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Roads and Railways. —Mr. District Surveyor Calder returns 12 miles 16 chains of the Otago Central Eailway, making a total of 27J miles of this railway he has surveyed, at a cost of £22 15s. 3d. per mile. The other item in the return is 110 chains of road-grading by Mr. McCurdie in the Catlins and Warepa Districts, through dense bush. Land Transfer. —Fifty-eight plans were received for deposit during the year, and examined, approved, and recorded. Besides these the following instruments of title, &c, were examined and checked : Sixty applications to bring land under the Land Transfer Act, 1,426 transfers, 1,081 mortgages, 291 leases, sixty-six caveats, 274 transmissions, 522 plans on certificates (in duplicate), and 174 certificates in lieu of Crown grants were prepared in triplicate. Other Work. —Mr. Langmuir's expenditure under this head amounts to £283 145., of which £171 represents work done in connection with the resurvey of the Papanui Native Beserve; £21, the cost of inspection of the bridge over the Maruwenua Eiver at Hutton's Crossing; £15, work and time spent in connection with Woodcock's claim on a contract on the Elderslie Estate roads; £21, survey and plan of site of Inch Valley limekiln accident; and the balance engineering surveys and reports. The main item in Mr. Wilmot's amount of £247 4s. 6d. is his leave of absence (six months) on half-pay; £39 9s. 6d. represents various work for the Warden's Court; £30, the revision of the survey and street alignments in part of the Town of Alexandra ; £60, for work in hand, plans of which have not yet been received; and the balance for survey of a road deviation and reports. Mr. Calder's expenditure amounts to £185 lis., of which £92 is salary while on sickleave ; £32 10s. for house-allowance in lieu of quarters; and the balance is for inspections and reports for the Land Board and Warden, also office-work and attendance on the public. Mr. Neill's expenditure amounts to £218 3s. 10d., £25 of which is for office-work, and £192 13s. lid. is the amount charged against unfinished surveys not yet returned. Mr. McCurdie's expenditure amounts to £29 95., being the cost of miscellaneous services performed up to the time of his transfer to the Eoads Department. Office-work. —During the year 180 plans of various kinds were received from the staff and private surveyors, which, with two exceptions, have been examined, approved, and recorded on Crown grant record, county and Land Office maps. The large tracing prepared for the Defence Department, showing the topographical features of the country within a radius of 15 miles around Dunedin, was completed early in the year and forwarded to Head Office for publication. The 5-chain-to-the-inch plan of Dunedin and suburbs is also completed, and a tracing is being prepared which, on completion, will be forwarded to Head office to be lithographed. This plan shows the surrounding boroughs, and should prove of great value in the near future in view of " Greater Dunedin" being constituted. Two new Land Transfer record maps were constructed during the year, which now makes a total of seventy-eight plans for this class of work. Four sheets of Admiralty charts were forwarded to Head Office, on which was plotted the coast-line of the Otago District. Accompanying same were three sheets of tables, giving the longitude and latitude adopted for the position of each initial of circuit based on Admiralty determination of Observation Point, Port Chalmers, along with meridional and perpendicular co-ordinates (in terms and on meridian of the respective circuit initials) of trig, stations adjacent to the coast-line and the position of the said trig, stations expressed in longitude and latitude. Compiled working-plans were drawn and completed of Blocks 11. and 111., Catlin's, 11., Beaumont, and 1., Akatore Survey Districts. The Kauroo Survey District was drawn for photo-lithography, on a scale of 40 chains to an inch, and forwarded to Head Office. Tracings on scale of 40 chains to an inch were prepared of the Eock and Pillar, Blackstone, Gimmerburn, Swinburn, Upper Taieri, Naseby, Maniototo, and Serpentine Survey Districts, and forwarded to Head Office for the construction of a new map of the Maniototo County. Some of the county maps in this office, owing to almost daily use, are very much worn, notably the Tuapeka and Waikouaiti Counties, new maps for which, as the time of the draughtsmen can be spared, are being constructed. The keeping of county and record maps up to date, as well as transmitting tracings showing changes of tenures of lands to Wellington monthly, also supplying the Valuation Department with necessary information, and preparing plans of road-deviations, with the necessary reports thereon, continue to occupy a large share of attention. In the lithographic branch one block-map and plans of the interior measurements of various houses were drawn on transfer-paper for lithography. Photographic negatives of the Inch Valley Lime-works were taken before and after the accident, copies being printed, toned, and mounted, and forwarded to Wellington. The following printing was done in the local office, viz. : 250 copies of Block X., Leaning Eock Survey District; 100 of Tautuku Survey District; 200 abstract forms, 200 protractors, 100 schedules, forty sets descriptive examples of the Mannheim rule, fifty trig, notices, and fifty other plans. Future Operations, 1902-3. —The proposals for the year include the following : (1.) On the goldfields there will be the usual mining surveys of various classes, in addition to settlement spotting surveys. Both of these entail a great deal of travelling for the actual work done, while the cost also is correspondingly greater. There cannot, however, be a sufficiently high scale of fees to enable this class of work to pay, as in the case of limited areas a payable charge would be prohibitive to the smaller class of settler. (2.) The subdivision of Highfield Runs for close settlement, and land-for-settlement blocks surveys will also engage the attention of the staff. (3.) The surveys in connection with the adjustment of boundaries and road-lines (commenced before I came to this district) in the Native lands in Peninsula District are being continued, and should be completed shortly. Since Mr. Langmuir left, Mr. Neill has been carrying on the work. He will also revise the triangulation of North Harbour and Blueskin District. This work has for years been looked upon as doubtful, and the first opportunity has been taken to place it in a more satisfactory position on our records.