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have had five years' experience at collieries in Durham, England, i entered the firm of Bell Bros., where I started as a mining apprentice, and ended up as a first-class certificated manager. 898. What mine did you manage at Durham ?—The Lumpsey Ironstone Mine at Cleveland, near Durham. 899. But not a coal-mine '{ —No. I was five years in a coal-mine, and got my first-class coal-mine manager's certificate in Durham. 900. May I take it that we have got down now ail your experience as a manager of coal-mines '{ — That is correct. 901. Is there anything else which you think we ought to know regarding your experience ? —I had four years and a half at Durham, and went through every grade in the mines. I joined the Westport Coal Company under the late Mr. Brown. I was assistant engineer and surveyor there. For two years and a half I was Inspector of Coal-mines for Western Australia. Then, since I have been in this country, during the last nine years, I have been dealing with coal-mining matters. For the last four years I have been Consulting Engineer to the State coal-mines. I was manager of the Peak Hill Goldfields (Limited) in Western Australia, employing hundreds of men. I was manager of the Doric Goldmines, Colorado, U.S.A., for eighteen months or two years. 1 was Inspector of Mines for the Central Goldfields of Western Australia. 1 have visited mines in Transvaal and British Columbia, reporting upon them for British syndicates. 902. Was the mine in British Columbia gold or coal ? —Copper. 903. And the Transvaal ?—Gold, i was also engaged upon the Tasmanian silver-fields for about six months, and reported in that country on coal-mines at Jerusalem and Sandfly Bay, Huon district. 904. 1 understand from you that you inspected the Taupiri coal-mines some three years ago ? — Yes, I went round part of them. 905. You did not say you have inspected them ?—I kept my eyes open as I went round. 906. Three years ago —was any report of your inspection given to the manager 1 —No; it was for the Royal Commission. 907. May I take it that you have never made any inspection of the Taupiri Coal-mine, after which you reported to any one ? —No, that is not so. On one occasion Mr. McKenzie, then Minister of Mines, asked me to go down this mine and investigate certain matters. 908. That was in connection with the Taupiri West connection '( —Yes, and some complaints from the men. 909. And I think I understood you to say that so far as the complaint of the men was concerned, it was attended to ?—I think so, promptly, by Mr. Wight, then manager. 910. You have told us about how you came to learn about the gas in the mine—certain burnings were reported. We want one point: you said something about the danger; are you depending on the four cases —Willcox, Conn, Rustin, and Kelly ?—There were some others also communicated to me, but 1 do not remember the names. I did not make a note of them, because I did not want my informant to know that I was uninformed. One name sounded like " Dexter " ; it was a boy who had been trespassing in a part of the mine where he had no right to be —namely, old workings. 911. You cannot give his name, so perhaps you will agree that it would be better to leave that case out of count ?—Yes, you can leave it out. 912. You rely upon the four cases —Conn, Rustin, Kelly, and Willcox ?—And probably further concealed cases, as since admitted here. 913. You made comment upon the fact that so many Taupiri men presented themselves for gas-testing certificates ?—Yes ; several miners came down to the Exhibition. 914. Did you not ask the secretary of the union to suggest to the men, that they should come and submit themselves to the test ?—Very likely. 915. Then, as a matter of fact, there is nothing surprising in the number of men that came 'I — The number did surprise me when 1 knew the reason. 916. Did it surprise you that your simple request had produced such a result I—l1 —I believe it did. 917. Did you know whether any of the men who came up for that test were deputies who had been down for an examination in December —about Christmas ?—No, I did not know about Christmas whether they were deputies or not. 918. Did you about that time hold an examination for deputies ? -1 held an examination in February or March. There were then a lot of candidates coming up for deputies' certificates, also underviewers. The men who came up for underviewers' certificates also took the gas-testing examination. 919. Were some of them from Huntly ( —Yes. 920. Can you say, roughly, how many ? —Not exactly. 921. Can you say how many men you tested ? —No. . 922. Not a rough idea—not between six and sixty ?—Yes, considerably fewer than sixty. From the Taupiri mines or other mines ? 923. From Huntly, I mean ? —I cannot remember how many came from Huntly. I examined a good number, and they came intermittently during two months. . 924. You cannot say —twenty or thirty ? —I think there were less than thirty from Huntly. 925. Do you remember this man, Young : he brought a letter from Mr. Fletcher to you ?—1 think he did. I could not, however, swear that he did. 926- Well, then, did all these men whom you tested get their tickets ?—Some did and some did not. 927. Can you give us any idea of the proportion who failed ?—ln the underviewers' section 1 think they all failed for their certificates as underviewers; perhaps one out of half a dozen passed, but I cannot remember. 928. Were they all Huntly men ?—I could not say.