F.—8.

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|c. l. w. lockie.

16. Was that all?— Yes. 17. You asked him what it contained, and he said he had several on his round?—He said it contained a notice of a meeting of an Orange Lodge. 18. What became of the envelope?—We destroyed it. We did not attach any importance to it. 19. You destroyed it together again? —No; I think my sister did. Thomas Smith examined. 1. Mr. Ostler.] What is your full name, Mr. Smith?— Thomas Smith. 2. And your occupation?— Carpenter. 3. And where do you reside?— 9 Sunnyside Road, Mount Eden. I. Did you get an envelope delivered to you somewhat like that in the early part of July?— Yes, something like that. 5. Was it empty?—lt was empty. 6. Did it have the words on it, " If unclaimed within seven days please return to box 912, Auckland " ?—Yes. 7. Can you give us the date upon which you got it?— The 3rd July. 8. It was empty when you got it : how was the flap ?—lt was out like that. 9. What did you do with the envelope?—l put it in my pocket till Wednesday night, and 1 gave it to my daughter, and she took it down 10. We will not go any further than that. Is your daughter here? —Yes. 11. Mr. Gray.] Have you. ever made any complaint about this, Mr. Smith, to the Post Office? —I had-nothing more to do with it after that. 12. Have you made any complaint to the Post Office at all after that?— Yes, on the Thursday. 13. What did you say?—l did not see any one; my daughter took it. 14. How did 3"ou get the envelope in the first instance —from the letter-carrier? —It was put in the letter-box in the door. Miss Lavinia Smith examined. 1. Mr. Ostler.] Your name is Lavinia Smith?— Yes. 2. You are a daughter of the last witness?— Yes. 3. And you live with him at the address he gave ?—Yes. 4. Your father has told us that he received an empty envelope : were you there when he received it? —No, I was not; my sister was there. 5. What is her Christian name?— Nellie. 6. Did your father hand the empty envelope to you?—l certainly had a look at it. We talked about it. My sister told me, 7. Do not tell us what your sister said. You talked about it with your father and sister. What did you do with the empty envelope?—l took it down and inquired at the Letter-carriers' Inquiry Office. 8. The Letter-carriers' Inquiry Office at, the General Post-office? —Yes. 9. On Thursday at lunch-time?— Yes. 10. What was said to you? —A young man came to me at first, and I said, " We have received an empty envelope on Tuesday morning," and I then said, " I have come to see if you can give me any explanation in regard to it." He looked at it and he said, "It is funny; there must be a mistake somewhere." I said, " Well, the name and address are quite all right." Then he did not say anything more. Then au elderly gentleman came up, and he referred the matter to him. He also looked at the envelope, and he said, " Nothing in it? " 1 said, " No, it came like that." He said he could not understand it. He said, " Were you expecting anything? " I said, " No; the matter may not be of much importance, but we thought there was no harm in coming down to see if they could give us an explanation of the envelope being empty." He went away—the elderly gentleman —for a few moments, and he came back and said it was against the rules to state who the owner of the box was. I said, "So I understand: I did not ask for that "; but I said, " Could you advise me what would be the best thing to do? " So he said the only thing he could advise me to do was to send it back in another envelope and for me to state on a note, " Received envelope but no contents "; and while he was doing that he wrote on the back of the envelope, " Unsealed, no contents," with a private mark underneath in red ink. 11. What do you mean by a private mark in red ink—his initials ?—I do not know. 12. What were the words?—" Unsealed, no contents." 13. Did he hand the envelope back to you?— Yes, he did. 14. What then did you do with it? —I took it home and told my father that the gentleman said what he thought. 15. You told your father what you had been told, no doubt?— Yes. 16. What did you do then? —My father wrote the note, put it, in an envelope—the empty envelope as well—sealed it up, and addressed it to box 912, Auckland. 17. You posted it?-—I posted it. 18. You are quite sure?— Yes, my sister was with me. I missed one thing out. I also asked the gentleman if it was posted that night, would they get it, in the morning. 19. What was the reply to that?—He said, " Yes." 20. Well, then, you posted it the same night after you had seen him?— Yes. 21. That is to say, on Thursday night?— Yes. 22. That would be the sth July'?— The sth July. 23. Did you know—l presume you did not know—who were the people who were using box 912? —No, I did not know then.