H.—2l.

W. R. TURNER.]

43

we command a view of the girls and their work throughout the day. I have never seen anything objectionable in the work they have done, neither have I seen anything like driving on the part of the attendants. I have made one or two calculations as to the work they have done. I may say I have known the site of the Home during the last thirty years. The place is not a forest by any means, and my estimate of the total number of trees felled by the girls since the Home started is from twenty-five to thirty. I also estimate that the produce from these trees, allowing three trees to a cord—some of the trees being rather small —at about 10 cords of wood. I have credited the girls with 10s. per cord for cutting. They have also stumped, so far as I am aware, about ten stumps, for which I have allowed 2s. 6d., so that the total value of the labour they have done at the trees I estimate at £6 ss. for the eight years. That is an excessive value. I may state that the method adopted by the girls is to climb up a tree and fix a rope, and very delighted they seem at the operation. They are all laughing and smiling. They then cut the lateral roots, and haul on the rope, and the tree comes up, pulling up several feet of the tap root like a carrot. Of course, the girls are very much delighted wlien the tree falls. I also estimated that if you divided these 10 cords up amongst the sixty girls it would amount to about a barrowload of wood each, which I suppose would be about enough to keep each one warm in the summer. In my capacity as builder I have been working there during the last four or five weeks, and I have seen them cutting the wood. I have seen the manner in which they work, so I am in a position to judge as to whether they are overworked or not. 5. Mr. Russell.] Do they seem distressed?—No; they take care they are not distressed. I am building a conservatory for the Home, and before starting the foundations I pointed out to the Matron it would be necessary to remove three pine trees. These trees were cut down before I started the foundations. I think Mr. Bone helped them. I measured the largest tree, and 1 think it was about 20 in. at the butt. Ever since that time the girls have been working intermittently at these trees, and the greater portion of them is remaining there yet, uncut. I estimate that two men would have felled the trees and split them up into firewood in two days. Perhaps the girls come and work for an hour—at least they are there, and they seem to please themselves how they work. The attendants come and look at them now and again. The girls have a large and small cross-cut saw. I have seen two girls start in the morning and work for an hour, and cut a little piece off the end of one of these trees about 8 in. in diameter. That would be the morning's work. They come out again between 1 and 2 sometimes, and at the end of the day they had cut three sections -off that log. That was their day's work. The attendants would come and look at them occasionally, and say, " Now, girls you are not getting on very well with this work." The girls replied, " Oh, Miss Hunt, you can come and have a try." Shortly after that the Matron came up, and the girls seemed to be highly delighted at the presence of the matron. In high glee, they asked her to come and have a try. She asked what was the matter that they were not getting on, and the girls said the tree was not cutting very well. The Matron asked them if they had any grease, and when they said "no " she took the trouble to go down 'to the shed and fetch a bottle of oil. This morning, as another instance, at about 10.10 o'clock a girl came up with a cross-cut saw, and went to one of the logs and sat there. After a little while another girl came along. They put the saw in a cut, and found the saw did not fit, so they went across to another tree, and after about a ten minutes' confab they started cutting this log, which was probably between 15 in. and 18 in. in diameter. They were working within 10 ft. of me, and I could not help but notice their operations. They worked until 11.15 a.m.. and they had then cut down 5 in. They thought then they were pretty near knock-off time, and they went back with the saw to the Home. In the meantime two other girls had started at another log. They also tried an old cut, which did not fit the saw, so I advised them, to start a fresh one, which they did, and after being there about two hours they succeeded in getting down 3 in. into the log, partly with the axe and partly with the saw. Those who know anything about cross-cutting know you must keep the saw moving briskly otherwise the cut will choke. One of these girls would pull the saw and then stop, and then the other would pull and stop, with the result that the saw was always sticking. That is the manner in which they have been sawing for the last five weeks. As to the lupins, that paddock is the boundary of my section also. The girls have been working within 25 ft. or 30 ft. of my house, and within full view of us. I think they commenced this work at the end of December or early in January. Sometimes there have been as many as, twenty girls there. I have seen the girls start from Te Oranga with their little grubbers, which probably weigh 1| lb.—although one of the girls called them pick-axes. With these grubbers and some American axes they started to clear the lupin and broom. They worked very well for a bit, but afterwards they took things very leisurely. They always had an attendant with them, and although often within a few feet of my boundary and sheds, I never heard the attendants driving them in any way, except to simply say " Come, you girls are not getting on. Matron will be round in a short time, and we will have nothing to show her." The result of their work has been to clear about 4 acres of land, as near as I can judge. A very large proportion of the heavy old lupins is rotten, and can be pulled up by the hand. The broom varies from J in. to at the thickest 1| in.; and that is cut with an axe. It is not grubbed. I consider the full value of clearing that would be £1 10s. per acre, so that the extreme value of the work done there would also be £6. If you divide this up amongst the girls you will find that each girl has cleared a plot of three-quarters of a chain square since the Ist of January, working intermittently. I have also seen them gardening. I know the grounds pretty well. They have four plots of garden, the total area being 2| acres. If you divide that amongst the sixty girls it gives a plot of about half a chain to each girl, and I do not think that is in any way excessive. I have never heard the attendants use a cross word—nothing worse than I have stated. I have also always found the attendants very courteous towards each other, and their