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Wellington, Tuesday, 21st August, 1906. The Commission sat in the Upper Court, Magistrate's Courthouse, Wellington, at 10.30 a.m. Samuel Morton Arcus sworn and examined. (No. 20.) 1. The Chairman] What is your name?—Samuel Morton Arcus. 2. What are you? —A wool clerk, in the employ of the Wellington Harbour Board. 3. We understand, Mr. Arcus, that you can give us some information as to the treatment of the wool after it reaches the Harbour Board, and the manner of shipment ?—Yes. I have had the supervision of it this last twelve months—from the beginning of the last season till the end of June. I was in charge of the Harbour Board sheds, and received and delivered all wool ex boat and ex rail, excepting wool transhipped over side into vessels. 4. Perhaps you could tell us how you deal with it after receiving it? —Well, the wool is consigned to us in the first place by rail; the trucks are run into the sheds and we discharge them. After discharging the trucks we get orders from the merchants to ship certain lines of wool, particular quantities, and we act on those instructions, and the wool is dumped and stacked pending further instructions when to send it down to the ship after her arrival. That is the case with all wool-merchants —it applies to one and applies to all. After it is dumped we get instructions to ship it away, and cart it, as a rule, down to the Glasgow Wharf or Queen's Wharf, whichever wharf the vessel is lying at, If at any time any of the wool, either by rail or boat, is wet, then it is placed on one side for inspection, and also for drying purposes. My attention, as a rule, is called to every bale that enters, say, in a damp or wet condition, and this last season the onus of whether it was fit for shipment or not was placed upon my shoulders, but previously Captain Bendall did the work. If a bale is unfit For shipment we then notify the merchant, and according to the Merchants Shipping Act, I have been held responsible for anything that should go aboard in a wet condition. The Harbour Board had a book printed for this purpose, which sets out that the wool is not in a fit condition for shipment, and the merchant gets a copy. 5. Mr. Foster] You mentioned that if the wool is wet. What are we to understand by that? Tf it is damp would you ship it, or if it is wet? —If it is really a wet bale and not fit for shipment, then we notify the merchant, and he gets it scoured or dried. 6. I want to understand your expression "wet"?—lf it is only slightly wet, through faulty railway sheets or anything like that, Ave undertake to dry it ourselves, if it is only on the surface: but if it goes in to the body of the wool, then we notify the people that that bale is not fit for shipment, and, as a rule, they send it to the scourers to be dried or treated independently of us, and then it is brought back to us in a dry state for shipment. 7. What steps do you take to ascertain the depth to which the wet has got in? —If it has penetrated an inch or twoof the wool we do not bother about it—we consider it is too wet; but if it is on the surface of the pack we dry it ourselves. 8. Practically only the packing?—Yes, simply that, If it penetrates into the wool at all, then we have nothing to do with it. There is a duplicate notice taken in the book, and the original is sent to the merchant. Since Captain Bendall ceased to do the work that book has been printed by the Board for our protection. It has involved extra work, but it has to be done, and it shows the onus of the responsibility is resting on my shoulders. 9. Then, as a matter of fact, there is an inspection as to wool?—Yes, every bale. sir. in a way. For instance, the man who receives the wool—there is a clerk told off for that purpose—he receives the wool from the trucks and tallies it, and if he comes across a damp bale, it is placed on one side, and my attention called to it. If it only wants surface-drying, we place it in a given place and allow sufficient air to get to it for drying, and we have a final inspection to see whether it is fit for shipment. Every bale is inspected. 10. There is a recognised responsibility for the Harbour Board?—lt has been forced on to us —we cannot get away from it. - 11. You cannot get away from it, but do you recognise it? —Yes. It is not on the receiving of the wool in the first place that the danger arises, it is after it is pressed and put into the stack, and if any moisture remains in the wool after it has been dumped it will then generate heat. 12. But what I understand is this: that the wool when it comes into your hands, I suppose, is examined for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is in a shipping condition I —Yes, that, is so. We give a receipt to that effect to the railway or to the vessel or coastal boat, If any particular bale is wet the number of the bale is taken, and receipts given on the manifest of that vessel of so many bales wet. With regard to the slightly wet bales, we dry them ourselves and make a small charge. Formerly Captain Bendall inspected them, and passed them according to whether they were fit for shipment or not; but latterly the work has rested on our shoulders. 13'. Would the fact of Captain Bendall passing the work relieve the Harbour Board of the responsibility? —Yes. I have a list of what I call slightly wet bales, which I have picked out. These we make a small charge for drying. This list [produced! gives the marks and quantities of bales which I personally examined. T think there were 635 bales during the season—those have all been very slightly wet. 14. Are these of comparatively recent date?—Last season. 15. Captain Blackburne] On very wet davs—sometimes we have had continuous rain for three or four davs and fairly heavy, would the work be stopped during that time?—lt goes on iust the same, because we can put the trucks in the shed and cover them. There are two sheds— one shed will take twenty trucks and another eleven trucks—and when we shut the door they are perfectly rainproof. 16. But if the cargo is worked during heavy rains, these large hatches, I suppose, are kept open all that time?—That would be with regard to loading vessels: but with regard to unloading vessels, we do not take it from them if it is raining.