'THIM DAYS IS GONE' [‎18r] (35/248)

addition to one's pay (then about £330 per annum!)
As Mess Secretary, I had to supervise the running of the mess and
check the Khans amah's accounts, try to inspire him to introduce
some variety into his menus, stop him producing goat and calling
it mutton, and fine him when he tried to pass off milk thickened
with flour as cream.
For some reason I was also in charge of the gunners' messing and
here I was able to bring off a minor coup. Their diet was
intensely boring and there was never any fresh pork as the
hill-mens' pigs were considered to be infested with tape-worm
which, of course, can be passed on to whoever eats the flesh.
But the sergeant cook was an Irishman and it pained him to have
to throw away large quantites of swill from the cook-house. So a
sty was contrived not too far way, and a number of piglets
purchased. The medical officer was also an Irishman, and gave us
warning of his inspections so that the pigs could be made to
disappear into the surrounding verdure. At the end of the summer
the battery feasted on roast pork and nobody suffered from
tape-worms. My battery commander would not have approved but
fortunately it never came to his ears!
Iwas also able to make good (but illegal) use of my position as
Education Officer. The men had to pass Education examinations
for promotion, which became increasingly difficult with each
rank. It so happened that I had in my section one Lance-Naik
Bunay Singh, an excellent man looked up to by his comrades and
always the first to volunteer for any particulary difficult or
dangerous task, but unable to pass any examination (there was
none f or Lance-Na i k) . He was quite unable, for instance to
differentiate between Austria and Australia, but I felt that this
was irrelevant to his worth as an N.C.O. in a Light Battery and
accordingly included his name as one of those who had passed the
next examination, although he had not sat for it, and was able to
recommend him for promotion. Although the Indian soldiers were
intensely competitive and jealous, there was not a single
complaint. ^
Some years later, when I revisited the battery, my successor said
to me, "I have an excellent Naik, Bunay Singh, whom .1 am unable
to promote to Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. because he can't pass his Education
exam -" 1 sai d "He never passed the last one!" and I hope he
took the message.
Simla, unlike the average plains station, had also its social
beguilements and one was able to dine and dance at Davico's or
the Cecil Hotel once or twice a week. There were many senior
Army Officers and civilians in Simla who commonly had their
daughters and/or nieces staying with them, as it was unusual for
a girl to look for paid work on leaving school. So there was a
pool of charming girls in which to fish; but, surprisingly, my
brother officers did not seem to have the appetite or initiative
to indulge in this pleasant pastime.