M. A. WELSH.]

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15. The ratio is about the same ?—Yes. 16. Mr. Roberts.] In what respect do you consider Addington is behind in the matter of appliances ?—lt is not so much the appliances as the arrangement—in other words, the floor-plan. 17. There is not enough room ?—That is so. 18. Are there sufficient steam-hammers ? —No. To my mind, to work blacksmiths to advantage, four men can keep a steam-hammer going. 19. How many steam-hammers are there ?—Five, I think, in the smiths' shop. 20. How many men are there ?—Thirty-three. 21. Have you any experience in stamping articles ?—Yes. 22. Is there anything done at Addington at that ?—Yes. 23. Is there a special steam stamping-appliance ?—They have not a special plant, but they stamp as well as they can with the steam-hammer. 24. Do you consider that Addington is behind other shops in the matter of these appliances ?— Yes, they are much behind ; but there are other things to consider in that connection. It would not pay New Zealand to put in a modern " bull-dozer " ; there would not be enough work to keep it busy. 25. There must be a good deal of repetition work in Addington ?—Oh, yes ! 26. Do you consider an improvement would be made if they had proper drop-hammers ?—Yes. I would not say that you should get a modern " bull-dozer," because it would not pay to set that machine up for less than work running into seven or eight thousand pieces. James Thomas Henderson, Foreman Boilermaker at Addington Workshops, examined. (No. 13.) 1. Mr. Beattie.] How long have you been in the Railway service ?—About twenty-three years. 2. How long have you been foreman boilermaker at Addington ?—About thirteen or fourteen years. 3. At Addington do you build practically all the boilers for the New Zealand Railways ?—All the locomotive-boilers. 4. You are aware that a statement was made in a letter that the work in the boiler-shop at Addington was inefficient ?—Yes. 5. What do you wish to say on that point ?—I wish to deny it entirely. It is a false charge, without doubt. 6. Do you find any difficulty in enforcing discipline in the boiler-shop ?—No. 7. Have you had insubordination or anything of that sort at any time ?—No, I have not. 8. I suppose you would know what to do if you did I—l should, certainly. 9. You practically deny the truth of the statement with regard to any slackness in the boilershop ?—I do. 10. Do you recollect Mr. Jenkinson visiting the Addington Workshops last November ?—Yes. 11. Were you there ?—I was. 12. Was it during Carnival Week ?—Yes, when the shops were not working. 13. The boiler-shop machinery was not working ?—No machinery was going at all. We were only doing repairs. 14. On that occasion, of course, very few men would be there, I suppose ?—Very few. 15. Will you tell the Commission what transpired on the occasion of Mr. Jenkinson's visit ?—We walked round the shop and looked at the work that was going on in connection with the cutting of the curvature of the cone for the barrels of the X locomotive-boilers. We walked from there round to the rollers, and talked about the rolling of the plates. I said we had a pretty tough job. He said, " You ought to have rolled the plates." I said, " Should we ! If you had been at Stevenson and Cook's and seen them rolling them you would not have that opinion." 16. With regard to Stevenson and Cook's, that was where we got them rolled ?—Yes. 17. Stevenson and Cook undertook to do them at a price ?—Yes. 18. Stevenson and Cook found the work a bigger job than they anticipated ?—On doing the first plate Mr. Cook came to me and said, " I do not think we are going to make much out of this job, Mr. Henderson." I said, " You will get on better as you go on," and that was so. The first took twelve hours. 19. Are Stevenson and Cook's rollers much more powerful than ours % —Yes. Their top roller is 18 in. in diameter and 18 ft. between the standards. 20. To come back to Mr. Jenkinson, you questioned his knowledge as to saying that you ought to have done this work at Addington, and you instanced the fact that Stevenson and Cook had found the work a big proposition ? —Yes. 21. What transpired then ? —I do not think there was anything of consequence that I can recollect. It ended up in a general talk. 22. Was there any disagreeableness of any kind '( Had the matter left any lack of the same friendly feeling that had existed between you before ? —I could not judge that. As far as I can judge, I should not say so. 23. It did not affect your feelings ?—Not in any way. 24. Have you known Mr. Jenkinson fairly intimately for a number of years ?—Yes, I have known him intimately for some thirty-five years. 25. He has gone round your shop at Addington from time to time? —I should judge that he generally comes down about twice a year. 26. On any of these visits has he, as a friend of yours and as a " brother chip," so to speak, called your attention to any loafing, or what he thought was loafing ?—Never,

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