§ MR. HEDDERWICKI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if his attention has been called to the statement that the ambulance wagons attached to our forces in the field are in many respects inferior to those of the Boers, and whether the British ambulance wagons are without springs and, in consequence, are liable to jolt considerably, are so heavy in their build as to require ten mules to draw one wagon, and are so constructed as to provide accommodation for only two wounded men in a recumbent position in each wagon, as against eight in the case of the Boer wagon; and, if so, whether he will consider the propriety of taking steps to secure in future an ambulance wagon of a design better adapted for the requirements of the field, and less likely to inflict unnecessary pain upon wounded men.
MR. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS (for Mr. WYNDHAM)The British ambulance wagon has excellent springs, and in the Long Valley at Aldershot can be drawn by a pair of horses. It accommodates either two men on stretchers and four seated, or twelve seated. It contrasts favourably with the ambulance wagon of any European nation. Nothing is known of the construction of the Boer wagons. No complaints of the British wagon have been received at the War Office from South Africa.