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in jumping into the harbour to save the life of this woman." On that I noted: " Constable E. Mackay is granted a reward of £3 in recognition of his bravery and presence of mind in jumping into the water to save a drowning woman." In the case of the boy named Barber the statement of Constable Mackay was sent to me by Inspector Broham, with the following minute : " Forwarded to the Commissioner, with a recommendation that a substantial reward be granted to Constable Mackay for his intrepidity in jumping into the harbour and saving the life of the boy Joseph Barber. On the 19th October last Constable Mackay also jumped into the harbour and saved the life of a woman who was drowning, for which he received a gratuity of £3. He likewise saved the life of another person in a similar manner some years ago. This is, therefore, the third time he has saved life in the Auckland Harbour." The Inspector did not recommend him for promotion, but for a substantial reward, and he got £5. Then, Mr. W. Kelly recommended him for promotion, and I wrote the following minute to the Defence Minister : " Constable Mackay belongs to the Water Police in Auckland, and was specially selected for that particular branch on account of his powerful physique and his being a good swimmer. He saved a boy's life by jumping into the water at about 2.30 o'clock in the afternoon, and was helped by the third officer of the s.s. ' Mamari.' The boy was only nine years old. I rewarded Constable Mackay by giving him £5 and a special mention in his merit-sheet; but he thinks he should be promoted, and quotes three other cases in support of his request, but they were all entirely different. Sergeant Stagpoole received promotion for swimming out and saving life when a boat was upset in Tolaga Bay; Sergeant Kelly jumped off the ferry-boat and saved a man's life ; while Constable Grey jumped off the wharf at 3 o'clock in the morning, when it was dark, and where there was a strong tide running, and saved a boy fourteen years old. None of these men belonged to the Water Police, but happened to be on the spot when their services were required. Constable Mackay has been exceptionally lucky, having risen from third-class to first-class constable in six years. He had also had the chances of making a considerable number of rewards by being in the Water Police, as his rewardsheets show. I cannot recommend him for promotion, as I think the pecuniary reward sufficient. —A. Hume. 20/5/92." That was submitted to Mr. Seddon, and he said, "Accordingly," on the 25th May, 1892, and Mr. Broham was written to to that effect on the 26th May, 1892. That was the reason Mackay was not promoted. The next man referred to was Constable Johnston, of Wellington. A row occurred on the wharf here between sailors belonging to two American ships, and the mate of the " Doris Eckhoff," one of the ships, shot the other man. The mate then retired armed on board his ship, and Constable Johnston went and arrested him, and for that he was promoted to second-class rank. 223. Has he no record for saving life from drowning?— No. 224. Have you got Constable Oliphant's sheet there ?—Yes. There are two entries on it : "1896 —Plucky conduct in rescuing a woman from drowning; £5 reward." "1897 —Stopping runaway horses; £3 reward." The former was apparently a case of attempted suicide, and the following report was forwarded to me from the Auckland Herald : — Shortly before 10 o'clook last night a young woman named Margaret Parnell made an attempt to drown herself in the harbour. She went down Queen Street Wharf with a male companion, with whom she was heard disputing, and suddenly left him and jumped over the wharf into the water. Constable Oliphant noticed the woman go over, and at once took off his coat and waistcoat and sprang in after her. The tide was strong ebb at the time, and before Oliphant could reach her she was carried almost to the ferry-steamer jetty, and had gone under the water more than once. Oliphant, however, managed to grasp her, and after a somewhat hard struggle brought her to the steps, where he was assisted by several of the bystanders, and taken up on to the wharf. The woman was quite unconscious, and it took some time to bring her round. She was taken to tho police-station, and then on to the hospital for treatment. Constable Oliphant deserves great praise for the plucky manner in which he rescued the woman. The constable applied for compensation, for damage to his uniform. The application was forwarded to me with the following minute by the Inspector : " Recommended for favourable consideration. I also recommend for special consideration the gallant conduct of this constable in rescuing the woman by jumping into the harbour at night and saving her. I have deferred forwarding this until the charge against her of attempted suicide would be disposed of, but she is still on remand." I returned the papers with this minute : " Constable Oliphant is granted a reward of £5 for his plucky conduct in rescuing this girl, and £3 to replace his clothing." 225. Was he promoted ? —No, and he was not recommended for promotion. In the case of Constable Douthett the following entry appears in his merit-sheet: " 1897 —Meritorious conduct, jumping into harbour and rescuing woman from drowing ; £5 reward." The constable forwarded his report, as follows : — I respectfully report that while on duty on Saturday, the sth instant, on the Auckland Wharf, at about 6.15 p.m., a woman named Mrs. Clements, wife of a gumdigger at Kiverhead, fell overboard from the western Devonport Jetty. I did not see or hear her fall, but I heard some one singing out, " Man overboard." I went over and could not see any one, it being so dark. I threw off my shako and mackintosh, and I no sooner had them off than I heard her voice saying something about being an Irishwoman. I then dived in the direction of the sound, about a dozen yards out, and caught her by the hair. She was lying face downwards, so I first turned her on her back to keep her face above water, and then made for the shore. Somebody then threw a lifebuoy with a long rope attached. I made the buoy fast to her, and sung out to the men on the wharf to pull in on the rope, which they did. They pulled in the rope until she was straight under the wharf, and held us there until a boat picked us up. After getting her on the wharf I took her straight to the lock-up, and charged her with drunkenness, as she was in an intoxicated state. I got my trousers slightly damaged with shells and mud, but the rest of my uniform was very little the worse for its wetting. Mr. MoKewan, baker, in Queen Street; Mr. Watts, night-watch-man ; and Mr. Baker, of the Devonport Perry Company, can corroborate the above statement. How she got over the wharf Ido not know, unless in her drunken state she walked straight over; but she would have been drowned had she been in the water many seconds longer. She was vomiting water all the way to the station in the cab. She had to be taken to the hospital during the night. Inspector Hickson forwarded this to me, and minuted it, " I recommend Constable Douthett's conduct to favourable consideration,"