24

B.—3b

501. What crops do you grow ? —Wheat, oats, barley, hay, peas, and hops. 502 Is Brother Damien in charge of the farm and the sheep ?—Yes. 503. Who looks after getting the wood down the hill ?—Brothers Wilbertus and Cutnbert. 504' Who is in charge of the museum ?—Brother Loetus. 505 Are the boys allowed in the Museum ?—I do not know. I have been in there scrubbing. 506. Did you ever tell Father Mahoney or Brother Loetus that you did not get enough food to eat ?—No. 507. Do you always get enough to eat?— No. 508. Why did you not tell them ?—I might get a hiding. I have known boys to ask and not 86 Wardell .] And you did not tell Father Mahoney or any one else that you were ang sll. Was it before you left to go out to the various employments, or afterwards, that you felt hungry ?—Both before and afterwards. 512. I suppose when you were out you got better food ?—Yes, I got good tucker. 513 Did you expect to be better fed out in employment than in the school ?—Yes. 514 Was it not due to the fact that you had been away from school and better fed, and went back again to the school rations, that made you feel short-fed ?—Yes. There was a difference between what I got outside and what I got in the school. 515. You were hungry, you say, before you went away ?—Yes. 516.. What has been your malady in the hospital ?—Pains in the stomach. 517 And you have been in for some months, you say? —Yes. 518. Mr. Bush.] Have you had a dose of mustard at the school during the last two years ?— Yes; two years last March. 519. What for?— Being sick. , . . 520. Was that the only medicine you had ? Did you get anything else in the way of medicine ! —Not at that time. ~',,. .1 .-n 521 Mr Wardell.} Did any doctor see you at all ?—Not during that illness. 522. You only had mustard once, you say ?—Only once then, but plenty of times before that. Elizabeth Dkummond, examined on oath. 523. Mr. Earley.] You live at the Moutere ?—Yes. 524 You are the wife of whom ?—James Drummond, farmer. 524 a. Do you remember some Orphanage boys coming to your place ?—I overtook two on the road and took them home. 525. How long ago ?—The 13th May last. 526. What were their names ?—Albert James and James Maher. 527 They were two runaway boys from the Orphanage ?—Yes. 528. How long did they stay with you?—l had them that night, and I got homes tor them for the ensuing week, until the following Monday. 529 Where did they go ?—Constable Boyes came from Motueka and took them away. 530. Whose place did you put them at?— James was put at Mr. Dan Drummond s, and Maher with Mr. Stade, my son-in-law. . 531. They were only at your place one night?— Yes; from the Sunday evening till the Monday morning. 532 Did you examine their clothes ?—I did. > 533 What sort of boots did they have ?—James's boots were fair average boots, but Maher s boots were a size or two sizes too small. He had pressed the heel down over the stiffening piece, and this gave them the appearance of bluchers. . , 534 Did you do anything to the boots ?—I did not; but Mrs. Dan Drummond, thinking there would be no inquiry, burnt them with some rubbish. She gave Maher a pair of boots. _ _ 535. Did you examine the clothing?—l produce Maher's shirt. [Shirt produced]. This is the shirt Maher had on, exactly as it came off. 536. Where was it taken off ?—At Dan Drummond's. 537. Were you there?—No, I was not. . 538. Mr. Wardell.] The shirt is torn right across the front. Is it an old tear /—lt is all 539. Mr. Harley.] Were there any buttons round the neck?— There was one button—a trousers button. , , „,, . ..,, , 540 What about his other clothes ?—He was given a pair of socks at Wakefield by an old lady with whom they stayed the night before. He said the stockings he had on when he left school had no feet to them. 541 What material was the shirt made of? —A sort of canvas, not calico. 542. Has anything been done to it since? Has it been washed or anything ?—No. I gave him one of my boy's shirts. 543 What about the other garments ?—Maher's trousers were not very bad, but his coat was a mass of rags. It was a pea-jacket. My daughter, Mrs. Stade, mended it for him, and made it 544 Did he have a waistcoat, an undershirt, or underpants ? —No. 545. How was the other boy dressed ?—His shirt was not bad. It was sound, but very dirty. It was of the same material as the other one. He had a sort of guernsey under his coat. 546. Were the boys what you would call well clothed ?—With the exception of James s shirt and Maher's pants alTthe clothing was torn. 547. Did you go to the Orphanage to see the boys ?—Yes.