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the station ; very little damage was done. Upon the return of the men to the station various drills were carried out in a fairly satisfactory manner. I have to recommend that the question of transporting r h< , men and appliances to fires should receive the early attention of your Board, as at present, with only a hand-drawn reel, the brigade arrive at a fire with only a portion of the requisite appliances no ladders, hand chemicals, and other necessary gear ran be carried on the reel, in addition to the tact that the men arrive on the scene of action in an exhausted state not fit to cany out the strenuous work usually required at such times. When the question of transport is settled the brigade should be provided with a 36 ft. extension ladder; also, the installing of a street fire-alarm eystem should be taken into consideration. The brigade should have not less than 2.000 ft. of first-class working-hose always available. I have, iV - c Thos. T. Hugo, Inspector of Fire Brigades. The stations and equipment are maintained in good order and condition. During the year nine calls were received, of which six proved to lie actual fires within the district four more than during the preceding year. The attendance of members of the brigade at the nine calls averaged sixteen per call, or 72-7 per cent, of the total strength. The lire loss amounted to £20(i. as againsi £148 lor the previous year, an increase of £68. The estimated cost of the brigade for the year 1914 15 is £til 2 (is. 9d., as compared with £881 -'is. sd. for 1913 I I. a decrease of £268 Ills. Bd. I)1 T NEDIN. Inspections of the Dunedin Fire Brigades, their stations and equipment, have been made as follows: Dunedin City. 27th October and I Ith and Kith February; South Dunedin, 17th February; Roslyn, 25th October and 16th February; Caversham, 17th February. At nIV. first inspections in October there were present at the inspection musters City Brigade, the Superintendent, Deputy, thirteen permanent and six auxiliary firemen: Koslyn section, the Captain and seven firemen, or eight out of a total strength of fifteen; but as this inspection was held at very short notice and on a Saturday night the attendance may be regarded as fairly satisfactory. The following report, forwarded to the secretary of the Board, covers the second inspections:— Sir, 2nd March, 1914. An inspection of the Dunedin City Fire Brigade and its equipment was made on the 16th ultimo. There were in attendance the Superintendent, Deputy, fourteen permanent and nine auxiliary firemen : these, with three permanent men on leave, accounted for the full strength of the central station portion of the brigade. A surprise false alarm of fire was given from the street box at the Terminus Hotel at 8.58 p.m. In response two motors arrived from the central station at 8.51). I 7 p.m., and the first water was shown at 9.0.36 p.m.. or 2 minutes 35 seconds from the time the alarm was given a satisfactory result. The station, appliances, and gear are in good order and condition. The auxiliary sections of the brigade were inspected as follows :—- Roslyn :At the Roslyn Woollen-mills, at 7.30 p.m. on the 16th. There were present the Captain. Lieutenant, and nine firemen, or eleven out of a total strength of fifteen. Various wet drills were lamed out on the mill premises from the city main and from the private fire service. South Dunedin :At the reel-station, at 7.30 p.m. on the 17th. There were present the Captain. Lieutenant, and twelve firemen, which, with one absent,accounted for the full strength. An ordinary wet-drill practice was carried out in a satisfactory manner. Caversham: At the reel-station. Present, the Captain. Lieutenant, and thirteen firemen, these representing the full strength. The ordinary practice or drill as performed here was not of a sat sfactory description, but to some extent there is an excuse for the members of this section of the brigade insomuch that the local conditions are not such as to encourage them to maintain any great degree of efficiency: and the conditions in question, together with other cogent reasons, serve to illustrate the urgent necessity of erecting and equipping the prospective new substation to serve both the Caversham and South Dunedin districts. Several defective nozzles were in evidence during the progress of the various wet drills, and thej should be replaced by others of better desi.mi. The fire connections on the water-mains, as also the hose, of the Roslyn Mills fire service are only 2 in. in diameter, and I would suggest your Board should represent t" the proprietors the advantage of replacing bhe standpipes with screwed-outlet 2\ in. waterway ground hydrants, and the 2 in. with 2| in. hose. 1 would also recommend to the consideration of your Board the question of replacing or converting the standpipes. couplings, and branches now in use in Dunedin. and which are of smaller waterway, to the 2.1 in. standard gauge, corresponding to the present Roslyn equipment, or convert the whole to the round-thread or one of the approved instantaneous patterns. A number of tests with the hydrant flow gauge were made in various parts of the city, and served to show that the scraping and cleaning of the mains has substantially increased the flow of water in pipes wherein the waterway proved to be seriously obstructed at the time when the previous tests were made in February. 1912: but the recent tests also disclosed some deficiencies in the reticulat ion as. for instance, in Lancefield Street. Caversham, where there is a 2 in. main laid down to which standpipes are fixed having only I. 1 , in. risers to the hose-connections, with the result that at the top standpipe, although a pressure of 10 lb. was registered, the flow was practically useless. I understand it is proposed to replace the present 2j in. main in Leith Street with one of 4 in., and in that connection I have to strongly recommend that the replacement should be with 6 in. piping, and further that any new mains laid down or replacements made in the business or congested portions of the city should never in any case be less than (i in. in diameter. J have, ike. Thos. T. Hugo, Inspector of Fire Brigades.