69

H.—29.

W. W. WAKELEY.]

195. Nor even steaming?—You have perhaps seen vegetation steaming, but that is not heat. That is the vegetation which would steam, not the fibre proper. 196. Mr. Foster] Is there not a heavy premium on flax-mills for insurance?—l think so. 197. Do you know the reason for that? —1 think every one is running away with the idea that a flax-mill is something like a gunpowder-mill, or something like that, We have had fires certainly at the mill, but we have known the cause of them. In no case has it been due to the flax. In one case a match dropped into the scutcher, and when it passed through up it went. In another case a spark from the engine set the tow going. Whatever fires we have had have always been accounted for—but never by spontaneous combustion. 198. It is your opinion that the high premium would not be owing to the possibility of spontaneous combustion, but on account of the probability of outside causes?—l think so. 1 have thirty bales at the mill now, and there is no insurance upon them. The flax is dry, and 1 can see no reason to fear anything from heat or sweating, and I see no reason to insure it. 199. The Chairman] You think there is no danger? —No; I have had sixty bales in the shed at a time which I could not get out, and there has never been any sign of heat. 200. Where is your mill?—Down the lower valley, at Kahautara, near Featherston. 201. Captain Blackburne] You have never had any experience of wool heating?—No. 202. Has any of your flax been shipped Home?—Of course. 203. Have you never had any complaints?—No, never. I think several bales got wet in transit; they could only get wet on the outside—a little damp. Ido not think it would go through to the centre, and any damp that there may be in one part of the bale will be absorbed by the dry fibre. 204. Mr. Foster] In the case of a faulty tarpaulin on the trucks and the water dripping through, do you think that would not saturate the contents of the bale?—Undoubtedly a lot of it would soak in. It must do. 205. If that happened would there be any danger? —No. 206. It would not, you think, be likely to heat? —No. The Graders draw the hanks out of the bales, and, seeing that we have to pay ss. per bale for grading, we are not likely to allow any damp flax to come forward if we can avoid it. Of course, if it gets wet in transit we cannot help that, For instance, I had two bales sent back for wet a short time ago, and lam certain that it was not damp when it was put into the truck, for there had not been a drop of rain from the time the flax was put into the stack until after it got into the railway-truck. We made no claim, but the charge for drying was made against us all the same. 207. Do you insure your hemp from the mill?—No, we never insure. 208. You press your bales very lightly as compared with the pressure that is applied to a bale of wool ?—Yes. 209. Would you think that the additional pressure would be likely to alter the conditions as to heating?—No, Ido not think so. I have broken out stacks as flat as though it had been dumped. It had been in the stack for four months at a time. 210. Have you ever had it under such a pressure as 90 tons? —No; but you understand if the fibre is stacked away damp in a stack 12 ft. to 15 ft. high, and as broad as this room,- it settles down and flattens out the fibre, and if the hanks were not tight when pressed they would be when they came out of that heap. 211. But the pressure applied by the dump is 90 tons, it would not be so great as that?—No; that would be greater, of course. George Coley sworn and examined. (No. 28.) 212. The Chairman] What are you? —I am a flax-miller, residing and carrying on business at Foxton. 213. We understand you are able to give us some information from your experience as to the probability of flax or tow beating sufficiently to cause danger from spontaneous combustion. Have you had any experience in that direction?—l have had about nineteen years' experience in the business myself without a break, and I had some experience before going into business for myself, and in all my experience I have never seen a bale of flax take fire through heating. I have seen it hot, but my experience is that it will go to a certain degree of heat, and that heat then dies down, and the result of it will lie that the flax goes mouldy and rots away. 214. Does the temperature increase at any stage?—No. Tt will go to a certain degree and then die away. 215. Mr. Foster] Have you ever known of flax to be so heated that you could not bear your hand in it?—Only on one occasion, when the " Alice " was on fire. 216. That heat was caused through the fire? —Yes ; that was the only time I have ever known of any great heat. I think that was owing to the salt water on it at the time. 217. Do you think salt water applied to flax will make it heat to a higher temperature than fresh water would?—Yes. 218. That was a case of the ship being on fire?—Yes. The water had been poured down her hold and the flax was sent up to Foxton to be dried, and it was a fortnight or three weeks before we could get to work on it. That was the fire on the barque "Alice," which caught fire some seven or eight years ago. She was burnt at the Railway Wharf. She was loaded by Paterson and Co. It may be six years ago, but I know it was the barque " Alice," of New York. 219. Mr. Foster] You heard-the questions asked of the previous witness. Is there anything you can add to the evidence which he gave?—Nothing that I know of. You asked him why the insurance premiums were so high on flax-mill risks. There is no doubt that the flax will take fire when the chaps are not careful enough, such as through smoking, sparks, or something of the sort. If they are burning wood in the furnace, there is a likelihood of sparks from the wood ; but,