F.—l

Renovated; Greymouth, repairs and painting; Picton, repairs and painting; Geraldiue, repairs and painting; Sheffield, repairs; Helensville, roof re-covered with iron and additions to residence; Mercer, lineman's house re-roofed; Manukau Heads, repairs; Cromwell, repairs; Auckland Post Office, plaster in mail-room and drains repaired ; Te Nui, repairs ; Wangaroa and Mohaka, additions to residences; Havelock, fencing around residence; Wakapuaka and The Port, repairs; Blenheim, repairs and an outhouse erected ; Russell, office re-roofed ; Arrowtown, repairs; Palmerston North, drainage provided; Patea, extra living-room; Feilding, residence re-roofed ; Carterton, additional room; Manaia, additions to residence; Timaru, repairs; Auckland Telegraph Office, refitted, altered, and office accommodation improved; Fielding, Naseby, and Pahiatua, private boxes fitted up. A separate office is to be built at Invercargill, the business having outgrown the present accommodation. Additional Post Office accommodation is to be provided at Dunedin and Christchurch to meet growing requirements. Inland Mail-services. The following are the particulars of the several inland mail-services in operation during the year:— Performed by coach and mail-cart... ... ... ... ... 194 Performed on horseback ... ... ... ... ... ... 276 Performed on foot ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 Performed by water ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 Performed by railway ... ... ... ... ... ... 69 Total number of services ... ... ... 632 Aggregate mileage ... ... ... ... ... ... 10,820 Total number of miles travelled ... ... ... ... 3,878,820 Cost to the department ... ... ... ... ... £26,174 7s. lOd. Average cost per mile ... ... ... ... ... ... L62d. The total cost in 1889 was ... ... ... ... £26,008 os. Bd. And the cost per mile ... ... ... ... ... ... l-62d. Railway mail services are performed free of cost to the Post Office. The only payment made the Railway Department for mails is for special mail trains. The following services were established during the year:— Weekly between Point Curtis and Pukekarare. Weekly between Whitianga and Kuaotunu. Twice weekly between Mokau and Awakino. Weekly between Danevirke and Weber. Daily between Springburn and Alford Forest. Twice weekly between Greymouth and Kaimata. Weekly between Opuawhanga and Puhipuhi. Twice weekly between Pahiatua and Mangahao. The frequency of the following services was increased :— Twice, instead of once weekly, between Arrowtown and Cardrona. Four, instead of three mails weekly, between Wanganui aud Hunterville. ; Daily, instead of twice weekly, between Wellington and Paraparaumu. Daily, instead of thrice weekly, between Westport and Berlin's. Thrice, instead of twice weekly, between Nelson and Longford. The frequency of the service between Hokitika and Humphrey's Gully reduced from thrice to twice weekly. The service between Owen Reefs and Owen Junction abolished. ■ ■ The coach service between Methven and Alford Forest was withdrawn on the railway being extended to Alford Forest, and the mails conveyed by railway. The result of the tendering for the inland mail services for the two years from the Ist January, 1891, to the 31st December, 1892, has been to enable the department to extend several of the existing services, and to increase the frequency of others, besides establishing services to new settlements, at a minimum additional cost. Money Orders. There were eight money-order offices established during the year, namely, Heriot, Kaukapakapa, Mawheraiti, Nenthorn, Otorohanga, Pigeon Bay, Tairua, and Waipori. Four offices were closed. The total number of money-order offices open at the end of the year was 313. 176,427 money-orders, for £602,077 Is. lid. were issued, compared with 172,076 orders, for £589,545 14s. 9d. issued in 1889, an increase of 4,351 orders, representing £12,531 7s. 2d. Money-orders to the number of 151,286, for £547,308 9s. 3d. were paid, compared with 150,500, for £540,890 175., paid in 1889; an increase of 786 orders, for £6,417 12s. 3d. The number of money-orders issued on the Australian Colonies, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Canada, and also on foreign countries through the medium of the London Post Office, was 45,786, for £129,109 17s. 4d. 21,106 money-orders, for £75,865 17s. lid. from places beyond New Zealand, were paid in the colonv. ii—F. 1.

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