§ COLONEL WILLIAM STUART,in pursuance of notice, rose to call the attention of the House to the new Stoves or Stove Grates lately placed in the barracks in London, Portsmouth, Chatham, and other stations; and to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, The name of the Inventor of these Stoves, the name of the Contractor, the cost of the Stoves themselves, and the expense of fitting them at the different stations; also, whether any Officer in command of a district, garrison, or regiment, or any Barrack Master in charge of a station, has reported favourably of the experiment; and whether the economy of fuel has been sufficient to justify the expense incurred in the alteration? These stoves, he was told, had caused a great consumption of fuel without anything like a correspondent benefit, even where the number of men in the barracks had been reduced. Some of the grates had been made for the old barracks, and he understood that the expense of alteration amounted to £4,000 for Chatham and £1,500 or £2,000 for Portsmouth. He wished to ask if these alterations were going on in other portions of the country. From what he had learned, these stoves were failures, either for giving out warmth or in promoting economy. The grates were too small, and the warm air which was generated came 1974 from a height of eight feet from the ground. The tendency of this state of things was to make heads hot and feet cold. The sufferings of the men daring the passing winter had been considerable; in many instances the men were glad to get a rug from another man's bed. The barrack masters had been ordered to try these stoves, and one principal defect was found to be, that fuel which had formerly lasted seven days was consumed in live, and when a requisition was sent for more fuel the reply was that the regular winter allowance had already been issued. Many of the officers were obliged to supply fuel at their own expense. All the while the Estimates were largely increasing. The Estimate for fuel and lights in 1859 was only £96,000, in 1860–61 it was £112,000, and for the present year it amounted to £172,000. He complained of the great expense of these experiments being forced on the country, to the discomfort of those immediately affected by them. In this way large sums were annually frittered away in trying experiments which turned out to be failures.
MR. T. G. BARING,in reply to the Questions put by the gallant Officer, begged to state that the inventor of these stoves was Captain Galton, an officer who had paid great attention to the improvement of the comfort of the soldier, and the contractor was Mr. Kennard. Captain Galton had no pecuniary interest in the matter. The stoves were designed for ventilating as well as warming, and he had been informed by Major Buckley, Barrack Master at Chatham, that by their use fresh air was introduced into the barrack rooms, so that the air was pure and sweet, even after the men had slept in them all night. Having been to the barracks and seen the stoves in operation he quite admitted that there was some inconvenience in them. They did not produce so large a fire or afford the same convenience to the soldier in heating his dinner as the former stoves. There were some defects to be remedied; but after the alterations suggested had been made he thought that the objection to the stoves would to a great extent be removed. The expense of putting up these stoves had, no doubt, been very considerable, chiefly on account of the apparatus for ventilating; but the actual cost of the stoves themselves was very small—only £3 10s. for the medium size, and £3 15s. for the large size. The expense occasioned was chiefly with a view to ventilation.
COLONEL GILPINsaid, he was one of the officers who had tried these stoves at Portsmouth, and could state that these stoves were an utter and entire failure. What might be the effect of the improvements suggested he could not say, but on one occasion, when he went round his barrack-room, a thermometer being placed at either end, he found the one where the stove was to introduce hot air at zero, and where there was to be no hot air the thermometer stood much higher. The stoves were also condemned by the medical officers of the regiment, and he believed also by the general commanding in the district. As far as regarded Portsmouth garrison he believed there had not been a single report in favour of the stoves except from the inventor.