THE PATENT SLIP EVIDENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2551, 30 July 1867, Page 4

THE PATENT SLIP EVIDENCE.

To tho Editor of the Wellington Independent. Wellington, July 29, 1867. g IEj — Having received from England by last Panama mail the enclosed declarations which have reference to the information given in England , by Mr Carter with regard to the Patent Slip con- j tract, and preparations of the plans for tho same, ' I will be obliged by your publishing the same in your first issue, as they in every way go to confirm the evidence given by Mr Kennard before thel Patent Slip Committee, and contradict the assertions of Mr Carter in his later letters from Eng- , land, published in tho Council proceedings. I have, &c, J. R. Geobge, Agent for Kennard Brothers. I, William Edwin Hayns, of Whelstone, in the county of Middlesex, a draughtsman, in the employ of Messrs Kennard Brothers, of No. 36, Great George street, in tho city of Westminster, contractors, solemnly and sincerely declare in manner following, that is to say — In tho months of November and December, 1864, by instructions I received from Mr Howard , John Kennard, one of the partners in the said firm of Messrs Kennard Brothers, and undor information and with the assistance of Mr Charles Rooking Carter, then of Barnsbury, Islington^ in fcho county of Middlesex, I prepared the design and tho working drawings and specifications for a proposed slip for repairing ships of largo burden in Evans' Bay, Porfc Nicholson, in tho provinceof Wellington, and colony of New Zealand. The whole of the said work was prepared for fixing on a rock bottom, as I was informed by tho said Charles Rooking Carter, that the bottom of tho said bay was composed of a schaley rock, which rock he abo informed me could be easily worked, and that the whole bottom was cloar from sand except where fissures or cracks might occur and be filled up with' silt or sand. The said Charles Rooking. Carier was with me almost daily while the said drawings and specifications were in progress, and nothing was done without his knowledge and approval, and when tho said drawings and specifications woro completed they were signed by him. The said slip was designed for a rock foundation only, and was utterly inapplicable to any other, and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing tho same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act made and passed in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled an Act to repeal an Act of tho present session of Parliament intituled an Act for the more effectual abolition of oaths and affirmations taken and made in various departments of the state, and to substitute declarations in lieu thereof, and for the more entire suppression of voluntary and oxtra judicial oaths and affidavits, and to make ofcher provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths. : (Signed) W. E. Hayns. Declared and subscribed at the Guildhall Justice Room, in the city of London, this first I day of Juno, 1867, before mo (Signed) W. J. R. Cotton. I, Matthias Erasmus Wesley, of 36, Great Georgo street, in • the city of Westminster, civil engineer and manager of contracts to Messrs Howard John Kennard, Arthur Challis Kennard, and Henry Martyn Kennard, of 36, Great Goorge Btreet, aforesaid, contractors and co-partners, carrying on business under the firm or style of Messrs Kennard Brothers, solemnly and sincerely declare as follows, that is to say : — In the months of November and December, j one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and January, one thousand eight hundred and sixtyfive, I was present at many interviews whioh took place during those months between the said Howard John Kennard, and John Morrison, of No. 3, Adelaide Placo, London Bridge, in the city of London, Esquire, the agent of the Provincial Government of the province of Wellington, in the colony of New Zealand, and Charles Rooking Carter, then of Barnsbury, Islington, in the county of Middlesex, for the purpose of negociating and settling the terms of a contract 'which was signed on the twenty* fifth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, between the said John Morrison, for and on bohalf of the said Provincial Government, and the said Messrs Kennard Brothers, for building a Patent Slip for repairing ships of largo burden in Evans' Bay, Porfc Nicholson, in the said provinco of Wellington.. In the course of the said negociation, many interviews on the said subject also took place between me as the manager of Messrs Kennard Brothers, and the said John Morrison, and Charles Rooking Carter, both together and separately, at which Mr Howard John Kennard was not present. At the interviews above-mentioned, all the : details necessary for preparing the designs and the drawings and specifications for the said Slip wero repeatedly and minutely discussed. At the first interview between the said Howard John Kennard and Charles Rooking Carter, and afterwards, on several occasions, tho said Howard John Kennard declined to entertain the negociation for the said Slip except on the faith of the repeated assurance by the said Charles Rooking Carter, that the site of fcho proposed Slip afforded a clear rock foundation, excepting where fisures might i occur, which wero silted up with sand. j. On the faith of these representations, Mr Hayns, one of the draughtsmen in the employ of tho said Messrs Kennard Brothers, was instructed to prepare the designs and drawings for the said Slip, under the instructions of the said Charles Rooking Carter, which he proceeded to do, and the said designs and drawings and the specifications to accompany them, were accordingly prepared and agreed upon under the instructions and with the assistance of the said , Charles Rooking Carter, and settled and approved by James Aternethy, of No. 2, Delahay street, in the said city of Westminster, civil engineer, on behalf of the said Messrß Kennard Brothers. The said designs, drawings, and specifications were framed for a Bite affording a rock foundation, and were utterly inapplicable for a foundation of a soft or yielding nature. I attended at the office of Messrs Riohard and Colletto, at No. 57, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the county of Middlesex, the solicitors of the said Messrs Kennard Brothers, on or about the twentyfifth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, when in the presence of the said John Morrison, Oharles Rooking Carter, and a Mr Davies, from the firm of Messrs Davies and Sous, of No. 9, Angel Court, Throgmorton street, in the city of London, the solicitors of the said John Morrison, the engrossments of the said contract; were road over and discussed at very great length previously to tlieir being signed. On this occasion, tho nature of tho foundation of tho intended site was again discussed, when the said Oharles Rooking Carter objected to its boing stated that the foundation was of clean rock, on the ground that questions might arise as to what constituted clean rock, and in particular, that it might bo disputed whether schale, of which the bed of the said bay was said to be composed, was rock or not. After a very long argument, the said Charles Rooking Carter suggested that, instead of the words clean rock, the following words, namely : — "That tho site for the Slip iB sufficiently firm to oarry without yielding ,tho foundation for tho proposed Slip in Evans' Bay." These words, taken in connection with the drawings and specifications attached to tho contract whicli were specially designed for and adopted to a rook foundation only, I was at length induced to consent to, and they were equivalent to the use of tho words " olean rook," and equally boundtho said Provincial Government to provido a sight affording a foundation in all respeots sufficient fox, and adapted to carry a $lip to he comtruotod

