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284. Do you remember that yesterday when you went to the swamp where the fire started you did not see any signs of gum-digging ?—-I am certain that I saw marks of gum-digging on the point of land after the fire, because it struck me at the time that the whole place had been burnt clean. I cannot swear as to that point, or as to the one on the other bend, but on that side of the line I saw marks where they had turned the ground over. 285. But you saw none yesterday ? —The ground is covered with fern now. I saw that there were turns-over of the spade—one spit in each place turned over. I think it was when I was returning from Mr. Young's place that I saw the marks. 286. Mr. Brookfield.] You have heard the statement by Miss Wallace that there have been seventeen fires on Mr. Wallace's place since the 30th December ?—Yes. 287. How do you suggest they took place ?—I do not know. 288. Each of them occurred just after the train had passed ?—Yes, that may be so. 289. Do you say they could be caused in any other way than by a locomotive ?—Some may have been. The public will not believe it, but we know from actual proof that some fires have been caused by matches thrown from a train. 290. Some of these fires were a chain away, and a match would not travel that distance. Can you say then how they occurred?.—No. 291. Miss Wallace says an engine would pass, and immediateiy after a fire would occur. Can you suggest any other way except sparks from an engine in which those fires could have happened ?—Not under those circumstances. 292. Mr. McLaughlin says that between Ann's Bridge and Remuera he counted eleven places on fire. Can you make any suggestion about the cause of those fires ?—No. You cannot say anything one way or the other. 293. Is what he says quite correct—that they must have occurred from the engine ? —No, I do not think so. I know a case in which a man blamed the engine for a fire that occurred about eight miles from the line. 294. What is the distance between Ann's Bridge and Remuera ?—-About four miles. 295. Do the best appliances of the world still allow fires to occur at that rate ?—That would depend on circumstances, because it might possibly happen that there was deleterious matter in the coal that we knew nothing of. It is possible there might be some hot points or centres that may have caused a fire as an exceptional circumstance, but to have a case like the one we have heard of is very rare. You might hear of a fire here or there, but not of a continuous chain in a country like that. 296. Then you have the statement made by Mr. McLaughlin that one of your drivers said there had been eleven fires ? —Well, I would like to bring that driver and Mr. McLaughlin together. 297. Mr. McLaughlin is a well-known man. He would not make a statement of that kind unless it occurred, nor would he report it ?—The statement was too general. 298. Mr. McLaughlin is a well-known man, is he not ?—Yes ; but if a man has told him that, let us have the man. 299. How do you account for the fact that with the best appliances fires still occur on Mr. Wallace's property? —I do not know why they should specially attack Mr. Wallace's property. 300. But there is the fact ?—We do not say that the appliances can absolutely stop every spark. That is acknowledged everywhere. 301. Mr. McLaughlin says he was himself a locomotive engineer, and it is not likely he is making a mistake when he says he has seen sparks while standing on the carriage-platform?—lt would be possible for a man like Mr. McLaughlin to make that mistake, because the fact of his having served his time in a workshop and then being away from the shops for years would not make him well acquainted with the various matters of detail that we are acquainted with who are always in the work. 302. But he said he had been in charge? —That was many years ago, and under different circumstances from those that exist now. 303. But he would know the difference between soft coal and sparks?— Yes. 304. It would not be the sparks or the soft flame that would cause the eleven fires Mr. McLaughlin counted?— No. 305. Have you tried the gauze catcher ?—Yes. Speaking from memory, we tried the gauze appliance some years ago, and it had to be taken out. 306. Why ? —Because it choked the engine. 307. How long ago is that?—l forget now. It was put on the engine between here and Waikomiti, and the mesh choked. If you made the meshes large enough to prevent choking, the sparks would go through. 308. What size of mesh did you use ?—We brought the size down to stop anything going through, but it simply choked up. We could not keep it clean, although all sorts of appliances were used. 309. What distance was there between the mesh and the top of the funnel ?—I forget now, but I think the mesh was underneath the external chimney. 310. Would not a screen above stop the sparks ?—lt is not small enough to stop them coming through. 311. Could you not put on a cap of some sort?—No, it chokes up. This man I spoke of, when going to Waikomiti, nearly brought his train up, and had to remove the netting. We tried another thing that came out with one of the engines. It had a net that was larger than the ordinary smutting-net, but anything would come through it. It was tried between here and Newmarket one night. 312. Do the cinders of the Taupiri coal not smoulder?—My experience of the coal is that the