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Diet

A schedule of the kinds of food to be given was sent with the children from Southampton.

Three meals are given daily. For breakfast and supper, brown bread and butter, and jam or fruit and tea, which the children are said to dislike. (The Commandant feels, however, that the sooner they learn English ways the better).

For the mid-day meal, stewed meat twice a week, on other days, rice, cheese and vegetables. Three-quarters of a pint of mile daily is allowed to each child. A supply of fresh vegetables is sent twice a week by sympathisers in Oxford.

Dining and playing room.

The only accommodation for meals, indoor play, and lessons, is a very large and dilapidated wooden barn. Much of the wooden floor is broken up leaving earth only, and there are many gaps in walls and doors. There are six wooden trestle tables with benches.

General observations.

The children here are young. Only two of the girls are aged 13, and the four eldest boys are 12. So far the sexes are sleeping apart. The Commandant says that he has specially asked that not more than 40 boys in all may be sent. And that if this number is exceeded, the younder ones will have to sleep in the girls huts.