Sessional_Paper_1907 — Page 412

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could

Q. And if you were specifying it, they would probably charge much more for it ?

A. They would probably say they could not get it.

Mr. Humphreys. And supposing you specified this lime, and they supplied shell lime,

you tell at a glance whether it was shell lime, or not?

A. You can by feeling it.

Q.—But not by looking at it ?

A. You can't by looking at it.

—

Q. Not even by the dirt?

A. They are both dirty. coming charcoal after burning.

Shel lime, you can feel it. It is due to the gelatine be-

Store lime is more powdery.

The Chairman.-It has more grit ?

A. There is more grit in shell lime than stone lime.

Mr. Shelton Hooper.-You said that in your experience, lime never sets?

A.--Never sets properly.

Q-Now, have you in your specifications directed that when that concrete is laid it shall be rammed down, until the lime comes to the surface ?

A.--I have not..

Q.--Dont you think that if that were so, it would make a better floor?

A.-No, I should say if you had good limejit would set better in the interstices of the concrete itself, because the air would get in and force setting, underneath, it would still remain wet or dry into a powder.

Mr. Humphreys. How do you account, Mr. Lemm, with the inferior lime we get in Hongkong, that in some cases we get lime that sets perfectly well and lasts for years, and in other cases it never seems to set at all, and is as you say very inferior ?

A.—I have never seen any good lime concrete myself.

Q.—I have, where I have known it to last for years.

A. They may have got good stone lime, and not mixed it properly.

Mr. Lau Chu Pak.-Dont you think it is to some extent due to bad mixing?

A. Bad mixing, yes.

Mr. Shelton Hooper.-You said just now, when I suggested that if it were sufficiently rammed, so that the lime could come to the surface, that it would not make a better floor. Do you know that that is laid down in either Hirst or Molesworth?

A. I have not seen it in either Hirst or Molesworth. I have both books, but I have not seen it. It is said that the outer surface will set, but the inner surface will simply dry to powder and will not set at all.