H.—22

74

one at Glendermid for one minute, and one at Port Chalmers for two minutes. Again, I see that the run back from Palmerston to Dunedin was made without any stoppage, except at Sea Cliff to take water into tank, so that the injector must have been worked up the heavy incline from Blueskin to Purakanui whilst the train was moving; this was also the case in trials Nos. 1 and 2. Judging from these observations, and others which I made when running the trials, I have concluded that the Walton Park coal, though not so good as Newcastle, is sufficiently good for all practical purposes. On objection No. 2, I must say that I cannot see that throwing in one additional ton of coal during about seven hours should bring so much extra labour on the fireman as to necessitate an extra hand ; more particularly as there is no pricking or taking-out of clinkers to be done with this coal. I would further direct attention to quantity of coal got through by a fireman, even on an ordinary train, for seven hours on an English line, which, to the best of my recollection, is, on the average, onethird more than the figures show for the Walton Park coal. On the third head, I can but draw your attention to the table below of average grades on north and south lines. It will be seen there that the southern grades, for severity, cannot be compared with those of the north.

Table of Average Grades.

I have, &c, Frank W. Petre, Engineer and Architect. The Chairman, "Walton Park Coal Company, to "William Conyers, Esq., Commissioner of Bailways, Middle Island. Sir, — Walton Park Coal Company's Office, Dunodin, 15th April, ISBO. Referring to the interview with which you were good enough to favour me and some other directors of the Walton Park Company on the 12th instant, on the subject of the recent comparative trials of the Company's coal, I have the honor to hand you herewith a copy of a memorandum of Mr. Petre in reply to my verbal report of what you then communicated to us as your view of the result of the trials ; and I take leave to remark— 1. That, in face of the plain fact that on four successive trips from Dunedin to Palinerston and back, admittedly the most difficult section of the main line of railway, these coals were exclusively vised in driving the engine with a heavily-laden train at a great saving in cost over any other coals, the conclusion that these coals cannot be advantageously used appears to be quite unreasonable. 2. The somewhat technical objection put forward, that, in ascending the steepest gradient, it was found necessary to stop and put on the blower in order to work the injector, involving a stoppage of two or three minutes, would appear to be made too much of, inasmuch as the recorded figures do not prove it to have been necessary, the steam at the top of the ascent showing 124 lb. of pressure, leading to the conclusion that the injector might have been used during the ascent of the drive had it been thought fit. But, even admitting that it was necessary at that point, on no other occasion during the whole run to Palmerston and back was it so f and fair time appears to have been kept throughout. Further, on the third trial trip no such stoppage appears to have been made at all, the only stoppage being at Glendermid for one minute and Port Chalmers for two minutes; and I think it may be safely assumed as within the judgment of any ordinary person, without calling for the application of technical knowledge, that what would suffice to drive the engine from Palmerston to Dunedin without check or difficulty would equally suffice to drive it from Dunedin southwards, where the gradients are not nearly so severe. 3. The statement made to you by the driver, that driving over a perfect level, say on the Taieri Plain, would create a greater difficulty in working the injector than the ascending and descending gradients, was surely very rash and unreasonable; and I feel somewhat surprised that you allowed it to be made, being, as it was, a contradiction of your own statement to me at another part of interview, that on the Canterbury Plains the Malvern Hills coal, which we understood to be inferior to Walton Park, is used on the railway because it is a perfectly level run. Such a statement would appear to show strong prejudice rather than sound judgment on the part of the driver, and must greatly detract from the value of his evidence. 4. I feel assured that Mr. Armstrong must have spoken without consideration when he said that the use of the Walton Park coal would require the employment of two stokers instead of one —that is, for the extra work involved in putting into the furnace an extra ton of coal over a period of seven hours. I should be glad to know if that has been found necessary in using the Malvern Hills coal on the Canterbury Plains. As pointed out by Mr. Petre, a much larger weight of coal is necessarily thrown into the furnace by a single stoker in driving the heavy trains in England at a much higher speed. I trust you may find in the above remarks some reason for a careful reconsideration of the whole question. It is of great importance that, wherever possible, the coal of the localities through which the

North. South. Station. Grades. Length. Station. Grades. Length. Hendermid - Deborah Tunnel 'uraltanui^Bluesldn... ivansdale-Omimi ... Bay 1 in 51-6 M. Ch. 3 56 Caversbam-Look-oufc Point Abbotsford-Chain Hills ... Waihola-Grorge Stirling-Clutha 1 in 66 1 in 56 1 in 66 X in 67| M. Ch. 0 77 1 15 0 53 0 43 1 in 726 1 in 100 5 9 3 0