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" I would again call attention to the small total number of men available for actual work at a fire during .the hours that experience shows the greater average number of calls are received — between'7 p.m. and midnight. " At the time of my inspection the strength of the brigade was twenty all told —viz., Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, sixteen permanent and two auxiliary firemen; and during the hours named, of the permanent force there were available only eight all told, accounted for as follows —three on leave, four on theatre duty, one on station duty, one motor-driver, and one horse-driver—thus absorbing ten out of the eighteen, and leaving for actual fire work in the city the Superintendent, Deputy, six permanent and perhaps two auxiliary firemen —-not a sufficient strength. " During my inspection of the Caversham section of the brigade it became evident that the members required more drill. " In am enclosing herewith a duty list form for the information of your Superintendent. "I have, &c., " Thos. T, Hugo, " Inspector of Fire Brigades." " Sir,— " 27th February, 1912. " Following upon my recent inspection of the Dunedin Fire Brigade, its stations and equipments, I beg to submit the following report for the consideration of your Board :— " An inspection muster of the city section of the brigade was held at the Central Station on the evening of the 2nd instant, when there was present the Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, twelve permanent and eleven auxiliary firemen, or twenty-five officers and men, out of the total strength of thirty attached to the Central Station district. " The turnout, was performed smartly, and the station and equipment found in good order and condition. " I inspected the South Dunedin Station and equipment on the 3rd instant, and found everything in good order. A test of the pressure in and flow of water from the mains was carried out at various points in the city on the 2nd instant, and again on the 7th instant, between the hours of 7.30 p.m. and 10 p.m., when there would be very little "draw off." The following are the results obtained :— "Cumberland Street, opposite Central Station: Pressure in main 1301b. " Athol Place: 3 in. main; pressure at hydrant 123 Ib. with 300 ft. hose and Jin. nozzle; the pressure at the branch was 281b. " Leith Street: 3 in. main; pressure at hydrant 1181b. with 300 ft. hose and fin. nozzle; the pressure at branch was 26 Ib., and with 100ft. hose and Jin. nozzle gave 22 lb. " Buller Street: 5 in. main; pressure at hydrant 147 lb., that with 100 ft. hose, and 1| in. nozzle projected an efficient fire stream 30 ft. only, and when a second delivery was got to work from this main the first jet was only projected some 14 ft. "Clyde Street: 3 in. main; pressure at hydrant 921b.; with 100 ft. hose and fin. nozzle the stream projected some 28 ft. only. " Clyde Avenue : 3 in. main; pressure at hydrant 91 lb., that with 100 ft. hose and f in. nozzle gave a jet reaching some 10 ft. " All hose used was 2 \ in. unlined canvas. " The results obtained from the foregoing tests prove very conclusively that the flow of water in the mains is badly obstructed either by extensive corrosion, silt-deposit, or both, and this to such an extent that I doubt if in some of the 3 in. mains there remains a clear waterway 1 in. in diameter. As an illustration of the extent of this obstruction take the case of Buller Street under the test conditions — i.e., a 5 in. main, 1471b. hydrant pressure, 100 ft. 2\ in. unlined canvas hose with 1J in. nozzle : there should have been projected an efficient fire-stream to a height of 80 ft. at an angle of 45° discharging from the nozzle over 280 gallons of water per minute, whereas there was a stream projected some 30 ft. with a discharge of about 120 gallons per minute. Again, in Clyde Street, in place of an efficient fire-stream being projected some 62 ft. with a nozzle discharge of over 120 gallons per minute,, we have only a2B ft. stream with a discharge of 60 gallons; with still worse results in Clyde Avenue, but this is partly due to the only hydrant in the street being placed close to a dead end. "To sum up : The supply of water for fire-suppression purposes over large portions of the City of Dunedin is quite inadequate, due primarily to the generally small diameter of the pipes laid down, and, secondly, to the growth of obstruction in the pipes; and I would particularly mention in this respect the thickly populated district bounded by the harbour-front from St. Andrew Street to and along Castle Street as far north as Brook Street, in which the reticulation is by means of 3 in. mains and under, with the exception of a 5 in. main laid down Albany Street, also those blocks on the reclamation on both sides of the steamer-basin. Another matter affecting the efficiency of your water-reticulation service in relation to fire protection is the wide spacing of the street hydrants, that in some cases are over 5 chains apart; and this is contrary to the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, that limits the distance to 100 yards apart: also the faulty marking of a number of the hydrants, some of the indicators being very misleading and in some cases absent altogether. " I have, <fec, "Thos. T, Hugo, " Inspector of Fire Brigades." A new Central Station has been erected in Cumberland Street, and was officially opened in November last. The building is constructed of brick, two stories in height, and contains commodious engine-house having four front exit-doors, Board-room, Secretary's office, Superin-