10056. It has been complained that the sheets are not large enough for certain trucks?---The consignor has always the option of two sheets. The charges for the first is 1s. 6d. and a reduction is made for the second. Whenever two sheets are ordered we supply them.

10057. How can you do that in face of the shortage you speak of?---The shortage fluctuates. A few weeks ago we had more sheets than re-required. 

 10058. It has been complained that trucks come to hand, but that the sheets do not arrive for some days after?---I could not reply to that generally. It is possible that there was a shortage of sheets at the time.

10059. Who attends to the sealing and unsealing of stock trucks?---When stock is loaded each door of the truck is sealed at the sending station. When the guard lifts that stock he examines every seal and signs for the truck as a sealed truck. When the guard terminates his run he in turn gets a signature for that sealed truck, and so on until it arrives at its destination, and is taken delivery by an officer who breaks the seals.

10060. By Mr VENN: Does he count the number of stock in the truck?---No. The receipt is given merely for a truck load. They are not counted even when received. All the seals are numbered differently and their record is kept. The railway officers at the destination break the seal. Of course at an unattended siding the consignee would have to do that himself.

 10061.   By  Mr PAYNTER: It has been complained that illegible initials on a receipt for goods have been made the basis of repudiation of responsibility?---Departmental officers sign receipts in full. Initials are not accepted as a receipt. I have never heard of a case of repudiation of responsibility in such circumstances.

 10062. Do you have many claims under Commissioner's  risk"?---Yes. We go through them and see if the goods have been received and forwarded. We try to locate them. If unsuccessful, we fill in claim forms with all particulars to the Chief Traffic Manager, who then deals with them. 

 10063 We have complaints of delays in the transit of fruit in the South-West which has arrived too late for the morning sales?---I am sure there is nothing very much in that complaint. At Christmas time there was some trouble, and an attempt was made to fasten the blame on the Department. I have proof that it was not the fault of the Department at all. In the first week of December, fruit vegetables, eggs and poultry received by us amounted to 8,822 packages. For the third week in December the number was 19,284, an extraordinary increase. The supply in that week was far greater than the demand, with the results that we had quantities of fruit left on our shed floor, some of the markets being unable to shift it. On the 23rd December, an off market day, we delivered to one market 2,386 packages. It was a Saturday afternoon and we kept delivery going until 11 o'clock at night. The next biggest market was only 610 packages. In January, when the supply was better equalised and was greater than in December by as much as nearly 300 tons for the month, we had no congestion, no glut and no complaints about delay. For February I got out the following return showing the number of packages we received each day and the number undelivered:
                      Cases    Cases
                       Received-Undelivered

February 14th -3,937 - 619 February 15th - 1,987 - 61 February 16th - 3,613 - 217 February 17th - 1,343 - 437 February 19th - 1,680 - 329 February 20th - 1,679 - 137

Total for week - 14,239 - 1,800

The above figures include only fruit in standard cases, besides which there was a big volume of other perishable traffic such as poultry, eggs, vegetables, etc. It will be seen that not even on the off days were the sheds cleared of perishable traffic. The undelivered we had ready to deliver but the consignees could not take delivery. They had not the room. The stuff was in our road.

10064. Can you handle all the stuff on any occasion that has yet occurred and give delivery in reasonable time?---Yes, but it is expensive to do it with the facilities we have at the present time. Plans for the remodelling of the whole of the yards and sheds were approved some years ago, but there has not been any money available for the purpose.  In that scheme provision is made for a fruit market near the West Perth station; the trucks would be shunted in there to a siding and unloaded direct into the market. In regard to the delivery of perishable traffic we are open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and in the hot weather, when the soft fruit is there, we are open at 4 a.m. We are always ready to delivery after 5 p.m. when representation is made to us. During Christmas week we delivered to 8 p.m., 9 p.m., and even 11 p.m. Since March we have not had any application for delivery earlier than 6 a.m. The heaviest fruit train arrives from the South-West at 3.10 a.m. There are 18 to 20 trucks on that train each day, and the first of that we can deliver from 40 to 45 minutes after arrival. We have four gangs of men on at 12 o'clock midnight and their duty is to unload that fruit and perishables, put it on the floor of the shed in separate stacks for the different growers, so that the different consignment are not mixed up.

10065. Then the statement is not correct that if a fruit lorry is taking delivery and a load of assorted goods from a big emporium arrives, the remaining fruit lorries have to wait while the assorted goods are unloaded?---Scarcely. Before the lorries from the emporiums arrive the fruit is all delivered. We principally use one shed for the delivery of inward fruit. It is not a very large shed but it has five doors, and those five doors are available for fruit until half-past 10 in the morning, which gives ample time for the clearing of the fruit.

10066. Is there much demurrage inflicted on consignees?---I have never enforced demurrage or even storage on fruit. In regard to chaff, we allow eight hours for delivery, and it is generally the following day before we enforce any demurrage. All that class of traffic is available from 7.30 a.m., and if it is still there next day we then enforce demurrage. 

10067. In regard to the prepayment of freights, have you considered the advisability of appointing