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3021. Did you fix the bearing of the front part of the building?—l did. 3022. Have you since checked your survey ? —I did on the 20th February, 1888. 3023. Did you take it by independent lines ?—Yes ; I ran independent lines to the building. 3024. Did you find your original survey correct ? —I found it to be correct within less than one minute. 3025. What did that make on the total length of the building?— About liin. 3026. Then you found the building to be exactly where it was in February, 1884? —Practically so. The bearing was the same within less than a minute. 3027. Mr. Laivson.] Your measurement was taken solely as to levels?—No; as to bearing. 3028. What bearing?— The bearing in relation to the meridian, that is all. 3029. Do you mean to say, in fact, that the building shows only a variation of l^in. ?—According to my work, that is so. 3030. How did you measure it ?—I set off a line from the south and from the north. I had a fixed traverse from a sub-trig, in the school reserve, Block, 111., Waikouaiti, and I took the bearing right along a line about 560 ft. long, and in checking it I ran an independent line up from the same sub-trig., and came up this end, taking the same point there. 3031. Are you sure the trig, was the same ?—To the best of my knowledge : I do not know of any difference. 3032. It might have slipped?— Not unless the whole front of the building had slipped parallel to that bearing. 3033. If another surveyor were to come and prove that the north wing had varied 13fin. from what it was at the date you are speaking of, would you say he was wrong ?—I would stick to my own work. 3034. Is it usual that a variation of 13-J-in. occurs between the measurement of two experts ?—■ I could not say. Of course, in survey work, there is a certain limit of error. 3035. But is that not a large limit from end to end of that building? —No; for the bearing would not affect the distance at all. If the building moved forward as a whole mass, the bearing would be still the same; that is if it moved parallel so many feet or inches at each end. 3036. And you found the only variation to be 1-Jin. ? —Equal to 1-Jin. : one minute of arc. 3037. From end to end of the building ?—Yes. 3038. The Chairman.] What was the object of your first traverse ? —I have had a lot to do with the surveys round about Seacliff, and the object was to fix the line of building at the time. That was in February, 1884. 3039. That was after it was completed ? —I think there was work going on at the time. 3040. What was the object of your running the line ? —There was a traverse up here from the pipes in here, that went up by the side of the building, and I fixed the position of the building, and showed it on the same plan. 3041. Simply to show it on the plan ?—Yes. 3042. When you checked it the other day —on the 20th of February—you ran a traverse up in another direction ?—Quite independently : in two lines I ran it up. 3043. When you showed the building on your plan as previously made, it was simply with that object. There was no necessity to be accurate ? —I showed it as accurately as I could. Of course there was no question of the building moving. I just showed the building as part of my work. 3044. What was the plan for ?—lt was a general plan ; there was a lot of work about Seacliff, land surveying. 3045. You took the bearings pretty carefully in order to show the building pretty accurately in its position ?—Oh, yes ! I had an ordinary Sin. instrument. 3046. You were satisfied that your work was correct ? —Yes. 3047. And the second traverse you ran convinced you? —It comes in almost exactly the same as it was before, that is all I could say. I could not say any more. 3048. What sub-trig, was this? —A sub-trig, at the school reserve, Block 111., Waikouaiti. 3049. That is close to the station ? —No; about fifteen chains below where the road goes up; and from trig. DD at Warrington, about two miles and a half -below Seacliff station on the line to Blueskin. 3050. Mr. Blair.] Did you take the bearings from that trig, at Warrington ?—Yes ; to this point of the school reserve, and from there up to the building. 3051. The Chairman.] In fixing the line of this building when you took the bearing of it, what part of the building did you measure to ?—The line that I laid off in preparing a petty contract here for Mathesons. I measured Bft. from the concrete at the extreme bay-window here and Bft. from the concrete at the bay-window at the extreme north. 3052. You took the two extreme points?— Yes. 3053. I was wondering whether you had taken some part of the building?—No ; that is what I took. 3054. Mr. Skinner.] Was the concrete exposed when you took it ?—I had to dig round there. 3055. The Chairman.] You measured from the same points at your last survey.—Yes. 3056. And you say an error of a minute would only make 1-Jin. ? —Yes. 3057. In the length of the building?—No; in about 560 ft. 3058. Of course you did not work out what error 16in. would make—how many minutes ?—No ; I worked out an error of 13in. and it made over seven minutes. 3059. In the length of the building ?—No; in the distance I took from here to here. 3060. Mr. Skinner.] Whore the ljin. was shown ?—A minute one way or the other here would mean the deflection of 1-Jin. Mr. Blah-: That is the only evidence I have to bring; but if I had understood the other