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1881. NEW ZEALAND.

PROCESS FOR PRESERVING TIMBER (CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

No. 1. The Undee-Seceetaey for Public Woeks, Wellington, to Mr. W W Evans, New York. Sib,— Public Works Office, Wellington, Bth November, 1880. The Thilmany process of preserving timber having been brought under the notice of the Minister for Public Works as useful for railway sleepers, and for wharf and other works exposed to the teredo, it is desired to practically ascertain whether the process is as advantageous as the published accounts represent. With this view it is proposed to send to America say six logs, each about 7 feet long, cut up in the manner shown in the margin,* and afterwards bound with hoop-iron, together with a similar number of logs in their original solid state, for the purpose of being experimented upon. And lam now to ask you whether, if the above are sent by the mail steamer to your agent at San Francisco, you would arrange for their transmission to the works at Defiance, Ohio, or elsewhere, as may be necessary, and return them to Wellington when they have undergone the preserving process. In your reply, the Minister will be obliged by your making any suggestions and enclosing such information as you may think useful, together with an estimate of the probable cost of the apparatus complete. Ihave, &e, John Knowles, W W Evans, Esq., New York. Under-Secretary for Public Works.

No. 2. Mr. W r W Evans, New York, to the Undee-Seceetaey for Public Woeks, Wellington. Sie, — New York, 6th January, 1881. I have received to-day at a late hour in the evening, your esteemed favour of the Bth November, 1880, in reference to Thilmany process for preserving timber. I have no confidence or expectation that this letter will reach California in time for the steamer that leaves there on the 15th instant with mails for New Zealand, so shall not write much. I will attend to your wishes in reference to the timber with pleasure. Please ship and consign the logs to Messrs. J J Wallace and Co., of International Forwarding Company, 108, Leidesdorff Street, San Francisco, California, advising them of the shipment, and I will write them instructions as to what they are to do with the logs. I will bv the next mail write you full particulars in reference to the Thilmany process, and also bring to your notice and explain the Boucherie process, a French process —and in my estimation the most simple, the least expensive as to apparatus, the most scientific, and by all means the best ever invented. You would do well, however, to experiment on all the different processes, under the eye of an experienced engineer, and record in print the results for future reference. I have, &c, John Knowles, Esq., Under-Secretary for Public Works, W W Evans. Wellington, New Zealand.

No. 3. Mr. W W Evans, New York, to the Undee-Seceetaby for Public Woeks, Wellington. Sie, — New York, 31st January, 1881. I had the honor, under date of January 6th, to acknowledge receipt of your favour of Bth November, in reference to the preservation of some logs of timber that you propose to send here to be treated by the Thilmany process. I doubt if my letter caught the steamer of the 15th

* i.e., The log (diameter about 18 inches by 21 inches) first sawn longitudinally into half; each half subdivided by four cuts, forming ten pieces of timber, each piece thus comprising heart, p-wood and bark.

sa I—H. 26.