I.—la.

6

[M. CABLE.

to the correctness of the plan. Owing to a misapprehension on the part of a member, 1 was called upon to give evidence before the Committee about the case, the details of which were not familiar to me, as 1 had not looked ai the evidence for a period of over twenty months. —W. Cable. 25/1/10. William Craig examined. (No. 4.) 1. The Chairman.] You are the driver of the State's steam lorry concerned in this case?— Yes. 2. Will you tell the Committee just what occurred as to what led up to the accident, from your own point of view?—We had been short of fuel that morning, and 1 went down to the gasworks depot to get it. 1 had 3.tons on the motor, and she was not fully loaded. As 1 was coming from the gasworks there was a down car going to Newtown. 1 had to slow up to allow her to pass me. I had almost to stop, but I just kept moving, and as.the ear passed I saw another car coming up from the Courtenay Place terminus. It was a good distance off, and I was going very slow. The maker's slowest speed for the wagon is two and a half miles. As I saw the car coming up I had plenty of room to get across. The motorman, I think, thought 1 should be able to get across. With the slow speed 1 had he slowed up, and we went into each other. The car seemed to lock the wheels, and skidded right in and sti uck me on the back wheel. The wagon is 20 ft. 6 in. long, and the front wheel to the back wheel is 14 ft. 8 in. If I had been 5 ft. further on 1 should have been across the rails. 3. Is there anything else you can tell us? —I could not do anything else. I stopped the engine and got off. We tried to separate the lorry and car with a. screw-jack—the ordinary bottle jack. Then another car pulled the car away. lam not very sure, but, as the car went off, the motor went away —the framework of the front of the car was in the cab of the motor, and then when drawing Ihe oar away from the lorry a broken part had the effect of turning a small spigot to the steam lorry, and the wagon went on, and 1 jumped into it to stop it. The wagon had got to the footpath by the time 1 got on the footplate. There was a good crowd, and I could not get through very quickly. 4. Mr. Radcliffe.] There was a good deal of space before you started to cross the line: how far do you consider the tram was away from you? —It was fully 2 chains away from me. 5. And the speed you were going at when you started to cross the line was two and a hali miles, as guaranteed by the makers of the w agon I —That is the guaranteed speed, but I question whether she would go so fast as that when slowed down. 6. What is the maximum speed? —Six miles. That is the utmost speed you can get out of her. 1 question whether you can get that much out of her. 7. Were you driving at full speed when you came into Courtenay Place?— No. I could not get the speed. We had to get fuel—coke. 8. Had you been to the gasworks? —Yes, 1 had to go there. I had no steam. I had only 90 lb. of steam. 9. What is your maximum steam?— Two hundred pounds. To change the speed I have to stop, and 1 have to get underneath the wagon to get at the cog-wheels. 10. What was the utmost speed you were going at? —Scarcely two miles an hour. I could not go any more. It is impossible to get two and a quarter miles without 200 lb. of steam-power. 11. Were you on the right side of the road when you came up Tory Street? —Yes. 12. How far from Courtenay Place was the entrance you came out of at the gasworks with your load of coke? The maximum, you say, is six miles an hour?—No; I should have to stop the engine and get to the cog-wheels. I should have to run three of four chains before I could got her going at top. It would be about three or four chains. 13. Do you know the City Council by-laws relating to traffic?— Yes. 14. Were you within your rights in crossing tlien? —Yes. 15. Is it necessary under the by-laws that you should stop and let a car go past you?—No, not if the car is 40 ft. or more away. 16. The Chairman.] Is that a by-law of the City Council?—Y'es, (hat is the last by-law we have. 17. Mr. Radcliffe.] There is no by-law stating that you should absolutely stop and wait until a car has gone past you?— No. 18. Have you ever had trouble with the City Council officials in connection with your driving? —Never. 19. Have you ever been disrated or cautioned with regard to driving? —No. Drivers have been cautioned about going up Manners Street from half past 11 in the morning till 6 o'clock at night. That is the only complaint we have had from the City Council that I know of. 20. Mr. Macdonald.] Did you notice the car coming into you?— Yes, I saw the car two or three chains away. I honestly think the motorman thought I had ample time to get across. I have been using that crossing regularly eight times a month. The car hesitated, and then came on and slightly slowed up, and then went on again. Then he put his brakes on and came right into me. 21. Are you sure you stopped the wagon when the collision came?— The wheel has to be touched a quarter of an inch, and she stops. 22. Mr. Duncan.] Have you brakes on the wagon?— Yes, a steam brake and a screw-brake, and with the steam-brake I can pull the wagon up in 6 ft. with a full pressure of steam on. With 90 lb. of steam I can pull her up in 3 ft. 23. When you saw the tram-car coming, about how far away was it?— When I noticed the car at first it was about 3 chains away. I saw it coming at the same time as I saw the down car coming. 24. How far would you be across the road? —About 10ft. off the footpath down Tory Street [plan referred to]. Two miles an hour was the utmost speed I could go at the time of the collision.