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result was forty-seven men, one woman, one little boy, and one little girl, two drunken men around for one hour, but did not go in. 216. Would the children go in with any receptacle?—-I cannot say. 217. Was any one with you on that date ?—No. 218. Were these the only houses where you were along ; if there were any other houses you were examining you can tell us now ? —The Te Aro Hotel on Sunday, 23rd February, 1893, from 11 a.m. till 12.30 p.m. (one hour and a half), and at 9.5 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. (twenty-five minutes). There were twenty-seven men in the morning, and one woman and eleven men in the twenty-five minutes in the evening. 219. Is there any other house you were watching yourself?— One Sunday in March, in 1893— I have not the date —from 11 a.m. till 12 noon I watched the Princess Family Hotel, Molesworth Street. There were nineteen men, three girls with jugs, one drunken man, one man with bag who lived in the neighbourhood. I saw him going into a house in the neighbourhood, and took it to be his home. At the Masonic Hotel, Cuba Street, on Sunday the sth February, 1893, I had a companion with me, but he is the one I cannot remember. We watched between the hours of 10.45 a.m. and 12.15 p.m. There were thirty-eight men. There was nothing special except that some of them lived close by. I saw them go into houses close by. In addition there was one man with a bottle, two men with Maori kits, one woman with bottle, one woman with jug, one girl with bottle under a shawl, one girl about twelve years old with bag, and two boys ; total, forty-seven in one hour and a half. At the Victoria Hotel, Abel Smith Street, on Sunday, sth March, 1893, from 10.45 a.m. till 12.30 p.m., there were seventeen men, chiefly living in the neighbourhood, if coming in their shirt-sleeves could be taken as evidence. At the Eoyal Tiger Hotel, at the corner of Abel Smith Street and Taranaki Street, on Sunday, 26th March, 1893, from 10.5 a.m. till 12.35 p.m. (two hours and a half), there were forty-two men, mostly well known and living in the neighbourhood. 220. The Chairman.'] Known to you ?—To the friend I was with on that occasion. 221. Mr. Taylor.] Who was with you on that occasion ?—Mr. J. A. Chisholm. In addition there were five men with bottles, kits, or parcels, and one of the five was drunk ; five women, nineteen boys, all with either bottles, bags, or cans, and mostly barefooted ; five girls with bottles, bags, or cans ; and two women of bad character : total, 78. I estimate there was one in every two minutes, or forty in the hotel at any time between 11 and 12.30. 222. Is not that hotel situated in about the most thickly populated part of Wellington ?—Yes. 223. And about the poorest neighbourhood ?—Yes. That is all I know of my own knowledge in 1893. 224. Have you any information of your own for the year 1894 ? —Yes. 225. Were you in company with some other witnesses in 1894 ?—ln some cases I was, and in some instances not. 226. Will you tell the Commissioners all you know of your own knowledge in 1894 ?—The Metropolitan Hotel, on Sunday, 4th March, 1894 : I find I have a note here to the effect, " Publicans on their best behaviour," because local option took place shortly afterwards. Between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (12 hours) there were sixty men, three women, three boys, and one girl; total, sixty-seven. The number of bags and bottles, &c, carried by these people was twenty-one. That is all I have that I can swear to in 1894. There is a note here that this was an interesting exhibit, as I was in a position where I could see right into the bar of the hotel. Every time a visitor went in by the side-door a man or woman was seen handling a bottle or glass in the bar a few seconds afterwards. They forgot to pull the blind down. 227. Is that the only house you saw that time ?—Yes, that I took notes of. 228. Taking that list you had for the year 1893, and going through it in that order, which is the first house you have any evidence corroborative of these figures ? —ln regard to the Albert Hotel, you can have the evidence if you want it very badly; but the man thinks he will probably lose his billet. 229. That is your companion ?—Yes, but I have many others where I have two witnesses. 230. W 7 e will pass that one and take the next house ? —I was by myself. 231. Take two and three?—»l was by myself. 232. The Princess Family Hotel?—l was by myself. 233. Take the Victoria Hotel. Is Easmussen present ?—(Mr. Taylor :He was subpoenaed, but I could not find him to-day.)—At the Eoyal Tiger Hotel Mr. Chisholm was with me. 234. None of that information was used for the purpose of instituting prosecutions?— Certainly not. 235. That was the understanding with the proprietors of the Prohibitionist ?—Yes, we were reporters for the Prohibitionist. It was continually said there would be more sly-grog selling under prohibition than there was now, and the object of the investigation was to deal with that point. 236. Colonel Pitt.] In reference to the Albert Hotel, can you say whether any of these people were lodgers in the hotel going backwards and forwards ?—Of course, I cannot swear; but in every case where I was watching myself, I took no notice of any person who looked like a lodger. I passed them by, and did not count them. 237. The Chairman.] What was the characteristic of the lodgers ?—The respectable-looking men. I was there for twelve hours, and I thought I had a very good idea of who were lodgers and who were not. 238. Colonel Pitt.] Did these people all enter the one door ?—Yes. 239. Which door-was that?—l cannot tell you the position of the door now from memory. It was on the Willis Street side, and there were three steps to go up. I think it was the centre door. 240. Were many of these people lodgers going out to go to church, or going back to their meals ? —No,