THE COLONIAL INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE.

H.—No. 7.

19

that at the last session of the Provincial Council I made a motion that £1,000 should be put on the estimates for the purpose of boring for coal in that locality, for the reason that seams of coal appear in places there, and in the true coal formation—in sandstone. Along with the engineer of a small steamer, called the Taiaroa, I visited the spot, and obtained some specimens of the coal in order to try it. It burns very well; and Dr. Hector says it is true coal. Dr. Meimes, who knows the locality, also describes the country as being of the true coal-bearing formation. There is a good harbor not far distant, where vessels of considerable tonnage can enter at all times, and it is very desirable that the coal field should be developed. A sum of money would be well expended in testing the field. From enquiries which I made of some parties who are engaged in coal mining in Otago, it seems they are prepared to test the field if a sufficient allowance is made to them to provide themselves with food for the time being1. Thei-e being a- good harbor at all times accessible, and on a seaboai-d, where a large amount of coal is required for the use of steamers, it is very desirable that the Committee should recommend that a sum of money be set aside for boring. It is a very large field, extending a long way into the interior. The land is still open for sale, but comes under the provisions of an Act relating to class settlements. 193. What amount of money do you consider it would l>e necessary to devote to this purpose?— The sandstone in which the coal is situated extends from Catlin's River to Waikava, and the formation seems to lie very regularly, there being no hard stone ; but it would be very difficult to say what sum of money would be required in order to prove it. Mr. Bruntou, who resides near the Mataura, has been boring for coal, and has reached a seam 18 inches thick, but finding that his men did not like to work in the foul air, and with the wall coming in upon them, he ceased sinking. He has gone about 150 feet. 194. Will you give us some information on the subject of paper, on which you were summoned to give evidence I —l may state that my attention was first directed to this subject from the circumstance of many of my friends being engaged in paper making, and, while living with one of them in England, seeing a large quantity of stuff, resembling grass, ready for manufacture, I enquired of my friend what the material was, and he informed me that it was Esparto grass, and that he used it for making paper. I produce a specimen of this grass, together with specimens of New Zealand tussock grass and flax which I have prepared myself. [Specimens produced.] I sent some of this prepared tussock grass home to my friend, Mr. T. Eoutledge, a gentleman who has taken out a patent for the manufacture of Esparto grass, and who is in a large way of business at Sunderland. I have been in correspondence with him, and will read extracts from his letters, showing what he thinks of this grass. [Extracts read.] There is another grass, the coarse tussock grass—the snow grass of the mountain, a specimen of which, I am sorry to say, I have not brought with me, and also some stuff made from wood, manuka bark, kc, which produces similar material; but, of course, these are scarce articles, and it is only to those which are abundant in the country that we must look for manufacturing purposes. I find that the expense of sending home material in the coarse state suggested by Mr. Eoutledge, would hardly pay. On enquiry I find that the freight will be £2 10s a ton measurement, and the material being light, the freight would come very expensive ; and in my opinion it would pay better to manufacture the stuff in the country. The packing and freight would altogether come to £7 or £8 a ton, which would be in itself a large profit. Stuff of this character would not require so much handling as rags, and the saving in freight and packing would more than counterbalance the difference between the cost of labor here and in the home country. In order to show the importance which the use of Esparto grass in paper manufacture is acquiring in the home country, I will quote some figures from the Board of Trade returns, as given in the Paper Jfakers Journal. From these it appears that during the month of May, 18G9, 10,788 tons of Esparto grass were introduced into England; during May, 1870, 12,703 tons; and during May, 1871, 5,439 tons. The value of the latter was £51,149. You will see that the quantity introduced in May, 1871, was considerably less than in the May of the two preceding years, but during the four months ending the 31st of May, 1871, the quantity of Esparto grass and certain other fibres introduced into England was 53,846 tons. From this quantity we may deduct about 2,000 tons for other fibres than Esparto, and we may reckon tho value of the Esparto grass imported during that period at £496,000. That shows the immense trade that is being carried on in this material; and if the material produced from tussock grass is, as my friend says it is, a better material) we may expect a large market for it. With reference to this tussock grass, the question occurs to me, would not the cost of collecting it prove a considerable bar to its use f No. Of course it could not be got without some expense ; but I do not anticipate the cost would be very great. 195. Have you any idea what it would cost per ton to cut it 1- —No ; I have not tried it on a large scale, but no doubt children could cut it; in fact, I think it might be gathered like rags, and could be got very cheap. 196. Mr. E. Richardson.] In collecting the grass, there would be no necessity to keep it straight, and it might be cur just like hay I —Just cut and dried. I now produce some stuff made from NewZealand flax. It was half-stuff, and I cut it in pieces with a chaff cutter, but, unfortunately, I cut it too short. However, I sent a sample home ; and I also sent some to Ramsden's Mill, in Melbourne, where it was made into paper, samples of which I now produce. [Specimens produced.] I also producta plan of a paper mill [plan produced], and an estimate of the cost from Mr. Bertram, of Edinburgh. Including buildings and provision for supplying the mill with water, I estimate that the cost of a mill, capable of turning out from 10 to 12 tons of brown and grey paper a week, at between £6,000 and £7,000. I sent samples of the materials which I have exhibited to the Paper Makers' Club, in London, and I have received a letter in reply from the Secretary to that body, which I will read. [Letter read.] I did not wish to lay out any money, and I therefore applied to the Provincial Government of Otago to see if they would send homo a few tons of the raw fibre to the Paper Makers' Club for trial, and with great generosity they proposed to allow me £1 a ton, which I declined. 197. In reply to a question from a member of the Committee, Mr. M'Glashan said he had not been personally engaged in paper making at home. 198. Mr. Mv.iToy.\ Was the flax from which you prepared this fibre in a dry or green state?—lt was the ordinary dried fibre.