may say can never be properly cleaned. I heard complaints
from the wives of serjeants living in these quarters of a smell having been noticed
in these bath-rooms, especially before rain; and, indeed, the arrangement is bad
throughout. It might be remedied by having from each bath-room the pipe led
direct through the wall. This should terminate a foot above a pipe with a fun-
nelled top, so that there could be no possibility of any foul gas getting into the
bath-rooms, or of any foul water spilling over the ground. This arrangement
would do away with the pernicious iron receptacles, as the foul water should be
carried off by a pipe or open channel to the company's garden, which Lord Mark
Kerr has so beneficially caused to be made in the vicinity of each of these bar-
racks. The clerestory windows in the upper floor should be fixed open, or else
the ropes from them should be enclosed in locked wooden boxes, so that the men
would be unable to shut these windows, as at present their whole utility is de-
stroyed by their being kept closed by the men.
6. The necessity for having a Macnamara or silicated carbon or other filter
enclosed in a large, porous, earthenware vessel was observed in these as in all
other barracks, as hardly one of the existing filters was found to be efficient. In
some there was only charcoal, in others coarse gravel, in others neither. It is
impossible for any supervision to be kept over them, and the sooner they are
abolished the better.
7. There is no proper arrangement made for the men to micturate during
the night. In my opinion a glazed stone-ware trough should be erected along
the outer edge of the projection from the verandah at each end of the building.
This should be flushed with water every morning, and the fluid might be carried
off through a glazed stone-ware pipe fastened outside the wall and led to the
company's garden nearest the barrack. This would do away with the objection-
able practice, which now obtains, of having a urine-tub brought up to the upper
floor at night which is placed in one corner of the verandah for the men to make
water into, the consequence being that the floor all round the tub is defiled, and
would prevent what is a still more objectionable practice, viz., that of the men
making water through the iron railings all round the verandah.
8. In the cook-rooms belonging to the new barracks more care is, I think,
required in looking after the cooks, as the rooms which they occupy were found
to be in a dirty condition. The arrangements, also, for getting rid of smoke
from the cook-rooms are insufficient, and the walls are consequently begrimed.
There is an iron water-tank kept in these cook-rooms; but, because, I suppose, it
gives the bhitie extra trouble, the water in this tank is not used for cooking but
only for washing up, whilst the water for culinary purposes is drawn from a
wooden cask standing outside the cook-room. The iron tank should be placed
on a stand with a slight incline, so that the sediment could be removed through a
flushing cock, and inside the tank should be placed a filter the water of which
should alone be used for cooking food. The cook-rooms are too dark; more light
is required if only to see the sink and what goes into it. The liquid refuse should
carry itself through a glazed pipe to the company's garden, and the solid refuse
should be deposited in an iron box kept outside. Greater attention, in my opinion,
should be paid to these matters.
9. The privies, where dry earth is supposed to be used, were not clean, as the
men will not use the dry earth. I think that a hopper to contain it should be
fitted over each seat so as to deliver a certain amount of earth into the pan be-
low after each visit. It is useless to expect that the men will use the scoop kept