J. J. WALKLATE.]

23

I.— B.

74. No correspondence between your secretary and the secretary of the employees' union ?— I do not recollect any letter since the letter at the time of the Brakes Commission. 75. Your objection to the magnetic brake is that the construction of your cars would make it costly to install it ?—No; but it would be impossible to install it, owing to there not being room on the trucks for it. 76. How many Freund brakes have you ordered? —Seven sets. 77. And how many cars have you?— Ninety-two. 78. And what are you going to do about the rest of them? —We are waiting to see whether the sovon sots of Freund brakes are satisfactory, and, if so, to order the remainder. 79. You do not recollect the date on which you had this conversation with Mr. Holmes and Mr. Wilson?— No. 80. What particular objection have you got to anything in this Bill—or have you any?— The only objection, as I have said, is that, if it is the brakes, the Auckland directors, without that Bill, were prepared to do what the Department considers necessary as regards the brakes. 81. Well, if you do what is necessary, then the Bill will not affect you detrimentally in any way, will it?— Well, sir, those clauses are so wide that they might affect us very considerably in other matters in connection with our cars and our working of the tramways generally. 82. Is there anything in the Bill but what the Government can do under the Order in Council? —I am afraid that is a legal question I cannot answer. 83. Mr. Luke.] What is the nature of this Freund brake—is it a mechanical appliance or an electrical brake? —Itis a mechanical brake. It is a spring storage brake. By the compressing of a spring, which is done by a clutch on the car-axle, energy is compressed into this spring, so that the motorman can loose it down gradually or instantly, the same as the ail" brake. 84. The velocity of the car increases the power on the wheels? —No, the power for the brake is generated by the motors of the car when going on the level or uphill, or by the car's momentum going down-hill. It does not matter what speed the car is going, it has the same strength. 85. When your car is going down one of your grades at the present time, you put on the track brake? —Yes. 86. What is the nature of the track brake?— Wooden blocks pressed down on to the rails by moans of a system of lovers and a hand-wheel. 87. That is applied by hand? —Yes. 88. And, of course, the hand-brake acts on the wdioels, and applies blocks to the wheels too? —Applies blocks to the wheels. 89. You have not got a brake similar to the magnetic brake, that brings a slipper down on to the rail?— Yes, the slipper brake I spoke about is similar in this respect: that it presses a wooden block down on to the rail while the other presses down a metal block. With the wooden block you have the greater friction, but you have the magnetic pull with the metal block that you do not get with the wooden one. 90. What sort of wood do you use?—Rewarewa; it is a very tough wood. 91. We find in mining that the hard wood glosses, and does not have the adhesion that ordinary soft wood does?—lt is a peculiarity of the rewarewa that it does not polish. We find it is the best we have experimented with. 92. You wore quite prepared to go on with the installation of the air brakes provided the Department had agreed?— Providing it met with the approval of the Department. 93. Are you prepared to say now which is the best brake, in your opinion, the magnetic brake or the air brake?— The air brake. 94. Do you not think there is a greater liability or likelihood of the air brake not giving the maximum power?—No, there is no trouble. I have used them to a considerable extent. 95. You said just now, in answer to the Minister, that the application of the brake would give something like 3001b. or 4001b. pressure?—No; I said that I, thought the men would have to exert perhaps 1201b. pressure on the brake. 96. Do you think it is possible for a man to exert 1201b. pressure on a wdieel of that diameter?—l think so. 97. What we want to get at is the pressure on the wheel?— Yes. 98. You do not mean to say that the men would exert 1201b. pressure on the wheel?— Yes, I mean to say that. 99. Going back to the Bill, you are exercising the powers conferred on the municipality in carrying out the tramways?— Yes, w 7 e are exercising the powers conferred by the Orders on the municipality. 100. And you are supposed to carry out the same conditions? —Yes, practically. 101. Is there any interference with your management in regard to the number of passengers you can carry? —We are restricted to the number of passengers for whom there are seats in a number of our cars, and then on the other cars we are licensed to carry from eight to fourteen standing. 102. Say you had a car with ordinary seating accommodation for, say, ninety passengers, how many would you be able to carry in excess of that number?— Well, in our biggest cars we have fourteen persons standing, and they carry sixty-six, I believe. 103. What would be the outcome of a restriction by the Corporation that you should not carry any more passengers than what, there are seats for —what would be the natural result of that? —I do not quite know. 104. Would it necessarily increase the fares to the community?—No, Ido not think so. The fares are fixed by the Order in Council. 105. But during the rush hours you carry in excess of the seating accommodation, do you hot?— Yes; but the rate of fare is fixed.