iri accordance with the terms of contraot and' the j drawings and specifications ; and I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to bo true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act made and passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled an Act to repeal an Act of the present session of Parliament, intituled an Aot for the more effeotual abolition of Oaths and Affirmations taken and mado in various departments ofthe State, and to substitute declarations in lieu thereof, aud for 'the more entire suppression of voluntary and extra-judicial Oaths and Affidavits and to make othor provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths. (Signed) M. E. Wesley. Declared and subscribed at the Guildhall Justice Room, in the cityof London, this first day of June, 1867, before me. (Signed) W. J. R. Cotton. I, James Abernetby, of No. 2, Delahay street, in the city of Westminster, Civil Engineer, solemnly and sincerely declare as follows, that is to say — In the month oi December, ono thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, I was instructed by Howard John Kennard, Arthur Challis Kennard, and Honry Martyn Kennard, of 36, Great George street, in the said cifcy of Westminster, contractors and co -partners, carrying on business under the style or firm of Messieurs Kennard Brothers, to settle the designs and the drawings and specifications for the construction at Evans' Bay, Porfc Nioholson, in the province of Wellington, in the colony of New Zealand, of a Patont Slip, for the purpose of repairing siiips of large burthen. For the information necessary to enable me to settlo tlie said designs, drawings, and specifications, I was referred by tho said Messieurs Kennard Brothers to Mr Charles Rooking Carter, then of Barnsbury, Islington, in the county of Middlesex, who they informed me was in conjunction with John Morrison, of No. 3, Adolaide Place, London Bridge, in the city of London, Esquire, the agent of fche Provincial Government at Wellington aforesaid, specially empowered to' settle the contract for tho said Slip on behalf of the said Provincial Government. The designs, drawings, and specifications for the said Slip were prepared by William Edwin Hayes, at 36, Great ' George street, Westminster, aforesaid, and I was for some time in almost daily communication with the said William Edwin Hayes thereon, and I ultimately settled and approved the said drawings'* and specifications. Tho said drawings and .specifications so prepared, settled, and approved were designed specially for the construction of a Slip on a rock, shale, or sandstone foundation, and were nofc capable, without being essentially altered, of being erected on a sand foundation, such as that of which I have since been informed the bed of the Bito chosen for the intended Slip in Evans' Bay aforesaid consists. I was distinctly and repeatedly informed by the said Mr Carter fchat the designs aforesaid were to be mado for a rook , foundation, uncovered by silt or sind. Had I had any doubt ofthe foundation fo- : lie said Slip having been any other than one of rack, shale, or sandstone, or other equally firm mate» ial, I should have recommended that the design, should have been delayed until positive information could have been obtained of the true nature of tho site on whicli the proposed Slip was to be constructed; I adopted the cases for the said Slip shewn in the said drawings, to avoid the necessity of levelling throughout its extent the rock on which I deoided ifc was to bo erected. No engineer could suppose that the designs and drawings so ap- 1 proved by me could be applicable to any other than a* rock or shale or sandstone foundation. At the request of the'said Messieurs Kennard Brothers and Mr Carter I have since approved of an altered design, which, if adopted, will from the information I have received adapt fche proposed Slip to the altered circumstances of the case. Had I had any reason to believe that the site of tho proposed Slip was composed of any other material than rock, shale, or Bandstone, I should never have approved of the design for the Slip, which was so adopted by me under the circumstances represented to me as aforesaid. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Acfc made and passed in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, in«s tituled " An Act to repeal an Act of the present session of Parliament, intituled an Act for the more effeotual abolition of oaths and affirmations taken and made in various departments of the Stato, and to substitute declarations in hou thereof, and for the more enfcire suppression of voluntary aud extrajudicial oaths and affidavits, and fco make other provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths." (Signed) Jas. Abebnethy. Declared and subscribed afc the Guildhall Justice Room, in the city of London, this first day of June, 1867, before mo (Signed) W. J. R. Cotton.