§ MR. ASCROFT (Oldham)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether he has received any information in respect to the deaths from enteric fever of a number of soldiers belonging to the Berkshire Regiment now stationed in King Williams Town; and, whether the necessary steps are being taken to put the South African barracks in a proper sanitary condition.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMThe battalion is stationed partly at King Williams Town 324 and partly at Grahams Town. At the former place there have been eighteen cases of enteric fever but no deaths; at the latter seven cases and six deaths. Some days have elapsed since the last admission to hospital. The cause of the King Williams Town outbreak has not as yet been ascertained. At Grahams Town enteric fever is prevalent among the civil population, owing, probably, to the want of rain: but four of the cases are attributed to the condition of a soakage pit which has since been cleaned and thoroughly purified. £22,400 has been taken in this year's Estimates to improve the accommodation of the troops in South Africa.