Thanks were also offered to the railway officials for the efficiency of the train service. It was not until Sunday morning that a full supply of water began to flow into the cisterns, but after Saturday night all apprehension had ceased, and within a few hours the discomforts of the previous few days, as far as want of water was concerned, were removed. Although great and growing inconvenience was caused towards the latter end of the week to all the inhabitants of Plymouth by the partial deprivation of water, things never reached the same pass as they did in the famine of 1881. Stonehouse had plenty of water, and was able to assist in supplying the western end of Plymouth. By order of the Local Board standpipes were on the Saturday erected at the Malt House, and in Millbay Road, Union Place and Eldad Hill, and all day long residents of Plymouth were supplied from these. In some parts of Plymouth families were in great difficulty, and water borrowing, where practicable, went forward on a large scale. Messrs. Polkinghorne, at their brewery in Bedford Street, Messrs. Denniford & Son, mineral water manufacturers of Russel Street, and Mr. Lewis, aërated water manufacturer of Athenæum Street, supplied hundreds of the inhabitants, free of charge, from their artesian wells. At a meeting of the Plymouth Borough Council subsequently held, formal votes of thanks were passed to a number of citizens, as well as the military authorities, for the services they had rendered, and a rate of remuneration to the soldiers for their valuable service was fixed upon. As soon as the Plymouth water difficulty was satisfactorily overcome, it was discovered that the Devonport leat, also on Dartmoor, was blocked. Mr. Francis, C. E., manager to the Devonport Waterworks Company, set out for Princetown to inspect the place, and as speedily as possible gangs of men were put on to work on the different parts of the leat. Some serious difficulties were encountered, most of the snow being frozen quite hard, and forming barriers fifteen feet deep, while in one spot, near Lowery Lane, a tree, fourteen feet in girth, had, fallen right across the leat. This tree was removed by means of lifting jacks, after having been cut in two. After many trials of patience, extending over several days, the toilers were rewarded with well-deserved success, and the water once more flowed freely. This was a fortunate result, for, besides the inhabitants of Devonport and Stonehouse, the regiments in garrison, the Naval Barracks, the Engineer Students, and the Royal Marine Barracks, are dependent on the Devonport Water Company for their supply of water. CHAPTER VIII. SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES.