F.—l.

The cable was shipped from the manufacturers' works in two lengths, one length consisting of lj: nautical miles of shore cable for the Seddon end, and the other length consisting of 5 nautical miles of shore cable and 35 nautical miles of main cable for laying between Lyall Bay and the sea end of the Seddon shore cable. This arrangement necessitated the making of only one splice at sea, the cable being so arranged in the special tank in the " Tongariro " as to permit of its being laid from the " Tutanekai " in the order set out above. The total length of cable actually laid between Lyall Bay and the South Island landing was 38-1 nautical miles, this being made up of 5 nautical miles of shore-end cable at the Lyall Bay end, 1-25 nautical miles of shore-end cable at the Blind River end, and 31-85 nautical miles of intermediate or main cable. A few days after the laying of the cable continuous telephone service was established between Wellington on the one hand and Nelson, Seddon, Picton, and Blenheim on the other. For the present the inter-Island service is limited to communications between Wellington and the exchanges mentioned, as the cable itself does not constitute the complete equipment necessary to link up and provide satisfactory communication between all North and South Island exchanges. The next work to be undertaken ill connection with the Cook Strait cable is the connection of its extremities with the Wellington Central and Seddon Exchanges respectively by means of special trench cable, 3J miles of which is to be laid between Lyall Bay and the Wellington Central Exchange and 5 miles between the mouth of the Blind River and the Seddon Exchange. The characteristics of the trench cable are similar to those of the submarine cable, except that the armouring is somewhat lighter and the cores are enclosed in a lead sheathing. Preparations for the laying of the trench cable, which has already been delivered at Wellington, are now in hand. Meantime aerial land-lines connect the extremities of the submarine cable with the Wellington and Seddon Exchanges. A further work preliminary to extended range working via the new cable is the installation at the Wellington and Seddon Exchanges of special telephone repeaters or amplifiers, which in turn necessitate the installation of storage batteries and associated power plants, together with a considerable amount of special electrical apparatus. A new building to accommodate the repeaters and associated equipment at Seddon is in course of erection. The manufacture of the repeater equipment at Messrs. Siemens Bros, works is nearing completion, ind it is expected that it will be ready for use about December next. Appended is a sketch of the cross-section (actual size) of the shore end of the submarine telephone cable.

Cross-section of Cook Strait Submarine Telephone Cable (Shore End).

The intermediate section of the cable is of similar construction, but is smaller in diameter.

WIRELESS SERVICES. WIRELESS EQUIPMENT, EXTENSION, ETC. As a result of the careful attention that has been paid to routine maintenance, the operation of the New Zealand coast stations was carried out without interruption. On the 30th July and 9th October respectively radio-telegraph stations were installed in the lighthouses at Puysegur Point (in Foveaux Strait) and Stephens Island (in Cook Strait). These stations are owned and operated by the Marine Department, and are primarily for the purpose of 'reporting passing ships. Ordinary telegraph traffic also is handled, the charge for telegrams being 2J"d. a word, with a minimum of Is. 3d, a message. The stations are for fixed point-to-point working, Puysegur Point communicating with Radio-Awarua at £Kl5 a.m. and 4.15 p;m. daily, and Stephens Xsland with Radio-Wellington at the same times. - -

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