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Refuse-removal. This work has been carried on satisfactorily at a cost of £90 for the year. This service is rendered free to all householders in the inner area, it being considered by the late Town Council that the fee for removal of nightsoil was sufficiently high to cover collection of refuse. In the near future the question of making a reasonable annual charge for removal of refuse from hotels, boardinghouses, and shops may have to be taken into consideration. Library. The library and reading-room have been carried on very successfully, and 150 books have been added to the shelves during the year, bringing the total number up to 2,000. The revenue has been £81, and the expenditure £110, including £51 for books and £17 for magazines, &c. A special effort has been made to make the library characteristically local in the number of books dealing particularly with New Zealand interests, Maori customs and traditions, and the special features of the thermal-springs districts for the benefit of the visitors desirous of making themselves familiar with these matters. The free public reading-room, equipped with the standard papers and magazines, is very popular. The Victoria Institute public room has been used very frequently for evening meetings, and is occupied by the Chamber of Commerce as an office during the day. Pound. The pound has been considerably improved at a cost of £24. The ranging has been satisfactorily carried on, pound fees yielding £50 during the year. A stack of 10 tons of grass hay from Pukeroa was harvested during the summer and stacked at tiie pound, thus economising largely in fodder. Sanitary Inspection. A rigid sanitary inspection has been maintained, and a large number of improvements effected by householders. The general health of the town has been good, and with the introduction of the drainage system will continue to improve. The various additional duties of the Sanitary Inspector — viz., the inspection of licensed halls, the control of licensed vehicles and drivers, the registration of dogs, inspection of boardinghouses with particular reference to the fire-escape facilities, &c. —have been satisfactorily carried out. Public Health. The Isolation Hospital, which under "The Public Health Act, 1900," came under the ad- ' ministration of the Town Council, has been carried on as well as the circumstances would allow, the expenditure during the year a mating to £47 for rent, and £45 for the nursing and maintenance of the five patients treated. This year, owing to an increased number of patients, this cost will come out a great deal lighter. In other boroughs such charges are met by a levy made by the Hospital Board of the district on all towns within such district, the charges on any one borough being comparatively small. Hotorua is unique in that it is not included in any special hospital district, and lias therefore to maintain its own hospital, which serves on emergency for the whole district, in addition to the town proper. Building-inspection. During the year eighteen building permits have been issued, the fees amounting to £20 ss. The general quality of the buildings is rapidly improving, and an excellent lead has been set in this direction by the new buildings of the Tourist Department and the Bank of New Zealand. Three large first-class boardinghouses were built during the year, and three others enlarged and brought up to date in their appointments. With the introduction of the sewerage system, considerable improvements have been made in a large number of boarding and private houses, and the general standard of both interior and exterior architecture is being raised. The old town by-laws were not administered very firmly, and no inspection was formerly carried on outside the inner area. This has rendered it difficult to insist on a better class of building; but with amended by-laws it is anticipated that a distinct improvement will be effected. In a tourist resort this is a most important consideration. The desirability of painting all exposed surfaces, both walls and roofs, in good permanent and tasteful colours cannot be insisted on too strongly, both for the sake of the improved appearance of the town and the preservation of the buildings from decay due to the specially corrosive nature of the atmosphere in the thermal districts. Fire Brigade. The Volunteer Fire Brigade has carried on operations during the year very successfully, owing to the keen interest and co-operation of Captain W. E. Bennett and the members. Its effectiveness in suppressing outbreaks has been enoimously increased by the introduction of the higher water-pressure from the new water-supply system completed by the Public Works Department during the year. A pressure of 70 lb. to 80 lb. per square inch is now available, as compared with 30 lb. to 40 lb. under the old system, and three or four jets can be played on a fire at once. Four fires were attended to during the year. The expenditure for the year amounted to £18 4s. Bd. in payment to the members, and £133 14s. lid. for new plant and improvements to the fire-station. A new manual hose-reel furnished with an extension ladder and new double-head valve hydrant was added to the equipment. The obsolete hose-reel formerly in use by the brigade was converted into a very useful apparatus-carriage for conveying ladders, &c. The fire-tower was thoroughly overhauled, painted, and made weatherproof. The personnel of the brigade con-