CO885-(7-8) — Page 493

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| PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Owing to the death of Mr. Wakefield we referred the whole of the correspondence together with the pipe returned from the Colony to Mr. Stanger, and I now beg to forward you, for the information of the Colonial Govern- ment, a copy of two reports by him, together with a letter which we have received from Messrs. Maclaren and Co., after a member of that firm had inspected the pipe at Mr. Stanger's office.

September 18, 1900.

October 18, 1900.

October 20, 1900,

It will be seen from the correspondence that the contractors admit that the pipe in question was not made in accordance with the specification, but contend that it was never intended to form part of this contract, and must, along with several others, have accidentally got mixed with the correct pipes during shipment to the Colony. It appears to us that this may be probable, as it could in no way further the con- tractors' interests to have wilfully sent out such useless pipes, and it will be seen from Mr. Stanger's report that he is of the same opinion.

In view of the difficulty of arriving at a definite conclusion in the matter, Messrs. Maclaren and Co. have agreed to replace the 30 rejected pipes c.i.f. in Fiji without further cost to the Government, and we have accepted their offer.

I have, &c.,

M. A. CAMERON.

Letter from Mr. W. H. STANGER to the CROWN AGENTS FOR THE COLONIES. Fiji--Water Supply-Requisition 29441, re Faulty Pipe returned from Fiji. GENTLEMEN,

September 18, 1900.

WITH reference to your memorandum of the 28th July last, and pending a more fully detailed report from me on the subject referred to, I have the honour to inform you that I have made a careful examination of the faulty pipe returned from the Colony and sent to me by Messrs. Freeland. This pipe has evidently been cast in greensand on an incline. It bears on the socket the letters P. M. and Co., which form the makers' mark, R. M. and Co., the tail of the R. having been washed away by the flow of the molten metal. No other marks exist. There are several visible defects which would lead even the most inexperienced pipe inspector to reject it on its appearance alone, without even subjecting it to water pressure, which pressure, how- ever small, it would not have stood, as in two places at least there are perforations, one of which is about 4 inch diameter and another inch by

I have no hesitation in saying that the pipe was never seen by the Inspector, and I cannot suppose that the manufacturers themselves would have authorised the ship- ment of a pipe of such a faulty nature.

I would strongly recommend that the pipe be retained here, and not forwarded to Messrs. R. Maclaren aud Co. I think the firm should be advised that the pipe is in my possession, and that they can examine it at these offices by previous appointment with me.

I have, &c.,

W. HARRY STANGER,

per J. B. O.

Letter from Mr. W. H. STANGER to the CROWN AGENts for the COLONIES. GENTLEMEN,

October 18, 1900. WITH reference to my previous correspondence, I beg to state that Mr. Robert Maclaren called here on the 16th instant, in my absence, and examined the "faulty pipe." He called again on the 17th instant, when he discussed the matter with me. He corroborates my opinion, as expressed in my letter to you of the 18th September to the effect that this is a "waster pipe," unavoidable in the course of pipe manufacture, and which should have been immediately broken up, but, by some accident, was not, and owing to carelessness was shipped with the others. He suggests a possible deviation from this opinion, viz., that the pipes may, in the process of trans-shipment at Sydney, have got into the Fiji cargo at that point. I cannot, of course, go into this matter, but Mr. Maclaren thinks this may be an explanation of the whole affair

and intends to make searching enquiries: he tells me that he will write you direct on the point.

I have, &c.,

W. HARRY STANGER.

Letter from Messrs. MACLAREN AND CO. to the CROWN AGENTS FOR THE COLONIES. GENTLEMEN,

REFERRING to correspondence re above, viz. :—

Your letter to us of 21st February.

Our letter to you of 23rd February.

Your letter to us of 26th September, &c.

October 20, 1900.

Our Mr. Maclaren is at present in London, and he writes us that he has seen the pipe in question, and it has evidently not been intended to form part of the pipes required in execution of this contract, being a waster greensand pipe, which should have been broken up as soon as taken from the mould.

We have gone into the matter very carefully, and find from our records that we made the 3,006 straight pipes in drysand, and all were satisfactorily tested before your Inspector.

The pipe in question is evidently one of a different class, and how it got mixed with the pipes of your order we cannot tell.

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We regret the circumstances very much, and can only think it has got mixed with the Fiji order either in one or other of the vessels in which they went out, or by the transhipment at Sydney, but as in any case a mistake has occurred, and as it is impossible to find out exactly where or how it happened, we shall be glad to supply you with thirty new pipes free of charge, if you wish it. This offer is, of course, made without prejudice, and without acknowledging responsibility for what we cannot understand, but we trust it will show our desire to do our utmost at all times to meet your wishes, and we can assure you that, if possible, we shall take still more care in the future to see that such a thing does not happen again.

Į

We are, &c.,

Enclosure 2 in No. 17.

ROBERT MACLAREN AND C'o.

Letter from the CROWN AGENTS FOR THE COLONIES to the Honourable the COLONIAL

SIR,

SECRETARY, Fiji. Fiji.

February 16, 1900.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th October, telegram of the 31st October, letter of the 1st November and telegram of the 15th December, and to inform you that we duly communicated the purport of them to the Emigration Agent in Calcutta, and requested him to furnish us with the dates on which he would require vessels to be placed at his disposal to convey to Fiji the 2,225 statute adult coolies required, and on the 12th January we received Mr. Stewart's reply, to the effect that he wished three vessels, each to carry 600 adults, and one to carry 425, the dates of embarkation to be 15th March, 20th April, 15th May and 31st May respectively.

of our

1900.

2. We accordingly advertised for steamers or sailing vessels for these numbers Feb. 9, and dates, and I enclose, for the information of the Colonial Government a copy letter to the Secretary of State reporting the result of the tendering, and showing that the tender of the executors of James Nourse at the rate of £9 18s. 9d. for 2,225 coolies, or £9 8s. 9d. if the four vessels receive full complements, making a total of 2,401 has been accepted.

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3. I now enclose copies of the charters of the “Ganges,” “ Elbe,” “ Arno,” and "Rhine," the vessels fixed for this service, and copies of the surgeons' letters of appointment shall be forwarded by an early mail.

4. We have also accepted the offer of the executors of James Nourse to carry about 200 return emigrants to Calcutta, at £9 3s. 4d., in the second downward ship,

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