June 5.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1213

self to be engaged or acts in contravention of law, or who employs any person as engineer without ascertaining that he is at the time entitled to and possessed of a proper certificate, for each offence incurs a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.

An officer is not duly certificated unless he is the holder for the time being of a certificate of competency or service, valid in New Zealand, of a grade appropriate to his station in the ship, or of a higher grade.

Descriptions and grades of certificates.

3. The certificates of engineers are of two descriptions—viz., certificates of competency and certificates of service; and of certificates of competency there are three grades—viz., first-class, second-class, and third-class engineers’ certificates; of certificates of service there are two grades—viz., first- and second-class.

Certificates of competency granted to persons who pass requisite examinations. S. 26.

4. Certificates of competency will be granted to those persons who pass the requisite examinations, and otherwise comply with the requisite conditions. For this purpose Examiners have been appointed, and arrangements have been made for holding the examinations at the following places and times, viz.:

At Auckland, during the first week in January, May, and September.

At Wellington, during the first week in February, June, and October.

At Christchurch, during the first week in March, July, and November.

At Dunedin and at Invercargill, during the first week in April, August, and December.

The examination will commence on Monday in each case.

In cases of emergency the Examiners will exercise their discretion as to examining candidates at other than the prescribed periods.

Application, how to be made.

5. The application for examination is to be made on Form Exn. 3, which must be filled up and signed by the candidate. This form can be obtained at any Customhouse or office of an Inspector of Machinery. The Exn. 3, properly filled in, together with the candidate’s indentures of apprenticeship (or certificate from an employer that the candidate has worked as an apprentice for five years), testimonials, discharges, and fee, must be forwarded to the Principal Examiner of Engineers, at the office of the Chief Inspector of Machinery, at Wellington, with an intimation of the place at which the candidate wishes to be examined. When the application is filled up at a place other than Wellington, and it is a matter of urgency that the candidate should be examined before the Principal Examiner can notify the local Examiner, the candidate must present his application and other papers to the local Examiner, who, if they are correct, shall at once forward them to the Principal Examiner, with the fee, and proceed with the examination of the candidate.

Testimonials required.

6. Applicants will be required to produce, in addition to the usual forms of discharge, satisfactory testimonials as to sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct for at least the twelve months immediately preceding the date of application to be examined; and without producing them no person will be examined. If the service has been on shore, the testimonials must be signed by an employer, and state what kind of work the candidate was engaged on (e.g., fitting, erecting, &c.), and show the exact dates (from 18, to , 19, giving days, months, and years). If the service has been at sea, they must be signed by the master and chief engineer (or, in case of testimonials to chief engineers, by the master and superintending engineer or owner), and must clearly state whether the applicant was on regular watch and in regular charge of a watch on the main engines or boilers, and show the exact dates (from , 18, to , 19, giving the days, months, and years).

It is desirable that the testimonials of candidates should be indorsed by the superintending engineer.

No time spent in clerical work will be allowed to count.

In cases where a testimonial from the chief engineer or from the master is for any sufficient reason not obtainable, one may be submitted from the superintending engineer in place of that of the chief engineer, and one from the managing owner, or secretary, or chairman of a registered company, in place of that of the master; but in every such instance the testimonial must declare that the facts stated are in accordance with the reports made by the chief engineer or the master, as the case may be, or else that the facts are within the writer’s personal knowledge.

Physical defects.

7. When a candidate is observed to be hard of hearing, or is labouring under any other obvious physical defect, the signatories of his testimonials are required to mention that defect specifically, and to state whether it in any way interfered with the efficiency of the candidate as an engineer on watch. When these modified testimonials are such as to completely satisfy the Examiner that the defect is not such as to interfere with the efficient discharge of the applicant’s duties as engineer, the examination is proceeded with; otherwise the case is referred to the Principal Examiner of Engineers for New Zealand. Candidates affected with nervous impediment in speech may write their answers to vivâ voce questions.

Testimonials of foreigners.

8. The testimonials of servitude of foreigners, and of British engineers serving in foreign vessels, which cannot be verified, must be confirmed either by the Consul of the country to which the ship in which the candidate served belonged, or by some other recognised official authority of that country; or by the testimony of some credible person on the spot having personal knowledge of the facts required to be established. The production, however, of such proofs will not of necessity be deemed sufficient. Each case must be decided on its own merits; and, if the sufficiency of the proofs given appears to be at all doubtful, the point must be referred to the Marine Department.

Certificate as to age.

9. Should any doubt exist as to the age of a candidate, he will be required to produce a certificate of birth or baptism.

Foreigners to know English.

10. Foreign candidates must prove to the satisfaction of the Examiners that they can speak and write the English language sufficiently well to perform the duties required of them on board a British vessel. In every case before failing a candidate for insufficient knowledge of the English language the Examiner should refer the matter to the Principal Examiner, who, if the failure be confirmed, will indorse the report on the Form Exn. 15.