F.—l.

Maintenance. There has been a thorough overhaul during the year of the lines White's Bay to Blenheim, Blenheim to Kekerangu, Taipo to Kumara, Greymouth to Brunnerton, and all sections throughout the district have received, more or less attention. The Eoss-Okarito line will require a thorough overhaul shortly, and also the BichmondTakaka section and Lyell section. The iron wires around Greymouth are considerably coroded, and will be replaced by copper wires shortly. Offices. Granity, Waimangaroa Junction, and Takaka have been converted from telephone to Morse offices. Thirteen new offices were opened, one reopened (The Forks), and two offices closed (Mokihinui Mine and Nelson Lighthouse). The business throughout the district continues to steadily increase. Telephone Exchanges. An exchange was opened at Westport during the year with 47 subscribers, which had increased to 87 (including bureaux connections) on the 31st March. A sub-exchange was opened at Boss, which has now seven subscribers. The Nelson Exchange has been removed to temporary quarters, having outgrown the accommodation in the post-office building. A steady increase of subscribers has taken place throughout the district, there now being 674 connections with the various exchanges—a net increase of 215. Of the total 575 are paying, 24 free, and 75 bureaux. The mileage of poles and wire connected with exchanges is 564 3184 respectively. Canterbury. Construction. The following new lines and wires were erected and completed : — Miles of Poles. Miles of Wire. Christchurch to Leeston (metallic trunk circuit) ... ... — 54 Geraldine to Hilton ... ... ... ... ... 64 64 Gebbie's Flat to Ataahua ... ... ... ... — 6 Christchurch to Lichfield Street ... ... ... — 4 Lincoln to Greenpark... ... ... ... ... 34 34 Waipara to Scargill For Eailway Department— Poles. Wire. Addington to Showgrounds ... ... — 75 chains\ "B" Shed to Weighbridge ... ... — 13 „ | Colombo Street to Christchurch platform — 16 „ i- 12 25f Addington to Eolleston (tablet) ... 12 24 miles I Waipara to Waipara Eailway .. ... — 40 chains; Totals ... ... ... ... ... 22 96 The total number of miles of poles and wire in the district is 917 and 3,402 respectively. Offices. Eight new offices have been opened. A Morse was substituted for the telephone instrument at Waipara. Maintenance. During the erection of the Leeston trunk wire a complete overhaul and strengthening of the line between Hornby and Leeston (21 miles) was effected. Several other sections have also received attention where necessary. The main line between Timaru and Eangitata will require considerable attention during the year. Telephone Exchanges. New sub-exchanges were opened at Little Eiver, Leeston, and Doyleston. Little Eiver uses the Akaroa-Christchurch trunk wire. A metallic circuit was erected for Leeston-Doyleston to Christchurch trunk wire to get rid of induction from the neighbouring wires. The work of constructing sub-exchanges at Waimate, with metallic-circuit trunk wire to Timaru, is being pushed on rapidly. Christchurch Exchange. An addition of 450 numbers has been made to the switchboard, bringing up its capacity to 1,950. The number of subscribers is steadily increasing, the total now being 1,297 —an increase of 133 for the year. Of these 1,224 are paying, 36 free, and 37 bureaux. Other Exchanges. Timaru is increasing steadily, there being 23 additional subscribers for the year. Ashburton is practically at a standstill, having increased by 4 subscribers only. There are three main .exchanges and seven sub-exchanges in the district, all of which are working satisfactorily. The total subscribers to the various exchanges in the district is 1,693 —an increase of 189 for the year. Of these 1,576 are paying, 46 free, and 71 bureaux. The poles and wires connecting subscribers total 130 miles 37 chains and 1,865 miles 51 chains respectively.

XXVII