F.-8.

22

[Hi S. BILBY.

55. Do you not know that a letter was intended to have been sent to Mr. J. Gailey ?—No, 1 do not know. I did not go through all the two thousand addresses. 56. Do you know either of the persons?— No. 57. Do you not know enough about it now to know that the name was intended for " Mr- J, Gailey, Mount Albert Road " ?—No. 58. Were you and Mr. Keyworth the only persons who stamped the letters?— Yes. 59. How long were you doing them? —Several evenings. 60. When did you begin the process?—We started on Monday night. 61. Monday, the 2nd? —Yes. 62. You were stamping, I suppose, on Tuesday night and Wednesday night?—lt was done in batches, and we would keep on until we finished, and then, of course, the batch was posted. 63. After you stamped the envelopes what did you do with them? —We carried them in a box and posted them at the Dominion Road post-office. 64. And they were not examined by any one else? —We were checking other people's work. .65. How many of the two thousand five hundred were posted on the Monday and how many on the Wednesday ?—One thousand two hundred the first time, and the balance afterwards. 66. Can you tell us how long it took to put the stamps on ? —No. 67. Did you lick them? —Yes. I cannot say how long. 68. You told Mi\ Ostler you could easily see if the envelopes were empty. Some of the envelopes were thicker than that?—No, not thicker; I think he made that clear. 69. Were all blue envelopes?— Yes. 70. You have not told me yet how long it took to put the stamps on ?—We kept no time. 71. Have you any idea?—We were all the evening. 72. I should think so : and glad to have finished?— Yes, we were glad to get them out. 73. Now, I suggest that the paper of the envelopes is pretty thick, and the paper of the circular is thin. Do you still say you were certain to know whether the contents were in ?—I am certain every envelope I stamped was filled. Had they not been filled the flaps would have been open. 74. Did any young ladies help to fill these envelopes?— Yes. 75. Would it not have been possible that some of them omitted to put the contents in?—We could have told by the thickness. Eric Louis Keyworth examined. 1. Mr. Ostler.] What is your full name, Mr. Keyworth?—Eric Louis Keyworth. 2. Your occupation?— Grocer's assistant. 3. You live where? —100 Balmoral Road. 4. 1 understand you helped Mr. Bilby to stamp these 2,000-odd envelopes?—l did. 5. Did any one else have any hand in the stamping besides you and Mr. Bilby?—No6. So far as the envelopes which were stamped by you are concerned, is it likely that you stamped any empty envelopes?— No. 7. Why do you say that, Mr. Keyworth?—Because there was great precaution taken that each envelope should contain its card and its pamphlet. 8. Was your mind specially directed to discovering whether the things were full when you put the stamps on ?—-You could tell by the feel of them. 9. Are you pretty confident, then, that all you stamped were filled? —Yes. 10. Were you present at the posting?—l was. 11. At Dominion Road? —At the Dominion Road post-office. 12. Did you help Mr. Bilby with the letters which were sent to the Nonconformist clergymen? —I did. 13. On what date were they posted, and where?—At the Dominion Road post-office, at 11.15 or 11.20 p.m. 14. Did you or Mr. Bilby put on any stamp paper on the back of the envelopes? —No. 15. Those addressed to Protestant clergymen?—No; we put on the three-halfpenny stamp and sealed them ordinarily. 16. Now, going bads, to the 2,000-odd envelopes: were special precautions taken to see that they were properly closed?— They were turned in. 17. That isa list of the clergymen : were letters sent to all those men on that list?— Yes. 18. Every one?—Oh, yes. 19. Mr. Gray.] Can you tell me how long you and Mr. Bilby took to stamp these circular envelopes ?—The greatest part of Monday evening was spent in stamping them. 20. What does that mean—from about 7 to lO?—Yes. 21. And Wednesday evening?— Yes. 22. About the same? —Yes. 23. You did not post them until twenty minutes past 11 : did you finish them just before that?—On Wednesday evening it was a rush. We had to get the table cleared up. 24. What time did you take?—We started right after our dinner. 25. It took you about four or five hours ?—Yes; I was stamping all the time. 26. It was a rush, you say, to get things cleared up and the letters posted in time: do you suggest that you took any sort of steps to see that every envelope had something in it ?—Yes; every person who was handling the envelopes— 27. Exactly. Only two of you were stamping?— Yes; in the stamping process we could tell by handling. 28. Does your occupation tend to make your fingers sensitive? —They are as sensitive as most, 1 suppose.