FIRE COMMISSION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1837, 18 August 1906, Page 3

FIRE COMMISSION.

TRUSS ASSOCIATION Wellington, yesterday. Giving evidence beforo the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the C-susoß of flees on vorsils carrying wool and flix, Caplalu Moflitt, of tho eioamar Matasri, said ho had bieu in tho trade for the past thirty yoara, and during that time two casts of apontacoous combustion had canto unde; his notice. He had seen the wool si hot that if was hardly passible to put o o's band on it. Witness was at H un when tbo Gothic arrived, and when the bales oi wool were brought up on tho wharf ibo interior of 0113 bale was /ound to be absolutely eaten away, whila it locked all right on tbo oussido. In his mind there was no doubt spontaneous cumbust’on did take plice.

Wellington, last night. Professor Easier field, of Victoria Cologe, giving ovidoaoa before the Fires and \Voolihip3' Commission, said that in order

to find out tho cause of these firis it would bo necessary to carry out a aeries oi experiments with wool under I he same conditions; as prevailed aboard ship. It would seem that wool shipped in a greasy siate might be cf greater dangor than wool properly cleaned and died. Moisture, wish tho Eurrouudmgs infest; d with bacteria, would bring about rapid esu;:-atioc, Toe raising cf the temperate, re ought b--puecly chrinioa! or bacteriologies), bn; assuming ihat it was bacteria, a system r i sterilisation would get over the difficulty. Taos might ho ooitlod by sxparitmnt, a a well as m -king experiments wi;h bales oi wool, subjecting them to varying conditions

of moisture and so on. What thoy wanted to find out for certain was tho conditions undor which a tiro would occur.

I Mr Foster : Don't you consider that you could conduct corlain ixporimnnts, aud Ikon givo us ovidenoo upon thorn 2 Witness: Any experiments of this kind would have to extorul nvor several months. Tho tiros lrrvo not ceourred until vossola / havo uoorJy roaohid Home. I would suggest a small oomuiittoo of i xpocts to conduct experiments. I Tho Commissioners oxpressrd thomI solves in f ivnr of this course, but did not wish tho period of making tho experiments prolonged, as it hud to proaent its | report within a stated tirno. Mr Eastcrfiild said tho Commission would have to boar tho oxpeiiHo of the experiment, Ho had suggested to private pooplo that by spending probably £OOO or eo in experiments ihoy could seltlo very clearly the conditions under which tiros wero liltoly !o ooour,

Mr Foster: Will you inko steps to ascertain what oxports would act nn tho committorl, and tho probablo ot of Iho experiments, so that wo may decide wbothoc wo shall go on with such experiments 2

Profoator Hasterflold : I will bo happy o do so.