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5469. Have you a plan?—l have a rough plan. I have not the original plans. They were taken away by Mr. Clayton, and Ido not know what has become of them. They ought to be somewhere in Wellington. The Chairman : They will be in the Public Works Office. Witness : I tried to get a number of plans, but I could not. [Plans produced : Exhibit lv.] 5470. Mr. Chapman. | Have you recently examined the building ? —I have not been through all the wards, but I have been in two of them—No. 2 and No. 7. 5471. The Chairman.'] But the building generally? —I have been round and examined the drains and waterclosets. 5472. Mr. Chapman.'] You have made a professional examination of the building ?—Yes; and I have also looked at the state of the roof. 5473. The Chairman.] We had better take the different parts of the building, beginning with the roof. What state is it in ?—The roof-timbers are sound. Many of the slates are broken, but there are no leaks, so it is just as well to let the roof alone. The chimneys and parapets are rather shaky in places ; the cement work is crumbling away —has been, in fact. 5474. To a dangerous extent ?—Well, it can scarcely be called dangerous as yet. 5475. Will it damage the walls ? —lt deteriorates the building and allows the damp to penetrate the brickwork. 5476. Well, it is dangerous to the state of the building. The object of the cement is to keep out the damp?— These are repairs that should be attended to if it remains as a hospital. 5477. Mr. Chapman.] Should they be attended to at once? —During the summer. 5478. Did you pay particular attention to the abutments of the beams of the main supports of the roof ? —Yes ; they are quite sound. I examined these about two years or eighteen months ago, and they were quite sound then ; I reported so to the Trustees. The bottom rails of the skylights round the main building have decayed. 5479. From the damp resting on them ?—Yes. 5480. The Chairman.] What are the defects in the plumbing ?—There were men on the roof when I was down lately. They are constantly repairing parts of the ridging. The ridging is very much corroded, and should be renewed all over. It is galvanized-iron ridging, I think. 5481. And the gutters ?—They are in a fair state of repair. Some parts of them might be repaired, but there is no leaking. They are old, and should be renewed before long. Since the building was erected in 1864 the gutters have been renewed, except in certain parts. 5482. Mr. Chapman.] What kind of gutters are they ?—Lead; and they are pretty substantial. I think 61b. lead was put in the ridging. 5483. The Chairman.] We have heard of a kind of wooden trunks or drains that are carried over the ceilings of the upper wards?— Yes. 5484. Can you describe them ?—Yes. They are wooden boxes or troughs carried over the ceilings of the upper wards, one over each ward, leading the water from the centre gutters to the outside. Their position is nearly over the centre of the wards, close to the man-holes. 5485. Are these kept open or shut?— They are open on the top, and are lined on the inside with lead—that is to say, the bottom and two sides. I did not examine the lead, and I cannot say whether it is corroded. 5486. Was there any sludge or stuff in these troughs ?—There was a little. There might have been from half an inch to an inch. 5487. Was it wet?—lt was. 5488. And offensive ?—No; I did not smell anything. 5489. Did it seem as if it had been at any time higher up on the sides? Was there a skin?— There was a slight skin. 5490. That was dry, of course ?—Partly dry. 5491. Mr. Chapman.] Have these troughs a fall?— They have a slight fall. 5492. The Chairman.] Is there sufficient fall?— They carry off the water. 5493. But do not keep themselves clean ?—No ; and they would not even if there was a great fall. No spouting in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position is clean, but has to be cleaned out periodically. 5494. Is that done ?—I do not know. I think it must be, because, if it was not, they would become almost filled in time. 5495. Mr. Chapman.] Are these man-holes closed?— They are. 5496. Does the air rise to them, or under any circumstances can it come down ?—lt both rises and comes down, according to the state of the atmosphere outside. On the day I examined it the current was outwards—a pretty strong current, too. 5497. And you are aware of it sometimes reversing ?—Yes. 5498. Is there any considerable opening for the ingress and egress ? —Not much. I think it is about 6in. by 4in. 5499. Smaller than the trunk ?—I think it is about the size of the trunks. I did not measure them. The two ends are the same size, and they will be parallel through. 5500. There will be an aperture for air of a smaller size ?—Yes, at both ends of the trunk. 5501. The Chairman.] What about the drains, beginning with the soil-drains—that is, the drains connecting with the wards ? What is the method of carrying off the soil ?—There is a closet in each of the corner towers, and a 4in. soil-pipe leads the soil from the closets down to the cellar, and is then connected with a drain outside. The upper part of this soil-pipe is of galvanised iron of the same size. The pipe is continued up to the lead gutters on the roof, and takes the roof-water away. 5502. Mr. Chapman.] Is that the form of the closet [plan produced] ?—Yes. Some are Unitas, and some are Jennings's. A connects with the soil; B, I think, is closed, but I am not sure; Cis the inlet where the water-supply comes in.