H.—29.

16

[a. H. SCALES.

are not yet assured owing to the fact that on discharge the wet may be noticed; but it is possible that the bales may have dried before discharge, or, in the case of wool, the packs may have dried, in which case the risk of detection is remote, unless the amount of water is so great as to be perceptible when the bales are dumped. Wool, flax, and tow arriving in Wellington for shipment are received by the Harbour Board, whose officials, so far as can be learned by results, exercise considerable care so far as the examination of wet bales is concerned. Until recently they were assisted by a surveyor in the employ of the underwriters, but I believe at the beginning of last season his services were dispensed with. The Harbour Board officials continued, however, to stop from shipment all bales observably wet, pending instructions from either owner, agent, or the ship. 16. Captain Blackburne.] Do the railway-trucks not have some dunnage in the bottom, such as hurdles, or anything for the bales to rest on ?—I do not think so. Ido not know of anything of the kind. Mr. Foster: By " dunnage " is meant loose dunnage? Captain Blackburne: Yes, loose dunnage. Mr. Foster: No, they are flush on the floor. Captain Blackburne: In that case no water could lie in the truck. Mr. Foster: That is so. I noticed that Mr. Scales said there might be an inch or two of water in the truck, but they have a flap door, and the very fact of opening it would liberate any water which might otherwise be held in it. 16a. Mr. Foster.] In your opinion, might wool generate heat, although insufficient to create spontaneous combustion in itself, yet sufficient to be a danger to a more easily inflammable material, such as hemp or tow; -or cause a conflagration that would not eventuate without the presence in the vessel of the more inflammable matter ?—I have given this matter some reflection, and am of opinion that on consideration it will be seen that the conflagration would ensue whether the flax or tow was in the vessel or not, owing to the fact that if the heat generated by the wool be sufficient to ignite the hemp, it would be also sufficient to ignite the woolpacks in which the wool itself is baled. 17. The Chairman.] There would not be a stringer on the floor of the truck or anything to retain it?—No. But there is no doubt whatever but that large quantities of wool come into Wellington badly stained. I have had cases where we have been unable to trace the blame—whether to the carter or to the railway people. 18. Mr. Foster.] Where there are regular loading-warehouses at the railway-stations there would not be any such trouble, but at the sidings it would be more likely to occur?—ln cases where there are proper goods-sheds and stations the trucks would be put into the sheds overnight, and would be dry. 19. If I remember right, the conditions of delivery are that when the consignor gets his delivery-note the goods-shed are responsible, are they not? —That is all right up to that point; but the sender loses control as soon as he has put his tarpaulin on and has tied his rope —some one else then takes control. Ido not know who is to l)e responsible. I do not know whether it fixes it, but there is the point about it. What I have said on the matter up to this stage has been with reference to wool that is actually delivered into or on to the wharves. A large quantity of wool is brought to Wellington for transhipment overside from one vessel into another. 20. The Chairman.] There would be no inspection there at all? —No —that is, the Harbour Board does not concern itself about it. 21. They do not look at its condition ?—Sometimes. 22. Where does this wool come from?—From Wanganui, Patea, and Blenheim. 23. Brought down in the river-steamers?—Yes, and brought alongside the oversea steamers for transhipment. 24. Captain Blackburne.] I suppose some of these small east-coast boats are really taken through the surf? —Yes; a lot of the wool from between Christchurch and Auckland is surf loaded. ■ 25. Mr. Foster.] In your experience, have there been many claims for reconditioning in respect of the east-coast wool? I have seen a good deal of surf loading, and 1 have not seen much trouble arise from it?—Personally, no. My own experience leads me to say that I have not found much damage to be done to the surf-loaded wool; but, of course, it is a known quantity, and can be ascertained. I have had wool shipped at one or two places on the coast to me for many years, and we have never had to pay a claim for reconditioning it. 26. The extra premium for surf loading is trivial. It is not seriously regarded?—No. Prior to the surveyor being dispensed with, on wool being found to be wet on arrival at Wellington one of three courses was followed. If slightly wet the bale was cut open where the wet showed, and placed in a sunny spot on the wharf to dry. If it were very wet the surveyor ordered it to be scoured,' but if it were too wet to be allowed to stand on the wharf to dry, and not sufficiently wet to require scouring, it was ordered to be merely reconditioned and repacked. Somewhat the same course has been followed during the past season by mutual arrangement and understanding and arrangement as between the agent and the Board's officials. With regard to flax, this all has to be inspected for the purposes of grading, and part of the system of inspection is comprised in drawing hanks from the bales, and, provided that a reasonable number are drawn, the inspection for quality should be sufficient also for dampness, though there is always the possibility that, although each bale was made up at one time, all the hanks comprising it may not have been sub'ect to the same climatic conditions. With regard to tow, no inspection whatever takes place other than a general supervision as in the case of wool. After instructions are given by shippers as to shipment, wool, flax, and tow are dumped and then stacked in the shed pending delivery to the seagoing vessel. 27. Captain Blackburne.] I understand that the Flax-graders take a skein out of every third bale and open up every tenth bale altogether ?—Yes; that is what I used to do when I was grading. For many years I graded most of the flax that passed through Wellington.