E.~B.

Memorandum for the Commissioner of Eailways, Middle Island, by Mr. Alex. Armstrong. With reference to wagons 1515, 1595, and 1670, and to the allegations which have been made that they are built of stringy-bark, and that the workmanship of them is bad, I beg to state that of the two wagons first named (1515 and 1595) I have no knowledge. Ido not know where they may have been built, but they were certainly not erected by me, nor am I in the remotest degree responsible for them. The third wagon mentioned, No. 1670, is one of thirty wagons which I built early in 1878, but those wagons were turned out under very peculiar circumstances. It will be in your recollection that, at the period named, the department was in the greatest straits -on this section owing to the insufficiency of wagons, and that the public were making a great outcry because we could not keep pace with the traffic. For this reason, and to turn them out as rapidly as possible, I made use of the only timber which was then available in the market, which happened, unfortunately, to be stringy-bark, and it was not of good quality nor well seasoned. That was the only occasion upon which I have used inferior material in the construction of wagons, but as regards the workmanship in all the wagons I have erected, including those which have been impugned, I am prepared to stand or fall by the judgment of honest and unbiassed experts. Alex. Armstrong, 19th July, 1880. Locomotive Superintendent.

By Authority: Gboege Didsbuby, Government Printer, Wellington.—lBBo. Price, 6d.]

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