A. C. C'OTTBELL.]

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To the Chairman: I know that two big lime concerns went into liquidation lately. Since the war there has not been the demand for lime for- construction-works, but 1 believe there will be in the future. To Mr. Hudson: The farmers at Cape Foulwind are not taking full advantage of the lime, they want educating up to its advantages. They would derive great benefit from using firstclass burnt lime. It can be supplied at up to £1 per ton. H. T. Parry, Dairy Refrigerator and Mechanical Engineer, examined. The question of the manufacture of calcium carbide has been entrusted to me To increase industries we must have a cheap source of power, and science has proved and demonstrated amply that hydro-electric energy is the cheapest we can get. This district has a hydro-electric concern that, we feel sure, would be second to none in the cost of production. The proposed location of the hydro-electric source is situated at a point three miles and a half south of Charleston and about twenty miles by wire from Westport. The hydraulic energy would be drawn from a river known as the Four-mile. This river is ideal for the purpose, surrounded by high hills, with an outlet only through a canyon 50 ft. wide and about 100 ft. deep, and a fall of about 387 ft. in less than half a mileto the sea. This stream drains a catchment area of about twenty-five square miles. The canyon is long, narrow, and high, and is of solid rock formation. The penstock and hydraulic arrangement would cost perhaps the least to install of any on record for the Dominion— that is, in comparison with the energy developed. The .power plant, transformers, &c, could be located about sea-level, and there is a very convenient site for this purpose. About 20 chains of tunnelling is required, but there is no serious obstacle in this work. If necessary other streams can be turned into this catchment, but without their consideration there is still about 4,000 horsepower available. With an average rainfall of 8 ft. per annum, and allowing for soakage. evaporation, &c, there would be about 5,600,000,000 cubic feet of water available, developing at the fall, again allowing frictional and transformation losses, the 4,000 horse-power for twentyfour hours per day continuously. I suggest one way in which this power may be used—namely, the manufacture of calcium carbide, of which New Zealand at present imports a large quantity annually. We have a good limestone handy, and in the Westport coke we have the best in the world : therefore we have the constituents that are necessary. As for the cost of production of the 4,000 horse-power, I estimate it at £40,200, which works out at a cost of £10 per horse-power, as against the Lake Coleridge scheme of £45. I have said that 4,000 horse-power can be developed, but a greater authority puts it at 8,000 if all the water was turned into the catchment area, which could be done with little extra cost. Practical results demonstrate that it takes 12,000 tons of limestone, 6-,000 tons of coke, 150 tons of carbon electrodes, and 4,000 horse-power to produce 6,000 tons of carbide per annum. However, in the first year about 3,000 tons would be needed to supplement already depleted stocks due to the war, and between 1,000 tons and 1,500 tons would fulfil all New Zealand requirements for some time to come. A very large quantity is imported into Australia, and no doubt the surplus would find a ready market there. The cost of a carbide plant, with buildings, I estimate at £11,000, and the cost of manufacturing 3,000 tons of carbide per annum I place at £41,050. Then, the sale of 3,000 tons of carbide at 3d. per pound would bring in £84,000, so that in one year's work you would nearly mop up the whole cost of the installation, and still have 4,000 horse-power on hand. To Mr. Sidey: I suggest that to safeguard the industry at the outset a protective tariff of per pound should be placed on carbide. I do not think that after the war the price will come down to the pre-war rate. At present carbide is retailed at about Is. per pound. None of the water I am referring to is now used for mining purposes. To Mr. Forbes: The Public Works Department has not reported on this scheme. We have not. had a visit from Mr. Parry, though we expected to get him here. He promised that he would come. We could also manufacture caustic soda and nitrates for fertilizing purposes. In the proposal to manufacture carbide I have put a practical proposal before you to show you that the hydro-electric scheme would be a payable thing from the start. The tariff would only be necessary if carbide went down to 2d. per pound, so that we could sell it from its place at 4-1. f.o.b. At present carbide is not manufactured in New Zealand. To Mr. Graigie: The power could be used in a general way in the district. For one thing, there is the electrification of the railway system. To Mr. Hudson: There is always a keen demand for carbide. It is largely used in country hotels. To the Chairman: The water-power is on the property of the Crown. The Council asked the Department to allow Mr. Parry to visit the district, and we got a reply that he would come and that we would be informed of his visit. However, he has not come, and we consider we have been treated shamefully in the matter. A. Neighbours, Brick- and Potter-work Provider, examined. I wish to place before you a few of the possibilities of the clay of the Buller district. I have brought in a sanitary pipe which is a local product. This class of pipe has been largely used in the Westport Borough sewage scheme. Local industries, however, are under a disadvantage in some ways. We had an order from Nelson for £12 worth of goods. We forwarded the goods, but were surprised to find that the Union Company had imposed £5 19s. freight on the £12 worth. In spite of that the Nelson buyer backed up his first order with another for £50. advising us to ship by the Anchor line. We packed the goods in readiness at Waimangaroa, but for two months we hopelessly negotiated with the Anchor line, and eventually we- were notified that there was no space available. The transaction stopped there. The clay is of a very close nature that

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