§ COLONEL GILPINasked the Secretary of State for War, If the report is correct that a large portion of the War Office (particularly that part that was Buckingham House) is so badly drained and ventilated that the rooms occupied by the several departments are almost uninhabitable; that several officers have died, and others been exceedingly ill in consequence of the bad air in circulation there; if true, whether he has considered the advisability of removing the Commander in Chief's Department, which chiefly occupies those rooms, to some other place, until alterations can be made in the building to purify it, or until some other place be found where the War Office and Horse Guards can be under the same roof, rather than run the risk of the loss of more lives; and, whether strong representations have not been made upon the subject, and with what result?
MR. GATHORNE HARDY, in reply, said, it was no doubt true that there had been many complaints with respect to the arrangements at the War Office, and especially that part which was called Buckingham House. The Board of Works had inspected the drainage, and they stated that the building was drained by earthenware pipes of a modern construction, that the drains were flushed every week by mains provided for that purpose, and that they were at all times kept in good order. The ventilation of the closets throughout the building had, no doubt, been very bad, and after careful investigation made under the personal superintendence of his right hon. Friend the First Commissioner of Works, it had been determined to remove them outside the building, and it was hoped that in this way the evil complained of would, to a great extent, be remedied. That was what had been recommended by the Army Sanitary Commission. With regard to the deaths, he believed it was true that four officers had died since 1871, but he was unable to say that it was owing to the state of the ventilation. Some were said to have suffered from headache on account of the bad ventilation, but he could not say whether that was due to the closets or not. With regard 1655 to the question of removal, he could only say that it seemed to him to be most unadvisable to separate the two Departments of the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary of State for War from the same building. Already the greatest inconvenience was experienced from the dispersion of Departments in different parts of London, and the business of the Office would almost come to a standstill if that dispersion were to be carried further. Everything was being done to remove the evils that existed, but until he found a really good office to hold the whole Departments, he did not think all that was requisite could be done.
§ COLONEL GILPINasked, "Whether it was not a fact that one of the clerks had been attacked with fever during the last few days?
MR. GATHORNE HARDYsaid, he understood one of the clerks was ill from scarlet fever, but he was not aware that it arose from his attendance at the "War Office.