I— 12a.

12

IE. P. LEVIEN.

at Palmerston and stated that Mr. Pearce was not telling the truth when he made the statement that he has made just now. 39. Mr. Pearce.] Will you admit that there are not 300 yards of fibre caught against the bank of the river in front of your mill at the present time ?—When I put the mill there some three years ago there was a bank there, and at that time all the rubbish from the mill was simply thrown on to the bank. Certainly there is a good bit of this vegetation and fibre mixed up in that sand. If that is what you want me to admit I will admit it. But I will say on oath that since that case under the Fisheries Act came on and we have had the gratings put in there, that bank has not risen; in fact, it has washed away considerably since that day. 40. Will you make the statement that you have not caused an erosion on my side of pretty nearly half a chain since you have been there, and the ground is still dropping in?— That is a matter on which you want to get an opinion from an expert. It is the position of your bank that causes the erosion. It has nothing to do with my bank at all. The same bank has been there for fifty years. It is simply because this vegetation is on the bank that you think it is causing the erosion. Erosions are taking place in several places up the river where there are no banks at all. It is simply on account of the river's windings that these erosions take place. 41. Would you still stick to that statement if Mr. Laing-Meason says that the conformation of the river is such that it would erode on your side if it were not for the fibre?— Certainly I would. 42. Is it not a fact that you shifted the mill from further up the stream to that particular place?—l shifted it, I think, about four years ago. 43. Was it not your object at that time to shift it to where the water was eroding on that side, so as to get the fibre and stuff shifted with as little labour as possible?— The sole reason why I shifted was this : the bank was giving way where the mill was situated; it was giving way so considerably that my engine was in danger of going into the river, and 1 was forced to shift to a place where it was not washing away. 44. The Chairman.] You deny that the reason was as stated by Mr. Pearce? —He muddled it so that I do not exactly know what he did mean; but what I said is the absolute fact. 45. Mr. Pearce.] Is it a general thing for flax-millers to choose a position for a mill where there is a beach, so that all the stuff will be exposed, or do they generally take a place where they get a chance to put it into deep water —that is, where the water is eroding the bank? —I should think they would put a mill in the most suitable position. ' 46. Could you tell the Committee what width you have between the bars in your grating? —I suppose they would be about a quarter of an inch. I have not measured them. The first one, I should think, would be about a quarter of an inch, and the other about an eighth. The first one was doing the work sufficiently, but to endeavour to meet these troubles we put a second one in, which catches a certain quantity of little bits of vegetation. That is thrown up on the bank and carted away. 47. Do you keen two men for that now?—No; I keep one man for the grating, and he moves the stuff from both grates. 48. What is the size of the trough against this grating? —I suppose it is about 1 ft. wide; perhaps 10 in. 49. About 1 ft, high?— About that. . 50. The pump carries, from 180 to 300 gallons a minute? —It depends on the size of the pump you are using. " ' 51.. I mean your pump? —About that, I think. About 180 gallons, I think. 52. Then if that man leaves for five minutes, the whole of the material will be going over the top of the grating? —No, I do not think it would overflow. N It would take possibly about ten minutes. 53. How long is your trough?— 6 ft., possibly. 54. The size of the trough is 6 ft. by Ift. by 10 in.?— The trough is not the grating. The measurements of the grating itself are about 6 ft. long by about 4 ft. wide and about .2 ft. to 3 ft. high —possibly more than that. ..: 55. The. grating'consists of bars of iron put down in the front?— Yes, with a floor and sides. ' ' 56. Not of bars of iron? —It is a closed-in box, with iron bars to form a grating in the front. 57... The whole of the water has to go through that grating, has it not?— Yes. 58. Prior to going into that box it runs down an incline?; —Y^es. 59. There are 180 gallons a minute running down, and if your man turns his back for five minutes, 'is it not plain that the thing will overflow when it is blocked with the fibre coming (i own ?—Have you not got the sense to know that the water is running out the whole time it is coming in ? • 60. The Chairman.] At 180 gallons a minute, the water must run at a good pace?— Yes, at a fair pace. There is not a very big fall, you know. ;■ .61. Suppose a settling arrangement of a good many square yards were arranged in which the water would be allowed to drop the fibre to the bottom, would, not the effluent that gets into the river be much clearer of fibre than with a rapid stream like that?--No, I do not think so. In fact, I think you get more vegetation into the river in that way than you do with the grating. The vegetation floats with the slightest movement of the water. .62. Do you. mean to tell the Committee that if the water was allowed to settle quietly —to drop, not the, fibre, but the comminuted vegetation that is scraped off by the scrapers —the water, when it finally escaped into.the river, would not be much cleaner? —But you could not possibly do it. Your tank would be full in no time. It would' simply rush in and rush out as fast as you put it in: Ido not see that you could do it. 63. Supposing your trough was 45 chains long and there was no grating at all, and the water