E.—7.

Students in the different divisions, according to their.standing, had also to attend the drawing classes at the School of Art, the Director of which reported satisfactory progress in the case of every one. The examination results are shown in the accompanying tabulated statement :—

Table III.

The teachers were : Solid geometry, model-drawing, and practical, plane, and solid geometry, Mr. D. Hutton ; machine-drawing, Mr. W. Peck. The work done for the public in the valuation of ores, bullion, &c, by assay by Mr. D. B. Waters, lecturer and instructor in assaying, was as follows : Charged for at fixed rates, 52; not charged for, 5 : total, 57. In this period the Director examined and reported on three collections of rocks and fossils—two from Southland in connection with the probabilities of coal being discovered, and one from Hokianga relating to a copper-discovery. Staff. —Up till the year 1900 the teaching staff of the Mining School consisted of five members, including the Director and Lecturer in Metallurgy, and three outside lecturers—namely, a Lecturer in Geology, a Lecturer in Applied Mechanics, and a Lecturer and Instructor in Mine and Land Surveying. The regrettable death of the late Professor Ulrich led the Council of the University to reorganize the staff on a new basis. The outside lecturers were dispensed with, and instead of these a Lecturer in Geology and Mineralogy was added to the permanent staff. This new appointment led to a rearrangement of the subjects of instruction, as indicated in Table I. This arrangement will be adhered to in the present year, except in the case of mining geology, which will be taught in future by the Director as the first chapter in the mining course. Regulations of School. —At the end of last session I prepared a revision of the regulations of the school. The new matter related principally to the issue of diplomas and the course of study in the different divisions, and, after lengthy consideration and some amendment, was finally approved and recommended to the Council by the Professorial Board. The new regulations, and a synopsis of the instruction in each class, are embodied in a separate publication recently issued from the Government Printing Office by the courtesy of the Hon. James McGowan, M.H.R., Minister of Mines. Examination Papers. —ln response to a request from the Director in July, the Hon. the Minister of Mines agreed to the printing of the annual examination papers by the Mines Department, and in fulfilment of that promise printed papers were placed in the hands of the students at the October examinations, an innovation which was much appreciated both by the staff and the students. Students' Library. —ln July, the students organized a social entertainment at the school to raise funds for the purchase of books for their library. The proceeds of the social realised some £10, which, with the sum of £12 obtained from a similar entertainment in 1900, were spent in the purchase of standard books of reference on mining and metallurgical subjects. The self-reliance of the students in this matter deserves much commendation, and for such a praiseworthy object the Council of the University might be reasonably requested to subsidise any small sum collected in this way. In August the Hon. the Minister of Mines presented the library with a set of the back numbers of the " Annual Reports of the New Zealand Mines Department," and promised to send copies of all publications of this Department in the future. Donations of technical works were also received from Mr. A. Hamilton and the Director. Donations to the School. —Valuable gifts of serviceable and up-to-date machinery and mining plant were received from a number of mining companies in the Auckland goldfields, notably the May Queen, Kuranui-Caledonia, Moanataiari, Big Pump, and Waihi Companies. The machinery proved of great value for class demonstration. It included a hoisting-cage with safety appliances (new model) ; two in. Ingersoll-Sargeant air rock-drills, with fittings ; one rock-drill column and arm ; two tripod-stands; one rock-boring auger; sets of steel drills for single and double hand drilling; set of drills for air-drill; samples of cruciform, hexagonal, and octagonal drill-steel; set of tools for charging blast-holes, including scraper, tamping bars, prickers, and " gun " ; single and double hand striking-hammers; driving and sinking picks ; shovels ; examples of fire-bars ; steelwire and flat hemp ropes ; two mine-trucks ; one 12 in. pump-bucket valve; one cheese clack, &c. From the Waihi Gold and Silver Mining Company (Limited) were also thankfully received 2 cwt. of cyanide tailings ; from Woodstock Gold-mining Company (Limited), 1 cwt. of argentiferous gold-ore ; from New Zealand Jubilee Gold-mining Company (Limited), \ cwt. of cupriferous gold-ore ; and from Monowai Gold-mining Company (Limited), 1 cwt. of complex sulphide ore. These ore-samples proved a valuable addition to the material available for the experimental work undertaken by the advanced students in metallurgy and assaying.

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Results of examinations. Subject. Attendance e. — Fii First Class. Second Class. Third Class. Failed. hird Clas ss. Failei i?n list \JU .aas. aeui iSS. XX nira uias ss. 3d. Solid geometry Machine-drawing Model-drawing Practical, plane, and solid geometry 7 6 8 6 2 5 5 2 2 1 1 2 3 2 2